Hawai‘i Capital Historic District and the History of Postwar American Government Centers by Daniel M. Abramson Professor of Architectural History and Director of Architectural Studies, Department of History of Art & Architecture, Boston University I am an architectural history professor at Boston University currently researching a book focused upon postwar American government complexes, including the Hawai‘i State Capitol and nearby 1960s and 1970s municipal, federal, and state buildings in the Civic Center's landscaped setting. In 2023, when I contacted the Hawai‘i State Archives, I was fortunate that an archivist, Carol Kellett, drew my attention to the 2019 symposium, “Democracy by Design, The Hawai‘i State Capitol at 50," organized by a governor- and legislature-appointed task force that included the Historic Hawaii Foundation (HHF), Hawai‘i State Archives, State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, DAGS, local architects and planners, legislators and then-First Lady, Dawn Amano-Ige. The recorded presentations are available on the HHF website and YouTube. Prior to my recent visit to the Hawai'i State Archives, I was thus able to learn from the symposium's impressive speakers and their presentations. The talks, especially by Don Hibbard, Bettina Mehnert, David Miller, Katie Stephens, and Kelema Moses, feature invaluable information, primary sources, and extensive images about the history of the State Capitol and Civic Center planning dating back to the 1930s; the evolution of the Capitol Building design; and the cast of significant politicians, businessmen, citizens, and architects involved in the process. The Historic Hawaii Foundation's online Capital Historic District story map is also a fantastic resource, as is the booklet by Don Hibbard, Democracy By Design: The Planning and Development of the Hawaii State Capitol, which makes accessible much of the Symposium's content. I was thus [...]