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Manuscript Collection / Finding Aids

Below are descriptions of the HMCSL Manuscript Collections. See a full listing of our Manuscript Collection/ Finding Aids here. Please contact [email protected] for more information. 

ALEXANDER AND BALDWIN PAPERS, 1824-1911 Letters, papers, diaries, records, scrapbooks, miscellany of the families of the Rev. William Patterson Alexander (1805-1884) and the Rev. Dr. Dwight Baldwin (1798-1886). ca. 10 ft.

ABCFM-HEA PAPERS, 1820-1920 General correspondence between missionaries of the Sandwich Islands Mission (which became the Hawaiian Evangelical Association), and the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in Boston. Includes agreements, requests for appropriations, and miscellany. Printed and holograph. Original letters and handwritten copies, some signed by individual missionaries, some jointly signed. Rufus Anderson and others for the ABCFM. ca. 2 ft.

ABCFM-HAWAII PAPERS, HOUGHTON LIBRARY (HARVARD), 1820-1900 Letters written by the missionaries of the Sandwich Islands Mission to the ABCFM office in Boston. Includes reports of the various mission stations, business affairs, land transaction records, miscellany. Arranged by author, some material by subject. Photocopies of originals at Houghton Library, Harvard. ca. 15 ft.

BINGHAM FAMILY PAPERS, 1816-1908 Papers, letters, sketches, and miscellany, beginning with Hiram Bingham I (1789-1869) to Hiram Bingham III (1875-1956). Material about the Sandwich Islands Mission, 1819-1863, mission to the Gilbert Islands, 1852-1900, as well as Bingham family material. ca. 13 ft.

CASTLE FAMILY COLLECTION, 1836-1904 Letters sent and received by Samuel Northrup Castle (1808-1894); articles written by Castle, some letters by family members, genealogies. ca. 6 ft.

CASTLE & COOKE BUSINESS PAPERS, 1850-1915 Records of the Honolulu business firm of Castle and Cooke (Samuel Northrup Castle, 1808-1894, Amos Starr Cooke, 1810-1871), incorporated 1851. Includes sugar plantations, Dillingham Corp., and several small businesses, correspondence with mainland agents in N.Y., and San Francisco, reports of investments, correspondence with various government agencies and some family correspondence. Original manuscripts, some business forms and printed material. ca. 5 ft.

CASTLE FOUNDATION PAPERS, 1890-1940 Business and family affairs of the family of Samuel Northrup Castle (1808-1894), and Mary Tenney Castle (1819-1907). Includes papers pertaining to Castle Estate matters, formation of the Castle Foundation and correspondence with religious, educational and child welfare institutions worldwide. Letterbooks, ledgers, cables, telegrams, receipts and personal correspondence. ca. 10 ft.

CHILDREN OF THE MISSION, 1830-1900 Letters and papers of the children born to or adopted by the American Protestant missionaries to Hawaii who arrived between 1820-1848. Arranged by author. ca. 6 ft.

CHURCH RECORDS, 1823-1945 Holograph manuscripts, primarily in books, English and Hawaiian, some translations. Early membership lists, accounts of missions and churches, minutes of church and Clerical Association meetings and some parish records. All islands. ca. 6 ft.

C. M. COOKE PAPERS, 1860-1909 Personal correspondence, letterbooks, business papers, clippings, and miscellaneous papers of the family of Charles Montague Cooke (1849-1909). Material regarding the capitalization of the sugar industry and the establishment of the Bank of Hawaii. ca. 13 ft.

DAMON COLLECTION, 1823-1876 Business and personal letters received by the Rev. Samuel Chenery Damon (1815-1885) and Julia Sherman Mills Damon (1817-1890). Includes some Mills family letters from 1810, genealogical material and sermons. ca. 8 ft.

DAMON/BALDWIN PAPERS, 1810-1930 Family letters and papers of Samuel Mills Damon (1845-1924) and Harriet Melinda Baldwin Damon (1847-1932). Includes family memorabilia regarding schooling, marriages, births and foreign travel. Some early letters sent and received by missionary parents in Hawaii on the mainland. Original material. ca. 2 ft.

DAMON LETTERBOOKS, 1884-1900 Letters received (some in Hawaiian) and copies of those sent by Samuel Mills Damon (1845-1924). Also included are business records, shipping information, establishment of Bishop Bank (later First Hawaiian), real estate transactions, both in the Islands and on the mainland, sugar plantation information and family memorabilia. Some loose material. ca. 2 ft.

DOLE PAPERS, 1840-1926 Papers, letters sent and received, scrapbooks, clipping books, miscellaneous papers of Sanford Ballard Dole (1844-1926), lawyer and judge, President of the Republic of Hawaii, 1893-1898, and first appointed Territorial Governor, 1898-1903. Includes some correspondence and papers of his father Daniel Dole (1801-1878), first headmaster of Punahou School, Honolulu. ca. 6 ft.

FORBES NOTES, 1820-1900 Subject arrangement of excerpts from the manuscripts, collections, compiled by David Forbes for the restoration of the three old Mission Houses, 1967-1970. Bound in 15 spiral binders.

HEA ARCHIVES, 1853-1947 Church business correspondence, pastors' reports, letters in Hawaiian (some translated) sent and received by the Hawaiian Evangelical Association (HEA), name changed in 1963 to United Church of Christ, Hawaii Conference. Mostly original material. ca. 64 ft. (digitized collection).

HAWAIIAN MISSION CHILDREN'S SOCIETY ARCHIVES, 1852-present Historical records from the beginning of the Society; includes anniversaries, celebrations, agreements, contracts, correspondence, property descriptions, meetings, membership, operations, educational endeavors, Micronesia-Marquesa involvement and publicity. ca. 5 ft.

HAWAIIAN TRANSLATION WORKBOOKS, 1820-1900 Manuscript notes, workbooks, final drafts for translation of Biblical texts, spellers, hymnals, and other material in Hawaiian. Hiram Bingham, John Pogue, et. al. ca. 2 ft. 

THE JOURNAL COLLECTION, 1819-1900 Diaries and journals of the missionaries to Hawaii, a few of the children of the mission, and non-missionary early settlers. Originals, typescript, photocopies. ca. 17 ft. (digitized collection).

LAHAINA RESTORATION FOUNDATION NOTES, 1840's Copies of notes taken during research by the Lahaina Restoration Foundation for restoration, 1946-1966. Bound photocopies. ca. 3 ft.

THE MAILE WREATH, 1861-1896 Hawaiian Mission Children's Society early essays, poems, treasures' reports, editorials, death notices, miscellaneous material authored by Society members. Primarily holographs, some clippings, and duplicated typescript. ca. 3 ft.

MARQUESAS COLLECTION, 1830-1900 Mission Station and general reports from the Marquesas Islands missionaries. Includes letters of the first company sent from Hawaii 1833, return 1834, and the company sent in 1852 to remain. General meeting minutes and personal letters, some in Hawaiian, originals. ca. 2 ft. (digitized collection)

MICRONESIAN MISSION-HEA PAPERS, 1852-1900 Papers relating to the Caroline, Gilbert (Kiribati) & Marshall Islands. Includes letters, reports, printed forms, logs of the Morning Star (missionary ship), accounts, essays, maps and drawings. Mostly American and Hawaiian missionaries of the ABCFM and HEA. Many letters in Hawaiian, some translated. Originals and copies. ca. 5 ft. (digitized collection

MISSION STATION REPORTS, 1822-1865 Reports sent yearly to General Meeting in Honolulu, by individual missionaries of twenty-two mission stations on the four major Hawaiian Islands. Arranged by island. Originals and typescript copies. ca. 4 ft. (digitized collection)

MISSIONARY LETTERS, 1820-1900 Personal correspondence between missionaries in Hawaii to their friends and families in the U.S. Arranged by the author with some exceptions. Originals and some copies. ca. 33 ft. (digitized collection)

NON-MISSIONARY LETTERS, 1820-1900 Letters and papers of early foreign residents of Hawaii; ship captains, traders, government officials. A few items of native Hawaiians and New Englanders; shipping and trading information. ca. 2 ft.

SANDWICH ISLANDS MISSION COLLECTION, 1820-1853 Material relating to the establishment and organization of the Mission to the Sandwich Islands. Financial affairs, printing and bindery reports, general meeting property reports and descriptions of mission stations and schools, business accounts of missionaries and non-missionary Honolulu residents. Original material. ca. 8 ft. (digitized collection)

SMITH PAPERS, KOLOA, KAUAI, 1865-1900 Business and family records and correspondence of the family of the missionary, Dr. James William Smith (1810-1887) and Melicent Knapp Smith (1816-1891). Includes medical records of Smith and his son, Dr. Jared Knapp Smith (1849-1897), early plantation operations at Koloa, records of the Kauai Industrial School, land negotiations and contracts. Original material. ca. 3 ft.

WILCOX, ABNER AND LUCY COLLECTION, 1823-1868 Letters sent and received by Abner Wilcox (1808-1869) and Lucy Eliza Hart Wilcox (1814-1869). One account book of Edwin Locke (1813-1843) and other account books, journals and miscellaneous papers. ca. 2 ½ ft. (finding aid) WILDER, S.G. PAPERS, 1858-1881 Letters sent and received, personal and business affairs and miscellaneous papers of Samuel Gardner Wilder (1831-1888) and Elizabeth Kinau Judd Wilder (1831-1918). Some Judd and Dickson family material. ca. 2 ft. (digitized collection)

WILDER, S.G. PAPERS, 1858-1881 Letters sent and received, personal and business affairs and miscellaneous papers of Samuel Gardner Wilder (1831-1888) and Elizabeth Kinau Judd Wilder (1831-1918). Some Judd and Dickson family material. ca. 2 ft.