Hawaiian Kingdom Archive

Hawaiian Kingdom Archive
Name	Hawaiian Kingdom Archive
Established	19th century (legislative and royal origins)
Location	Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
Type	National archive / historical archive
Collection size	Millions of items (manuscripts, maps, photographs)
Director	(various custodians and curators)

Hawaiian Kingdom Archive is a central repository of primary source material relating to the 19th-century Kingdom of Hawaii, its monarchs, ministries, foreign relations, and native institutions. The archive preserves royal correspondence, legislative acts, land records, diplomatic dispatches, cartographic surveys, and visual media that document interactions with nations such as United States, United Kingdom, France, Japan, and Spain. Researchers consult materials connected to figures like Kamehameha III, Kamehameha IV, Kamehameha V, King Kalākaua, Queen Liliʻuokalani, and officials from ministries including Gerrit P. Judd, John Owen Dominis, and Samuel Gardner Wilder.

History and Establishment

Origins trace to the royal chancery and the legislative clerks of the Hawaiian Kingdom during reigns of Kamehameha II and Kamehameha III, with early registers created alongside the 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii and subsequent constitutional revisions. Collections expanded under administrators like Timoteo Haʻalilio and diplomats such as Gerrit P. Judd and were augmented by treaties including the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875 and the Treaty of Friendship and Commerce (1849). Following annexation events linked to the Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii and the Newlands Resolution, custodianship shifted among entities including the Provisional Government of Hawaii, the Territory of Hawaii, and later bodies like the Bishop Museum and Hawaii State Archives. Preservation practices reflect influences from archival standards promulgated by institutions such as the National Archives and Records Administration and partnerships with universities like the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Collections and Holdings

Holdings encompass royal letters from Lunalilo, Bernice Pauahi Bishop, and Princess Kaʻiulani; legislative journals from the House of Nobles (Hawaiian Kingdom) and the House of Representatives (Hawaiian Kingdom); land registries including Mahele grants and ʻāina records; and diplomatic correspondence involving envoys like John Mākini Kapena and William Little Lee. Cartographic materials include surveys by Charles Wilkes and charts used by Captain James Cook expeditions; photographic collections hold albums by F. B. Krauss and studio portraits by Isaiah W. Taber. Legal documents feature royal proclamations, pardons signed by Kamehameha IV, and legal opinions by jurists such as Chief Justice William H. DeWitt. Manuscript items include hymnals associated with missionaries such as Samuel C. Damon, school records from institutions like Kamehameha Schools, and shipping manifests involving companies like Alexander & Baldwin and C. Brewer & Co.. Ephemera spans posters from Kalākaua’s coronation, menus from royal banquets featuring visitors like Mark Twain, and treaties including the Convention of Kanagawa-era correspondences.

Preservation and Digitization Efforts

Conservation initiatives draw on methods advocated by the Library of Congress and involve climate-controlled repositories, paper deacidification, and photographic stabilization inspired by practices at the British Library and the National Library of Australia. Digitization projects have been undertaken in collaboration with institutions such as the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Bishop Museum to create high-resolution scans, metadata schemas compatible with the Dublin Core-based frameworks used by digital repositories, and IIIF-compliant manifests for online viewing. Grants from entities like the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and partnerships with tech vendors facilitate OCR, transcription crowdsourcing modeled after Transcribe Bentham, and georeferencing derived from standards used by the David Rumsey Map Collection.

Legal Status and Ownership Disputes

Questions of custodianship and title reference historical events such as the Bayonet Constitution, the Overthrow of the Kingdom of Hawaii, and the later Apology Resolution debates concerning legal continuity between the Kingdom of Hawaii and the State of Hawaii. Competing claims have been advanced by lineal descendants of monarchs including claimants related to Queen Liliʻuokalani and organizations such as the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, advocacy groups like Hawaiian Kingdom Government (restorationist), and private collectors who acquired papers during transitions involving the Provisional Government of Hawaii and the Territory of Hawaii. International law aspects cite instruments like the Geneva Conventions in broader cultural property contexts and precedents from repatriation cases involving the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and claims adjudicated with reference to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Access, Use, and Public Outreach

Access policies vary: some series are available through partner portals managed by the Hawaii State Archives and the Bishop Museum; others require appointment-based consultation within reading rooms modeled after the National Archives (UK). Educational outreach includes exhibitions curated with entities like the Honolulu Museum of Art, lecture series featuring scholars from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, and collaborations with cultural practitioners from organizations such as Kamehameha Schools and Hoʻokele Hawaiian Language Program. Reproductions adhere to protocols influenced by the Creative Commons movement and institutional licenses used by the Digital Public Library of America for public-domain materials; scholarly use often intersects with projects funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Notable Documents and Exhibits

Highlights include original drafts of the 1840 Constitution of the Kingdom of Hawaii, proclamations issued by Kamehameha III, correspondence between Queen Emma and British officials, land division records from the Great Māhele, and diplomatic dispatches concerning the Paulet Affair. Exhibits have showcased artifacts linked to Kalākaua's coronation regalia, navies that visited Hawaiian ports including vessels of the Royal Navy and the United States Navy, and portrait series of aliʻi featuring likenesses of Keʻelikōlani and Mataio Kekūanaōʻa. Long-term displays recount episodes from the Reciprocity Treaty of 1875, the Annexation of Hawaii, and cultural revival movements tied to modern groups such as Hoʻolaulāʻau and scholarly exhibitions drawn from collaborations with the Bishop Museum and the Honolulu Academy of Arts.

Category:Archives in Hawaii Category:History of Hawaii Category:Kingdom of Hawaii