Center for Oral History > Recent

Talking Hawai‘i’s Story: Oral Histories of an Island People

Talking Hawai‘i’s Story: Oral Histories of an Island People, edited by Michi Kodama-Nishimoto, Warren S. Nishimoto, and Cynthia A. Oshiro, is the first major book in over a generation to present a rich sampling of the landmark work of the Center for Oral History. Twenty-nine extensive oral histories introduce readers to the sights and sounds of territorial Waikiki, to the feeling of community in Palama, in Kona, or on the island of Lana‘i, and even to the experience of a German national interned by the military government after Pearl Harbor. The result is a collection that preserves Hawai‘i’s social and cultural history through the narratives of the people who lived it—co-workers, neighbors, family members, and friends.

Published by the University of Hawai‘i Press for the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa’s Center for Oral History and Center for Biographical Research. For more information, contact the Center for Oral History (phone: 808-956-6260).

Uchinanchu: A History of Okinawans in Hawai‘i third printing

Uchinanchu: A History of Okinawans in Hawai‘i is now in its third printing. Uchinanchu supports and promotes pride in the unique culture, history, and contributions of Okinawans in Hawai‘i. It also adds another chapter to our understanding of the islands’ rich, diverse, multi-ethnic heritage. Published by the Center for Oral History and the Hawai‘i United Okinawa Association with a grant from the Japan Foundation and with the assistance of the Center for Okinawan Studies and the Center for Japanese Studies. Distributed by the University of Hawai‘i Press.

For more information, contact the Center for Oral History (phone: 808-956-6165).

COH awards Hawai‘i State History Day prizes

The Center for Oral History presented two cash awards at the Hawai‘i State History Day held this year in April.

The awards go to Junior division (grades 6–8) and Senior division (grades 9–12) students for outstanding historical research using oral histories.

The awardees for 2009 are Jessica Green of ‘Iao Intermediate School for her documentary, “Pol Pot: Atrocities and Aftermath,” and Brett Tanonaka of ‘Aiea High School for his documentary, “Chiune Sugihara: Humanitarian Hero.” Their teachers are Suzanne Strunk and Sean Uwaine, respectively.

History Day is an annual event of the Hawai‘i Council for the Humanities. The HCH executive director is Bob Buss. COH Director Warren Nishimoto serves as the HCH chair for 2009.

Journal spotlights oral history in educational research

Qualitative methodologies are playing an increasingly prominent role in educational research. By providing opportunities to examine educational issues through individual lenses, they offer diverse perspectives on important societal issues. They also offer access to the thoughts behind the policies and actions of particular individuals.

Oral history—the collection, preservation, and dissemination of historical data obtained through planned, in-depth, life history interviews—is one qualitative methodology used by researchers to address issues relating to learning, teaching, and the role of schools in society.

Educational Perspectives, the journal of the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa College of Education, has devoted its issue number 2, volume 40, to oral history research. Guest editor Warren Nishimoto, director of the UH Center for Oral History and instructor in the Department of Educational Foundations, provides an introduction.

Edited from oral history interviews, seven narratives, preceded by biographical summaries, are contained in this issue. Interviewees include teachers Albert Like, Amy Fern, and Marion Lee Loy; lower education administrators Laurence Capellas and R. Burl Yarberry; and higher education administrators Andrew In and Harlan Cleveland.

As witnesses and participants in the developments that occurred in public education in the twentieth century, the interviewees share their observations and stories.

Single print copies may be purchased for $25 from Educational Perspectives, College of Education, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa, Wist Hall Room 113, 1776 University Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96822. Download the journal in pdf format from the College of Education website.

Project captures stories of Nisei veterans

The University of Hawai‘i at Manoa and Kapi‘olani Community College join forces in a three-year project to capture the life stories of American Hawai‘i-born World War II veterans of Japanese ancestry. The platform for public access is an interactive website with high-resolution online viewing and streaming media capability.

This community-based project, made possible with the support of former UH Manoa Chancellor Peter Englert, began in response to requests made by several Hawai‘i Americans of Japanese Ancestry (AJA) veterans for UH-Manoa to not only preserve but to tell their life stories.

The Center for Oral History will videotape and transcribe thirty life history interviews of veterans. World War II and the pre- and postwar experiences of interviewees will be placed in the context of individual lives and historical events. Interviewees will include members of the Varsity Victory Volunteers as well as veterans from each major AJA military unit, including the 100th Infantry Battalion, 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Military Intelligence Service, and 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion. Women related to veterans or who served in a military capacity will also be interviewed.

Kapi‘olani Community College Library will provide digital processing and website development, utilizing audio-clips, video-clips, historical photos, artifact images, documents, and secondary written sources, as well as full-text transcripts.

Hamilton Library will serve as repository for the videotaped interviews and transcripts. The interviews, transcripts, and website will complement the library’s ongoing efforts to develop an archival collection of veterans’ personal letters, manuscripts, documents, and artifacts.

For more information, call COH at 808-956-6259 or email Warren Nishimoto at wnishimo@hawaii.edu.