Ka Palapala

The Hawaiian Collection often services community members who are researching genealogies. One popular tool is Ka Palapala, the University of Hawaii-Manoa yearbook, which was published from 1916 through 1968. Recently, such a researcher was poring through yearbooks for photos of her uncle, a star athlete in the 1930s. In addition to finding numerous photos of her relative, the young woman also discovered a rare photo of famed kumu hula 'Iolani Luahine, who was a freshman at the University in 1936. These kinds of serendipitous finds not only point to the research value of Ka Palapala, but are the type of small event that make our work so gratifying. (Even more gratifying: Our visitor learned that her uncle, in addition to being a student-athlete, also went on to be a multi-sport coach at the University of Hawaii -- something she had not previously known.) In this photo, kumu Luahine (second from right) poses with other members of the Freshman inter-class basketball team. For cataloging information on Ka Palapala, click here.

Hawaiian Collection curator Joan Hori has also created a bibliography of genealogical resources that are located either in Hamilton Library or on the Internet. To download a PDF version of this bibliography, click here.

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Speaking of 'Iolani Luahine, the Hawaiian & Pacific Collections reading room is currently displaying a selection of works by renowned photographer Francis Haar -- among them the portrait at right. The photos are among some 2,000 negatives, proof sheets, prints and memorabilia that were donated by Francis' son, Tom Haar, to the Library's Charlot Collection in 2008. They are on display with thanks to Bron Solyom, curator of the Charlot Collection -- for more information the Charlot Collection, click here.