HistoricHawaii

Historic Hawai‘i Foundation held its 44th Annual Meeting on June 20, 2018 at The Novelty Foundry, built in 1930, and presently owned by HHF Members Bob and Teri Bosley. This playful space houses an extensive collection of Hawaiiana, classic cars and memorabilia.  Attendees took a trip down memory lane as they perused black and white photos, neon signs, old-fashioned telephones, fire hydrants and other historic items as a vintage toy train sped along its track suspended from the ceiling.  Please check out the photo gallery below of the fascinating collection! Joanna Oshiro, who has served as HHF's board president since 2016, opened the meeting. She remarked that one of the great joys of the past year was HHF’s extensive engagement with communities across the state.  Meetings held with members and supporters were a productive opportunity to hear what was on their minds and contributed towards our collective effort to preserve and save Hawai‘i’s historic places. 2017 Annual Report VIEW (PDF) 2018-19 Board of Trustees VIEW (Link) New members of the board, Rick Kiefer, Wendy Rice Peterson, Greg Pietsch and Vernon Wong, were warmly welcomed and returning trustees, Ricky Ching, Joy Davidson, Donne Dawson, J. Scott Meidell, and Jennifer Zelko-Schlueter were enthusiastically re-elected.  A warm mahalo was given to departing trustees Lance Parker, Nancy Maeda, and Rick Houck for their years of service. Natalia Lagmay delivered her first address as the new president of the Board for 2018-2019.  We are grateful to all of our past and present trustees for their commitment and support of our organization. The business meeting and elections were followed by a special presentation about the history of the meeting venue given by trustee Jim Niess and property owner Bob Bosley.  Jim shared his experience during the late 1960s of joining a group of friends to convert The Novelty Foundry, formerly a casting shop [...]

Kaimukī Town Tour: Architecture, History, Food & Art The Discover Kaimukī Town Tour on July 21 was a sold out event bringing together history, architecture, youth, art, local lore, business and food. Sixty event guests were joined by an impressive entourage of volunteers for a walking tour event that showcased the unique history and architecture of a thriving historic neighborhood with many stories to share. The five-stop tour shared numerous tidbits of architectural buildings such as Lee & Lee Building (built 1947); YF Zane Building (built 1930) and Coffee Talk’s home (built 1967) between 9th and 12th on Wai‘alae Avenue. Enhancing the architectural history was a dive into the cultural history of the area including the origin of Kaimukī’s name, it’s significance in prehistoric Hawai‘i, the development of the “Kaimukī Tract” between 1898 and 1920 and the eventual building of the Lunalilo Freeway (H-1) and its impact on the community. The event was a truly collaborative experience led by HHF and its Preservation Programs Committee and enlisting many partners including students Alexus Delaury, Josiah Smith and Cameron Hersh, from Hawai‘i Technical Academy, SEEQs charter school and Mid-Pacific Institute, respectively. The students played major roles in researching the architectural history of specific buildings and delivering impressive presentations as docents at three stops along the tour. The students were excited to participate as a summer volunteer project and HHF was thrilled to harness the opportunity to delve more deeply into mentorship and youth preservation education. Also on hand as a volunteer docent was Raechelle Villaneuva, a teacher at the Kaimukī Elementary Charter School. Raechelle wowed everyone with her absolute passion for Kaimukī (born and raised there) and her stories of connection to this special [...]