A Must-Visit for History Buffs: The Hawaiian Historical Society

Studio Portrait of Lili‘uokalani, circa 1881, photographer unknown. Photograph Collection, Hawaiian Historical Society

It’s exciting to stumble on a place you weren’t aware of, especially when it turns out to be a historical treasure trove. The Hawaiian Historical Society library, located on the grounds of Hawaiian Mission Houses, is a nonprofit society established in 1892. Its mission: to “preserve, present and publish on the history of Hawai‘i and the Pacific.” As such, it keeps an extraordinary archive of photos, books and other materials that document the Islands’ rich, complicated past. Among its collection are publications on early voyages, newspapers published in English and ‘Ōlelo Hawai‘i and maps.

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I found HHS, as it’s known, via Facebook. I had been on the hunt for historical photos, so I contacted HHS Executive Director Cynthia Engle. During our meeting at the library, she gave me an overview of the collection, photos featured here of the former Honolulu Academy of Arts, which opened in April 1927, and of Queen Lili‘uokalani, who founded the former Lili‘uokalani Elementary in Kaimukī in April 1912. “Queen Lili‘uokalani was the first patroness of HHS in 1892. She was still queen at that point,” Engle shared.

Honolulu Academy of Arts, circa 1920s, photo by L.E. Edgeworth. Photograph Collection, Hawaiian Historical Society

Along with inviting the public to browse its reading room by appointment, the society publishes The Hawaiian Journal of History, with original articles and research on the history of Hawai‘i and the Pacific. It also organizes public lectures and prints an annual calendar identifying significant dates in Hawaiian history.

560 Kawaiaha‘o St., (808) 537-6271, hawaiianhistory.org, @hawaiianhistory