PreservationNation

Written by Katie Kastner

Foundation discovered at Honouliuli. (Photo: Jill Radke)

I have been a Partners in the Field Representative with Historic Hawai‘i Foundation (HHF) in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation for the past year. In that time I have had the opportunity to explore many important themes in the history of Hawai‘i, work with and learn about the diverse cultures represented here, and understand that wide range of experiences that different cultures have had in Hawai‘i.

The history of Hawai‘i and the development of the military in the state cannot be told without the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The impact of this attack occurring in such a multicultural territory of the U.S. had profound cultural effects and ultimately changed the cultural dynamics in the islands during this time because of the fear that it struck in those living here in Hawai‘i and throughout the U.S.

On February 19, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which led to 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry to be detained in camps across the country. In Hawai‘i at this time about 40% of the population was of Japanese descent. Approximately 1,440 people were interned, most of them of Japanese descent, but some of German and Italian ancestry as well. On the island of O‘ahu, detainees were first held at the Sand Island detention center before being moved to the Honouliuli camp, which opened March 1, 1943.

Until just a few years ago, little was known about the location of World War II Japanese Internment camps in Hawai‘i. In fact many people, including myself, were unaware that any Japanese internment camp sites remained in Hawaii. The Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i (JCCH) began researching these sites in an effort to determine where these camps were located and what, if any, evidence of them remains.

Site feature at Honouliuli (Photo: Jill Radke)

JCCH has been working with various organizations including HHF, the University of Hawai‘i, the State Historic Preservation Division, the National Park Service (NPS), and others to identify, preserve and interpret the Japanese internment camp experience in Hawai‘i. Their work has resulted in the identification of internment sites of various sizes on all of the Hawaiian islands. This work has unveiled an important piece of history from the recent past that had until recently been largely unexplored.

On April 23, 2009 Senators Daniel K. Inouye and Daniel K. Akaka introduced a bill to determine if World War II internment campsites in Hawai‘i may be eligible for listing as “units of the National Park System.” In July, the NPS gave out $960,000 in grant money to fund work to preserve and interpret Japanese internment camp sites throughout the country. Grants to organizations in Hawai‘i include several projects:

• Hawaii Heritage Center
  Administration Building and Fire House Existing Condition Analysis Report Honouliuli Internment Camp, Honolulu County, HI
  $58,600
• Japanese Cultural Center of Hawaii
  Hawai’i Confinement Sites Project Traveling Exhibit
  Multiple sites and counties in Hawaii
  $43,187
• University of Hawai‘i
  Multidisciplinary Research and Education at
  Honouliuli Internment Camp Honouliuli Internment Camp, Honolulu County, HI
  $26,148
• University of Hawai‘i Center for Oral History Honolulu
  Captive on the U.S. Mainland: Oral Histories of Hawaii-Born Nisei
  Multiple sites and counties in Hawai‘i
  $14,955

The work funded will lead to a fuller interpretation of the Japanese internment camp experience in Hawai‘i and lead to the preservation of these important sites as venues to education the public about these stories.

Recently JCCH nominated Honouliuli to the Hawai‘i Register of Historic Places after conducting an archaeological survey of the former internment camp site. The nomination is on the agenda for the Hawai‘i Historic Places Review Board’s August 8, 2009 meeting.

Katie Kastner is director of field services for the Historic Hawai’i Foundation.

Support the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Donate now.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 3:20 pm and is filed under asian pacific american heritage, partners in the field. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.