Happy 40th Anniversary to HHF! Historic Hawai‘i Foundation’s official launch date as a nonprofit organization was June 12, 1974. At that time, a dynamic and diverse group of highly skilled and courageous individuals came together with a common vision to preserve the unique historic places that make Hawai‘i special and relay the story of Hawai‘i’s exceptional history. Three of the founders and current HHF members, Bob Fox, Jan Atkins and [...]

On October 11, 2013 some 55 people gathered at the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i to discuss the preservation and future interpretation of the Japanese American confinement camp and WWII prisoner of war camp that was operated in Honouliuli Gulch from 1943 to 1945. During the years of WWII, several hundred first and second generation Japanese Americans, as well as thousands of prisoners of war were incarcerated at Honouliuli detention [...]

By Peter Apo, Trustee, Office of Hawaiian Affairs This month’s column is inspired by two recent experiences, one as master of ceremonies for the 39th Historic Preservation Awards staged by the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation, and the other as master of ceremonies for a memorial service at the Waikiki Natatorium War Memorial.  You should know that I am an outspoken and undeterred advocate of preserving the Natatorium.  So I guess I [...]

By David Zevenbergen, Hawai‘i Department of Transportation, & Kashmira Reid, Lyon Associate Established in 1991, the National Scenic Byways Program includes a distinctive collection of National Scenic Byways and All-American Roads, their stories and treasured places. Modeled after the national program, the Hawaii State Department of Transportation (HDOT) in 2008 developed a state-wide Scenic Byway program to recognize locally significant corridors featuring archeological, cultural, historical, recreational, scenic and/or natural qualities. [...]

By Kevin Kawamoto The Wakamiya Inari Shrine at Hawaii’s Plantation Village in Waipahu has a new roof – and much more – thanks to contributions from numerous community members, businesses and the Freeman Foundation, in a generous grant administered by the Historic Hawai‘i Foundation. The new roof marks a just-in-time triumph for this apple-red Shinto Shrine after its weathered shingles littered the grounds and leaks threatened its interior, housing an [...]

On December 7, 1941, Hawai‘i was attacked by the Japanese Empire’s naval and air forces. Immediately following those attacks, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066. This order authorized the exclusion of persons of Japanese ancestry from the entire Pacific coast. Citizens with as little as one-sixteenth percent of Japanese blood were placed in internment camps. Without judicial process, nearly 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry were detained in War [...]