TIGHAR
Amelia Earhart Search Forum => The Islands: Expeditions, Facts, Castaway, Finds and Environs => Topic started by: Randy Jacobson on September 03, 2023, 10:01:46 AM
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I have transcribed the colonists' diaries from 1935 through 1937, covering Howland, Baker and Jarvis. Source material were the typescript versions of the quarterly cruises to supply the colonists, found in the National Archives and Bishop Museum. These are fascinating accounts of young graduates from Kamehameha School who volunteered to populate these 3 islands for the US Government. Diaries for later years exist, as they were quoted in Panalau Memiors, published by the Bishop Museum. This book only contains extracts, however. My interest was to publish the full diaries in their entirety.
My transcription effort concluded in early 2020, just as COVID hit. I knew that the National Archives did not have copies of the diaries past 1937, and it was likely that the Bishop Museum did have them. I had planned on going to Honolulu to examine their records, but the Museum shut down for COVID. I recently contacted them and Kamehameha School to see if they were now open and what materials they may have. The school said Bishop Museum most likely had them and the school's finding list didn't contain anything useful for me. Bishop Museum is now open for research, but only on Wednesday and Saturday afternoons, 1-4 PM. You got to be kidding me...a major museum's research hours are that restricted and requires mainland researchers to spend weeks in Hawaii??? They said that they only contain bits and pieces past 1937, and don't have the original handwritten diaries past 1936.
It appears I'm at a dead end. It isn't worth a trip to Hawaii for 3 hours with little chance of uncovering the diaries. Pursuit of publishing the complete diaries just isn't going to happen.
So...is anyone interested in reading 3 years worth of diaries? I can post them here on the forum with TIGHAR's permission, of course. I have 3 volumes, along with introductory sections for each 3 month period of settlement, along with a bibliography and explanatory notes for various fish species mentioned. There are a very few sections missing, due to inadvertent copy machine errors.
If enough people are interested, I'll get permission to post here on the TIGHAR forum.
Randy Jacobson
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If there's interest, I have no objection to posting them on this thread.
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I cannot imagine the amount of effort you put onto this Randy! Wow!
Those hours that the museum is open for researchers is unbelievable! Guess that they are underfunded like most.
Thank you for all the hard work!
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I'm having issues with uploading large PDF's. I am breaking them up so they will be in separate posts. If it still doesn't work, I'll provide a URL to my personal website.
I recommend reading the Explanatory Notes first. I'll follow up with Volumes 1, 2, and 3 in separate replies. These documents were a first draft of a book, which I am now abandoning, so feel free to critique, bash, and object as you will!
Randy Jacobson
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Volume 1:
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Volume 2: