HCGS Meeting Oct 13, 2018 - Hawaii State Archives

The October 13th, 2018 meeting of the Honolulu County Genealogical Society highlighted the excellent presentation by the Hawaii State Archivist, Adam Jensen.  He is a wealth of knowledge about Hawaiian records in the Archives in Honolulu, near the Iolani Palace and State Capitol  Thanks to Bev Burden for the notes on his presentation.

Adam Jensen, Hawaii State Archivist

“Genealogy Resources at the Hawaii State Archives”, Adam Jensen
o Requirements for Accessing the Archives
     ▪ Valid government ID
     ▪  Register/check-in (registration valid for 2 years)
     ▪ Lockers to store belongings
     ▪ Security: No extraneous materials/belongings may be brought into the Archives
     ▪ Parking options
o General overview of genealogy resources available at the State Archives
     ▪ Birth, death, marriage & divorce records
     ▪ Wills, probates
     ▪ Immigration records, ship passenger manifests
     ▪ Citizenship Records
     ▪ Census Records
     ▪ Hawaiian Records
     ▪ Other Historical Collections (documents/photographs)
o Using/Accessing Online Resources
     ▪ Finding Aids
     ▪ Research Aids
     ▪ Digital Collections
o Adam’s presentation included in-depth discussion of time span coverage for each collection, mostly related to the date Hawaii became a Territory of the United States. He also discussed other limiting factors related to genealogical research that are unique to Hawaii, including ethnic traditions, literacy, multi-ethnic populations speaking different languages, and influx of immigrant populations. One example of such complexities includes the manner in which immigrant laborers were identified on entering the Port of Honolulu: Rather than listing vital information such as name, date and place of birth for each immigrant arriving from each ship, immigration officials commonly just documented “50 Japanese laborers”, etc.

o Adam also enumerated examples of items that cannot be accessed at the Archives, and which governmental entities possess such items.

o Handouts were provided to all meeting participants, including an outline summary of the presentation, as well as a State