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Bishop Museum Library/Archives
Address:1525 Bernice St.
Honolulu, HI 96817-2704
Phone: (808) 848-4148
Fax: (808) 847-8241
Email: library@bishopmuseum.org for queries about published materials; archives@bishopmuseum.org for queries about unpublished materials, including photographs, manuscripts, maps, art, audio and moving images collections.
Web: http://www.bishopmuseum.org
Contact: Library Chairman, Ronald A. Cox ron.cox@bishopmuseum.org
History: Bishop Museum was founded in 1899 by Charles Reed Bishop. We are a private, non-profit institution, also designated the State Museum of Natural and Cultural History. From the beginning a library existed.
Current Holdings: Size and Content:
The Library/Archives is one department among many within the museum, in natural and cultural history, all of which have large collections. Our focus is on the natural and cultural history of Hawai‘i and the Pacific. I would not be able to give an estimate of LBGT holdings. (For the published materials I used 9 appropriate subject headings gleaned from UH Library online catalog, and came up with 1 Pacific title, which UH Library also has); however there very well may be material in ethnologies and histories of Hawai‘i and the Pacific, and in journal articles, oral histories and other archival sources. All of our materials, and particularly the unpublished material, are not in our online catalogs. There are various finding aids to assist researchers.
1. Manuscript material (personal papers)
2. Film, video, or sound
3. Organization's records
4. Photographs
5. Printed (books, journals, etc.)
6. Microfilm
7. Clippings or vertical files
These items are in Bishop Museum’s Cultural Collections, and that dept. should be contacted separately.
We lack the research staff and time to provide this information, but researchers are welcome to come in during our hours of service (see below) to conduct their research.
Collection Growth:
Acceptance of additional material is arranged on a case by case basis with the Collection Managers. Currently we lack space to properly house existing collections and staff time to process them. We plan to redefine our collection policy in the near future. We have received many of our collection items through gifts and exchanges. Due to budgetary concerns we do not actively purchase many books and journal titles.
Collection Manager for published materials: BJ Short
Collection Manager for archival materials: Leah Caldeira
Access and Use
:
Regular hours for public service: Wed.-Fri., noon—4PM and Sat. 9AM—noon; closed Sundays, Mondays and holiday weekends. No admission charge, currently free parking. Limit is 15 persons, due to space, first come, first serve basis. Voyager online catalogs may be consulted in advance (http://bishopmuseumlib.lib.hawaii.edu), but they are not complete. Gloves and spatulas are provided for use of manuscript materials. Microforms, some digital forms and reprint eds. used for some items in lieu of fragile originals. Site is wheelchair accessible.
Classes or groups of people wanting to schedule a visit must make arrangements in advance with Collection Managers.
Services:
Space is limited to 15 persons during public hours, sharing tables. Reference assistance on site is provided. Telephone reference is brief, due to small staff, and priority is given to on site customers. Internet reference queries for brief factual material or referrals may be provided. Staff furnish photocopies for a fee. A/V equipment is limited in number, and users may need to wait for use. Materials do not circulate; interlibrary loan is selectively provided for institutions only, and borrowing libraries must agree to keep the borrowed material in their library for the loan duration. Exhibition loans are infrequent and must be arranged with Collection Managers. Orders of photographs, CDs, etc. require completion of an order form, prepayment, and 14 business days lead time.
Indices to the collections:
There are various in-house finding aids to some of the archival (unpublished) collections, at different levels of completeness, available on site. Chants and songs are indexed in the Voyager online catalog, highlighting Mele Index as a Collection Limit. Published materials are cataloged using OCLC.
Updating Collection Descriptions:
There is no regular method for additions of other types of materials, either. In the past certain collections have been featured in Ka ‘Elele, the museum’s quarterly newsletter.
Hawaii State Archives
Address: 364 So. King St.
Honolulu, HI 96813
Email: archives@hawaii.gov
Phone: (808) 586-0329
Contact: Luella Kirkjian
History: Established by Legislature of Territory of Hawaii in 1905.
Current Holdings:
Hawaii State Archives does not have any LGBT material/collections. Except, of course, Legislative acts, testimony etc. concerning same.
University of Hawaii Archives & Manuscripts
Address: A553 Hamilton Library
2550 McCarthy Mall
Honolulu, HI 96822
Email: archives@hawaii.edu
Phone: (808) 956-6995
Web: http://libweb.hawaii.edu/libdept/archives/
History: University of Hawai‘i was founded by Territorial Legislature in 1907; it began instruction in 1908; in 1920, it became the University of Hawai‘i. University related materials were collected in the library of the institution and eventually became a separate unit within the library in 1968.
Current Holdings:
Fred Methered Papers
a. This collection is primarily manuscript in format with some photographs and other materials.
b. Methered was active in seeking equal rights for lesbian and gay persons, children, and women in the Methodist Church for over twenty-five years, both nationally and locally in Hawai‘i.
c. Methered also worked on LGBT causes before the legislature of Hawai‘i
d. He included within his papers some writings of other gay men, including the manuscript chapters of “Letters from Lovers and Lawbreakers: Edited, Answered and Augmented” by John Paul Hudson.
e. His papers include his correspondence with Hudson and several other gay men.
f. The collection amounts to about eleven linear feet.
Hawai‘i Equal Rights Marriage Project Records
a. This is an unprocessed group of records.
b. This organization spearheaded the efforts in the LGBT community to protect the hope for LGBT marriage rights in Hawai‘i following the Hawai‘i Supreme Court ruling in 1993 indicating that lesbians and gays constituted a “suspect classification” and therefore the state had to present solid evidence that granting marriage rights would severely harm society.
c. This is an “umbrella” collection also containing records of related groups which raised funds to counter the intense anti-gay reaction following the court ruling.
d. The records consist of approximately fifteen linear feet. Some parts of the collection are closed to protect the names of donors and other people associated with the movement.
Milton Diamond Human Sexuality Lectures consists of fifteen video tapes of his lectures in physiology on human sexuality at the University of Hawai‘i.
Collection Growth:
The areas of collecting are primarily the University of Hawai‘i materials and some manuscript collections pertaining to twentieth century Hawai‘i.
Access and Use:
The materials are room use only and are open to the public with the exception of some materials. Hours are Tuesdays through Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. during academic year. Usually limited hours are also available between sessions and during holiday breaks, but because of budget constraints the libraries may be closed between sessions. Advanced contact and appointments are advised. The Reading Room is easily accessed via elevators from the main floor of Hamilton Library; the library building is wheelchair accessible.
Services:
1. Research space
2. Reference assistance on site
3. Telephone reference
4. Internet reference (e-mail/web) - via email and web site (contact us)
5. Copying services - provided by staff with charges
5a. Scanning services - (yes, with charges)
5b. Use of personal camera - (yes WITHOUT flash)
6. Exhibitions Loan agreements for exhibits - on occasion
Indices to the collections:
Some collections have MARC records entered into Hawaii Voyager, the library online catalog. Finding aids for some collections have been mounted on the Archives & Manuscripts web site at http://libweb.hawaii.edu/libdept/archives/. Other finding aids are available in Archives Reading Room in paper format. Goal is to produce MARC records for all new accessions and where needed EAD formatted finding aids.
