Anna May Wong

Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Our best stories about the vast histories and cultures of Americans with ancestry in Asia and the Pacific.
A Hawaiian postcard, 1962

Consuming Hawai‘i’s Golden People

With statehood in 1959 came “Aloha Spirit” tourism, turning Hawai‘i’s ethnic diversity into a commodity that benefited both business and US foreign policy.
From the cover of Paahao Press, Summer 1960

A Century of History in Five Hawaiian Prison Newspapers

Hawaiian language and culture are emphasized throughout, ranging from before statehood and during martial law to modern day women's prisons.
Metamorphosis insectorum Surinamensium, Maria Sibylla Merian. Amsterdam: Apud Joannem Oosterwyk, 1719. Rare Book Collection, Dumbarton Oaks, Trustees for Harvard University. HOLLIS number 990013327990203941. Multimedia credit: Dumbarton Oaks/Elizabeth Muñoz Huber.

Plant of the Month: Guava

Often classified as an invasive species, guava ignites a longstanding, transnational battle over foreign invaders and local customs.
Le Passage des Brisants à Hawaï

Did White People Really Revive Surfing?

Contrary to the widespread idea that white missionaries stamped out the sport, evidence suggests that Native Hawai‘ians never stopped surfing.
Native Hawaiian schoolchildren around 1900.

How Public Schools “Americanized” Hawai‘i

Colonial education administrators recruited teachers from the mainland, but soon realized another strategy was in order.
georgia o'keeffe

When Dole Sent Georgia O’Keeffe to Hawaii

In 1939, Dole Pineapple Company sent Georgia O’Keeffe to Hawaii for three months in order to produce works that could be used in their advertisements.
Mauna Ulu lava cone

After the Lava Stops

When volcanos erupt, the type and location of the lava determines what habitat will develop after it stops flowing.
USS Arizona, Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor at 75

Seventy-five years ago on the morning of December 7th, 1941, the Japanese attacked the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaii Territory.
Hawaii

The Struggle for Hawaii

Hawaii has been a state for 57 years, but its history goes back much further.