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Plague and Fire: Battling Black Death and the 1900 Burning of Honolulu's Chinatown

James C. Mohr

The bubonic plague reached Hawaii for the first time in 1899, just as the archipelago was being annexed by the US. To deal with the epidemic, governmental authorities granted absolute emergency ... More

The bubonic plague reached Hawaii for the first time in 1899, just as the archipelago was being annexed by the US. To deal with the epidemic, governmental authorities granted absolute emergency powers to the Honolulu Board of Health. Committed to the new science of bacteriology, the Board physicians eventually decided to burn buildings where victims had died, hoping thereby to destroy any remaining plague bacilli. On January 20, 1900, one of those controlled burns burgeoned into a larger inferno that obliterated the Chinatown section of the city. In a few hours, over 5,000 people lost everything they had and were marched to detention camps where they were held under armed guard. Next to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, this remains the worst civic disaster in Hawaiian history, and probably the worst civic disaster ever to result from an American public health initiative. In the larger context of medical history, ethnic studies, and American imperialism, this book tells the story of how that catastrophe came about and how the principal racial and ethnic groups in Honolulu — Chinese, Japanese, Hawaiians, and whites — responded to the crisis.Less

Suffragists in an Imperial Age: U.S. Expansion and the Woman Question, 1870–1929

Allison L. Sneider

In 1899, Carrie Chapman Catt, who succeeded Susan B. Anthony as head of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, argued that it was the “duty” of U.S. women to help lift the inhabitants of ... More

In 1899, Carrie Chapman Catt, who succeeded Susan B. Anthony as head of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, argued that it was the “duty” of U.S. women to help lift the inhabitants of new island possessions in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii up from “barbarism” to “civilization,” a project that would presumably demonstrate the capacity of U.S. women for full citizenship and political rights. Catt, like many suffragists in her day, was well versed in the language of empire and infused the cause of suffrage with imperialist zeal in public debate. Unlike their predecessors, who were working for votes for women within the context of slavery and abolition, the next generation of suffragists argued their case against the backdrop of U.S. expansionism in Indian and Mormon territory at home as well as overseas in the Philippines, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. This book examines these simultaneous political movements—woman suffrage and American imperialism—as inextricably intertwined phenomena, instructively complicating the histories of both.Less

Braided Waters: Environment and Society in Molokai, Hawai'i

Wade Graham

This book sheds new light on the relationship between environment and society by charting the history of Hawaii's Molokai island over a thousand-year period of repeated settlement. From the arrival ... More

This book sheds new light on the relationship between environment and society by charting the history of Hawaii's Molokai island over a thousand-year period of repeated settlement. From the arrival of the first Polynesians to contact with eighteenth-century European explorers and traders to our present era, this book shows how the control of resources—especially water—in a fragile, highly variable environment has had profound effects on the history of Hawaii. The book examines the ways in which environmental variation repeatedly shapes human social and economic structures and how, in turn, man-made environmental degradation influences and reshapes societies. A key finding of this study is how deep structures of place interact with distinct cultural patterns across different societies to produce similar social and environmental outcomes, in both the Polynesian and modern eras—a case of historical isomorphism with profound implications for global environmental history.Less

Oh Capitano!: Celso Cesare Moreno - Adventurer, Cheater, and Scoundrel on Four Continents

Rudolph J. Vecoli and Francesco Durante

Donna R. Gabaccia (ed.)

Italian adventurer and sea captain Celso Cesare Moreno traveled the world lying, scheming, and building an extensive patron/client network to establish his reputation as a middleman and person of ... More

Italian adventurer and sea captain Celso Cesare Moreno traveled the world lying, scheming, and building an extensive patron/client network to establish his reputation as a middleman and person of significance. Through his machinations, Moreno became a critical player in the expansion of western trade and imperialism in Asia, the trafficking of migrant workers and children in the Atlantic, the conflicts of Americans and Native Hawaiians over the fate of Hawaii, and the imperial competitions of French, British, Italian, and American governments in an important era of imperial expansion during the nineteenth century. This book teases out Moreno's enormous peculiarities and fascination as well as his significance. It examines how he repeatedly sought a role at the center of a globalizing world with gusto and had no qualms about lying or betraying others. Dragged by his uncontrollable polemical passions, the old Captain died alone, unloved by anyone and with no meaningful relations to others. With its focus on Moreno, this book illustrates some of the most puzzling cultural traits of emigrant Italian elites. Called a “carpetbagger,” “land pirate,” “extinct volcano,” among many other derogatory monikers, Celso emerges in this fascinating biography as a multifaceted, chameleon-like personality not reducible to a single epithet.Less

Imperial Archipelago: Representation and Rule in the Insular Territories under U.S. Dominion after 1898

Lanny Thompson

This book is a comparative study of the symbolic representations, both textual and photographic, of Cuba, Guam, Hawaii, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico that appeared in popular and official ... More

This book is a comparative study of the symbolic representations, both textual and photographic, of Cuba, Guam, Hawaii, the Philippines, and Puerto Rico that appeared in popular and official publications in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War of 1898. It examines the connections between these representations and the forms of rule established by the United States in each at the turn of the century—thus answering the question why different governments were set up in the five sites. The book critically engages and elaborates on the postcolonial thesis that symbolic representations are a means to conceive, mobilize, and justify colonial rule. Colonial discourses construe cultural differences among colonial subjects with the intent to rule them differently; in other words, representations are neither mere reflections of material interests nor inconsequential fantasies, rather they are fundamental to colonial practice. To demonstrate this, the book analyzes, on the one hand, the differences among the representations of the islands in popular, illustrated books about the “new possessions” and the official reports produced by U.S. colonial administrators. On the other, it explicates the connections between these distinct representations and the governments actually established. A comparative analysis is provided of the legal arguments that took place in the leading law journals of the day, the Congressional debates, the laws that established governments, and the decisions of the Supreme Court that validated these laws.Less

Immigrants to the Pure Land: The Modernization, Acculturation, and Globalization of Shin Buddhism, 1898-1941

Michihiro Ama

Religious acculturation is typically seen as a one-way process: The dominant religious culture imposes certain behavioral patterns, ethical standards, social values, and organizational and legal ... More

Religious acculturation is typically seen as a one-way process: The dominant religious culture imposes certain behavioral patterns, ethical standards, social values, and organizational and legal requirements onto the immigrant religious tradition. This investigation of the early period of Jōdo Shinshū in Hawaii and the United States sets a new standard for investigating the processes of religious acculturation and a radically new way of thinking about these processes. The use of materials spans the Pacific as the book draws on never-before-studied archival works in Japan as well as the United States. More important, it locates immigrant Jōdo Shinshū at the interface of two expansionist nations. Because Jōdo Shinshū’s institutional history in the United States and the Pacific occurs at a contested interface, the book defines its acculturation as a dual process of both “Japanization” and “Americanization.” It explores in detail the activities of individual Shin Buddhist ministers responsible for making specific decisions regarding the practice of Jodo Shinshu in local sanghas. By focusing so closely, the book reveals the contestation of immigrant communities faced with discrimination and exploitation in their new homes and with changing messages from Japan. The strategies employed, whether accommodation to the dominant religious culture or assertion of identity, uncover the history of an American church in the making.Less

Empire in Waves: A Political History of Surfing

Scott Laderman

Surfing today invokes many things: thundering waves, warm beaches, bikinis, lifeguards, and carefree pleasure. But is the story of surfing really as simple as popular culture suggests? From American ... More

Surfing today invokes many things: thundering waves, warm beaches, bikinis, lifeguards, and carefree pleasure. But is the story of surfing really as simple as popular culture suggests? From American empire-building in the Pacific to the surf industry’s reliance on sweatshop labor, Empire in Waves argues that the modern history of surfing is intimately tied to the global developments since the nineteenth century. Surfing was used as an imperial instrument in post-annexation Hawaii. It spawned a form of tourism that conquered the littoral third world. Surfing was even embraced as a diplomatic weapon in America’s Cold War arsenal. From Indonesia to South Africa and points between, the modern history of this cherished pastime, in other words, is hardly an uncomplicated story of beachside bliss. Sometimes messy, occasionally contentious, but never dull, surfing offers a new way of viewing our globalizing world.Less

Haoles in Hawaii

Judy Rohrer

This book strives to make sense of haole (white person/whiteness in Hawaii) and “the politics of haole” in current debates about race in Hawaii. Recognizing it as a form of American whiteness ... More

This book strives to make sense of haole (white person/whiteness in Hawaii) and “the politics of haole” in current debates about race in Hawaii. Recognizing it as a form of American whiteness specific to Hawaii, the book argues that haole was forged and reforged over two centuries of colonization and needs to be understood in that context. Haole reminds us that race is about more than skin color as it identifies a certain amalgamation of attitude and behavior that is at odds with Hawaiian and local values and social norms. By situating haole historically and politically, the author asks readers to think about ongoing processes of colonization and possibilities for reformulating the meaning of haole.Less

Fighting in Paradise: Labor Unions, Racism, and Communists in the Making of Modern Hawaii

Gerald Horne

Powerful labor movements played a critical role in shaping modern Hawaii, beginning in the 1930s, when International Longshore and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) representatives were dispatched to the ... More

Powerful labor movements played a critical role in shaping modern Hawaii, beginning in the 1930s, when International Longshore and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) representatives were dispatched to the islands to organize plantation and dock laborers. They were stunned by the feudal conditions they found in Hawaii, where the majority of workers—Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino in origin—were routinely subjected to repression and racism at the hands of white bosses. The wartime civil liberties crackdown brought union organizing to a halt; but as the war wound down, Hawaii workers' frustrations boiled over, leading to an explosive success in the forming of unions. During the 1950s, just as the ILWU began a series of successful strikes and organizing drives, the union came under McCarthyite attacks and persecution. In the midst of these allegations, Hawaii's bid for statehood was being challenged by powerful voices in Washington who claimed that admitting Hawaii to the union would be tantamount to giving the Kremlin two votes in the U.S. Senate, while Jim Crow advocates worried that Hawaii's representatives would be enthusiastic supporters of pro-civil rights legislation. Hawaii's extensive social welfare system and the continuing power of unions to shape the state politically are a direct result of those troubled times. This book details for the first time how radicalism and racism helped shape Hawaii in the twentieth century.Less

Developing a Dream Destination: Tourism and Tourism Policy Planning in Hawaii

James Mak

This is an interpretive history of tourism and tourism policy development in Hawaii from the 1960s to the twenty-first century. Part 1 looks at the many changes in tourism since statehood (1959) and ... More

This is an interpretive history of tourism and tourism policy development in Hawaii from the 1960s to the twenty-first century. Part 1 looks at the many changes in tourism since statehood (1959) and tourism’s imprint on Hawaii. Part 2 reviews the development of public policy toward tourism, beginning with a story of the planning process that started around 1970—a full decade before the first comprehensive State Tourism Plan was crafted and implemented. It also examines state government policies and actions taken relative to the taxation of tourism, tourism promotion, convention center development and financing, the environment, Honolulu County’s efforts to improve Waikiki, and how the Neighbor Islands have coped with explosive tourism growth. Along the way, the book offers interpretations of what has worked, what has not, and why. It concludes with a chapter on the lessons learned while developing a dream destination over the past half century.Less

Facing the Spears of Change: The Life and Legacy of John Papa `I`i

Marie Alohalani Brown

Facing the Spears of Change takes a close look at the extraordinary life of John Papa ʻĪʻī. Over the years, ʻĪʻī faced many personal and political changes and challenges in rapid succession, which he ... More

Facing the Spears of Change takes a close look at the extraordinary life of John Papa ʻĪʻī. Over the years, ʻĪʻī faced many personal and political changes and challenges in rapid succession, which he skillfully parried or grasped firmly and then used to fend off other attacks. He began serving in the household of Kamehameha I as an attendant in 1810, when he was ten. As an attendant, ʻĪʻī was highly familiar with the inner workings of the royal household. He went on to become an influential statesman, privy to the shifting modes of governance adopted by the Hawaiian kingdom. ʻĪʻī’s intelligence and his good standing with those he served resulted in a great degree of influence with the Hawaiian government, with his fellow Hawaiians, and with the missionaries residing in the Hawaiian Islands. At the end of his life, he also became a memoirist and biographer, who published accounts of key events in his own life and in the lives of others during the sixty years that he served his kings, his nation, and his people. As a privileged spectator and key participant, his accounts of aliʻi (nobles) and his insights into early nineteenth-century Hawaiian cultural-religious practices are unsurpassed.Less

Kuleana and Commitment: Working toward a Collaborative Hawaiian Archaeology

Kathleen L. Kawelu

The sociopolitical climate of Hawaii has changed substantially in recent decades, and archaeologists working to decipher the islands' past are increasingly faced with a complexity of issues involving ... More

The sociopolitical climate of Hawaii has changed substantially in recent decades, and archaeologists working to decipher the islands' past are increasingly faced with a complexity of issues involving Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian) concerns. This book examines the entangled interactions between Kanaka Maoli and archaeologists in Hawaii by conducting an ethnographic investigation of the discipline of archaeology itself. It explores the development of Hawaiian archaeology, discusses important cases of the recent past, and focuses on the interpersonal relationships between these two key groups involved in heritage management in Hawaii. By revealing and understanding the contemporary attitudes of Kanaka Maoli and archaeologists toward each other, the book suggests a change in trajectory toward a more collaborative approach in practicing Hawaiian archaeology. The book taps into collective narratives that reveal two overarching themes. The first narrative speaks about the continuation of Kanaka Maoli cultural practices and beliefs, for example, kuleana (responsibility); the second speaks about the kind of commitment to Hawaiian archaeology and Kanaka Maoli descendants that is desired from archaeologists. Requests for respect, communication, and partnership are heard in the narratives. These same qualities also serve as the foundation for community-based archaeology, which challenges the exclusive access of archaeologists to the past and places the discipline and its practitioners among a broader group of stakeholders, particularly descendant communities.Less