The Office of Hawaiian Affairs releases nearly 300 digital photographs of Lahaina dating back to 1900, including images of the Baldwin House and the Lahaina Memorial Day Parade.
According to a press release Wednesday, the 2022 archives digitization initiative was a partnership between OHA and the Lahaina Restoration Foundation.
In last year’s fires, the Lahaina Restoration Foundation lost 95% of its archival collection, including all physical archives involved in the OHA partnership. Fortunately, digitization of the historical items had already been completed.
The Lahaina Restoration Foundation lost 95% of its archival collection, including all physical pieces associated with the OHA partnership.
“The digitization effort, done in collaboration with OHA, has literally saved irreplaceable handwritten personal thoughts, feelings and stories from Lahaina’s past,” said Theo Morrison, LRF executive director, in a press release.
Kale Hannahs, research director of the Papakilo database where the photos are stored, said it was crucial to start digitizing archival work in the event of natural disasters.
“While many people say that even the faintest ink is better than the best memory, a snapshot or a photograph is worth 1,000 words in many cases,” he said. “Collections like the historic Lahaina Photograph Collection, as well as the Baldwin Family Collection, which includes both photographs and letters, really help preserve the memory, and for people who have lost as much as Maui has, it has shown how valuable preservation is in that regard.”
OHA is publishing the photographs in five collections. The Historic Lahaina Photography Collection will be followed by the Baldwin Photography Collection, the Baldwin Letter Collection, and the Pioneer Mill Housing Maps Collection.
Click here to view the pictures.
