Types of Materials: Archives and Special Collections
Archives generally refers to unpublished material. These are documents of enduring value that relate to an individual's collection (the Queen Emma Papers at the Hawaii State Archives); a company (Sugar plantations in the HSPA Plantation Archives, at UH Manoa); a University (UH Manoa Institutional Archives, at UH Manoa); or Government records (Hawai'i State Archives). Archives are not usually fully cataloged to the item level like a book in a library. They are described by finding aids that usually available at the library or archives. A finding aid is an inventory to the archival collection, providing information about the collection, its creator, and its organization.
There are several archives that are open to the public in Honolulu, and we have encouraged the students in our classes to explore them. However, we have needed to alert our students to the challenges that archival research can present: circumscribed hours for use of the archives, the general lack of open shelves and the use of a call system for retrieving materials. Archives are closed collections and material does not circulate. Many archives recommend that users call for an appointment before arriving, and some archives require appointments if students wish to use materials from special collections. Use of UHM's archives and special collections will not only be more convenient for most students, but becoming familiar with UHM resources is likely to prepare them for forays into the community.
What follows is a selection of some of the larger and more easily accessible archives and special collections on the UHM campus and in the Honolulu area.
The Hawaiian Collection is a comprehensive
collection of retrospective and current materials pertaining
to Hawai'i. There are more than 118,000 volumes relating to
Hawaiian history, culture, art and science as well as
microfilm holdings of 10,000 reels and approximately 2,000
serial titles subscriptions. All formats, periodicals,
languages and levels of treatment are collected. The
collection's strength is the 20th century and includes
numerous unpublished reports and papers that are unique to
the collection. The Hawaiian Collection is housed on the
fifth floor of Hamilton Library and is accessible during
proscribed periods. Call 956-7204 for library hours.
Visit:
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~speccoll/hawaii.html
The primary focus of the Romanzo Adams Social Research Laboratory (RASRL) research program has always been race relations. Since race relations is a factor in all facets of society, it has been the lens through which the RASRL research program has addressed many related topics: population, cultural conflict, the impact of the war on territorial Hawai'i society, industrial relations, the changing family, and social disorganization. The research program covered over forty years of social history in Hawai'i. The most notable characteristic of the program is the cumulative character of the research. The forty years of activity resulted in the accumulation of files of reports, student papers, records, news clippings, statistical data, population charts, and maps. The Laboratory was also responsible for numerous studies and reports, primarily appearing in the pages of Social Process in Hawai'i and in the less formally published "What People in Hawai'i are Saying and Doing." Currently, the Andrew W. Lind Social Process in Hawai'i Fund, established in 1986, supports the publication of Social Process in Hawai'i. Complete runs of Social Process in Hawai'i and of "What People in Hawai'i are Saying and Doing" are available at the Hawaiian Collection, Hamilton Library, 5th Floor.
Romanzo Adams Social Research Laboratory records consist of several separate series. One of the early accessions consists of clippings files (Manuscript A1979:042b). These clippings come from Hawai'i newspapers on numerous ethnic, cultural, and sociological topics, covering the years 1924 to 1966. Also included in the RASRL records are papers from the late Dr. Andrew Lind. The following are currently available to the public: the Confidential Research Files, 1942-1957 (Manuscript A1989:006) of letters, interviews, and diaries, along with background information on the subjects and the War Brides Interview Project, 1953-1956 (Manuscript A1989:007).
The University of Hawai'i Archives are
located in both Sinclair and Hamilton Libraries. Access to
the archival materials is therefore usually by prior
appointment. Contact the University Archivist through the
Department of Special Collections in Hamilton Library, by
telephoning 956-8264 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:45
p.m.
Visit:
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~speccoll/arch/rasrl/
http://libweb.hawaii.edu/libdept/archives/
The Hawai'i War Records Depository (HWRD) is a collection of materials dealing with World War II as it affected Hawai'i and its residents. The holdings of Hawai'i War Records Depository (HWRD) includes manuscripts (official records of the military government, the territorial government, city/county governments, and various committees which had official and semiofficial status; personal diaries and journals, essays written by students at the University of Hawai'i about their war time experiences, accounts of nurses, doctors, educators, ordinary people; reports of business enterprises, publications and reports from schools, military units' newspapers and yearbooks), photographs, ephemera, newspapers, and catalogs.
The card catalog for the Hawai'i War Records
Depository is available in the reading room of Special
Collections in Hamilton Library whenever the room is open to
the public. Request forms for access to HWRD materials are
available at the reference desk in the Special Collections
reading room. Special Collections staff need twenty-four
hours lead time between receiving the request form and
having the materials available for patron use. Materials are
not available on weekends.
Visit:
http://libweb.hawaii.edu/digicoll/hwrd/HWRD_html/HWRD_welcome.htm
The Archives of the Hawaiian Pineapple
Company/Dole Corporation span the years 1901-1988, years
when pineapple was a signature product of Hawai'i. The
Archives include scrapbooks of newspaper clippings, magazine
articles, and other materials from 1907 to 1969, and a
photocopy of these scrapbooks; corporate records of board
minutes and annual reports from 1901 to 1971; newsletters
issued by the company, 1937 to 1988; Lana'i historical and
social information; photographs; engineering drawings;
films, videotapes, slides and audio recordings; and over 300
posters, advertisements, store displays, and labels for
canned products. The Dole archives is located in Special
Collections on the fifth floor of Hamilton Library. An
appointment is required to examine these materials.
Visit:
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~speccoll/hawaiidole.html
The Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association (HSPA)
Plantation Archives holds business records from numerous
sugar companies. These records include minutes of directors'
and stockholders' meetings, annual reports, land records,
stocks and bonds, charters, audits; correspondence;
cultivation contracts; financial records; personnel and
payroll records; production records; and assorted items such
as maps, blueprints, and posters. Access to the HSPA
Plantation Archives, which is located in the Special
Collections Room, Hamilton, on the 5th Floor, is by
appointment.
Visit:
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~speccoll/hawaiihspa.html
Two other special collections are Government
Documents and the Map Collection, both located on the ground
floor of Hamilton Library.
Visit:
Government Documents:
http://library.manoa.hawaii.edu/departments/govdocs/index.html
Map Collection:
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~mapcoll/#Location
The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum Archives
holds collections of manuscripts, photographs, artwork, oral
histories, commercial sound recordings, and maps from the
late 18th through the 20th centuries. A search of Bishop's
archives can be done through the UHCARL online system.
Bishop Museum is located at 1525 Bernice Street in Kalihi;
call the archives at 848-4182.
Visit:
http://www.bishopmuseum.org/research/cultstud/libarch/
The Hawai'i State Archives contains
government records: Executive Branch minutes, which includes
correspondence, reports, plans, registers, certificates and
ledgers documenting activities of the executive branch
agencies from 1840 to the present; Legislative records, such
as bills, committee reports, journals, testimonies,
petitions, messages, communications and minutes from 1840 to
present; Judiciary records of 19th and early 20th century
probate, divorce, criminal, civil, equity, law and admiralty
case files, minute books and wills; and Governor's records,
which includes: correspondence; speeches; press releases;
reports; and, proclamations of the chief executive of the
territory and the state from 1900 to 1986. The Archives also
contains: collections of private papers, manuscripts and
records documenting the social, economic, civic or political
history of Hawai'i; the Captain Cook Memorial Collection and
the Paul Markham Kahn Collection; 100,000 photographs of
Hawai'i people and places; 1,881 maps; and, 385 artifacts.
Although most archival material must be requested, a good
deal of useful material for novice researchers is available
on the shelves in the reading room. The State Archives is
located on the I'olani Palace grounds at King and Richards
streets in downtown Honolulu.
Visit:
http://www.hawaii.gov/dags/archives/
The Hawaiian Historical Society has a
large collection of books and pamphlets as well as
newspaper, photograph, broadside, and map collections. The
library's main focus is on the history of Hawai'i and the
Pacific in the 19th century. The Society is located at
560 Kawa'ihao Street in downtown Honolulu.
Visit:
http://www.hawaiianhistory.org/