Hawaiian History
Introduction
Attempting to include all phases of westward movement and settlement of the Americas, the Edward E. Ayer collection has an abundance of materials regarding the history of the native peoples under the jurisdiction of the United States in the Philippine Islands and Hawaiʻi.
The Hawaiian material within the Ayer Collection concerns the history of the missionary period and the ethnology and linguistics of the native peoples. Material listed below cover some of the first published books in the Hawaiian language, books by native Hawaiians, grammar books, periodicals, and other manuscript material regarding expeditions to Hawaiʻi.
Newberry Library Catalog:
Search the online catalog by author, title, or keyword(s) such as:
- Hawaii
- Hawaii – Annexation
- Hawaii – Antiquities
- Hawaii – Bibliography
- Hawaii – Biography
- Hawaii – Annexation to the United States
- Hawaii – Civilization
- Hawaii – Constitution
- Hawaii – Commerce – United States
Choose “Held by Library” to find physical items held at the Newberry and Sort By to see the newest or oldest materials. Use the Advanced Search to search for multiple terms or phrases in different fields and to search for materials created during a specific year or range of years. Many of our Ayer collection resources are in English, Spanish, Nahuatl, or other Indigenous/non-Indigenous languages. To view these resources, search in the Newberry’s catalog for the subject. You can also use the facets on the left side of the results page to limit by language.
Brief citations for manuscripts acquired before 1937 are included in A Check List of Manuscripts in the Edward E. Ayer Collection compiled by Ruth Lapham Butler (Chicago: Newberry Library, 1937). For those items listed as on the 3rd floor Reference shelves, you might also consider looking at the call numbers around those books, since there should be materials dealing with similar topics nearby. All items with a “Ref” call number can be viewed on the open shelves on the 3rd floor. General and Special Collections items must be retrieved by staff.
For more information about searching the online catalog, please see our Guide to PrimoVE.
Modern Manuscripts & Archives at the Newberry: Search finding aids.
Search by the keyword(s) suggested above or browse by topic or subjects and filter results for relevant terms. Newberry Digital Collections: Search digitized collection items
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Butler, Ruth Lapham, comp. A Checklist of Manuscripts in the Edward E. Ayer Collection. Chicago: Newberry Library, 1937. Location: Shelved at Reference 3rd floor. Call number: Ref Z 6621.C53 A2. Other copies available.
MacCaughey, Vaughan. The One Hundred Most Important Books and Files relating to the Hawaiian Islands. In Bulletin of Bibliography and Dramatic Index, v.10, p. 71-73. Boston: Boston Book Co., 1918. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Z 007 .18 v.10.
Griffin, A. P. C. List of Books relating to Hawaii: (Including References to Collected Works and Periodicals). Washington: Govt. Print. Office, 1898. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Govt. LC 1.2 :H31.
Hunnewell, James Frothingham. Bibliography of the Hawaiian Islands. Boston, 1869. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: Ayer 290 .H85 1869.
Catalogue of the Bound Books in the Library of the Hawaiian Historical Society. Honolulu: R. Grieve, 1897. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: Ayer 290 .H25 1897.
Pargellis, Stanley. “The Problem of American Indian History.” The Newberry Library Bulletin 4.5 (1957): 129-138.
Read about the modest beginnings of this great collection in Edward E. Ayer’s “How I Bought My First Book.”
Below are highlights from the Hawaiian material within the Edward E. Ayer collection:
Ellis, William. Na himeni Hawaii: he me ori ia Iehova ke Akua. Oahu: Paiia I ka mea Pai Palapala a ka Poe Misionari, 1823. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: Ayer BV510 .H3 E45 1823.
A Narrative of Five Youth from the Sandwich Islands, Now Receiving an Education in This Country. New-York: J. Seymour, 1816. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: BV2360 .A45 1810. Another copy available in Special Collections 4th floor.
Dwight, E. W. Memoirs of Henry Obookiah, a Native of Owhyhee, and a Member of the Foreign Mission School. New Haven: Office of the Religious Intelligencer, 1818. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: Ayer 247 .O125 D99 1818.
Richards, William. Memoir of Keopuolani, Late Queen of the Sandwich Islands. Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1825. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: Ayer 1713 .K3 R5 1825.
Staley, Thomas Nettleship. Five Years’ Church Work in the Kingdom of Hawaii. London: Rivingtons, 1868. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: Ayer 1740 .S7 1868.
Ke Kumu kamalii. [Honolulu: Mission Press], 1837. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: Ayer 1602 .K91 1837.
Green, Jonathan S. He wahi mooolelo no Batimea Puaaiki, no Wailuku, Maui. Honolulu: Mea Pai Palapala a na Misionari, 1847. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: Ayer BV3680 .H4 P68 1847.
Ke kaao o Laieikawai, ka hiwahiwa o Paliuli. Honolulu, Oahu: Paiia e Henry M. Whitney, lunapai o ke kuokoa, 1863. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: Ayer PL6448.5 .K33 1863.
Hayne, Julien D., ed. The Hawaiians. Honolulu: Hawaiian Gazette, 1895-1896. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: Ayer 1602 .H23.
Obituary [of Kamehameha III, King of the Hawaiian Islands]. [Honolulu?, 1854?]. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: broadside Ayer 1611 .K15 O12 1854.
Letters and Calling Cards Signed by Members of Hawaii’s Last Ruling Family [manuscript]. 1840 Oct. 1 - 1887 Aug. 2. Letters and calling cards from 1840-1887, signed by members of the last ruling family of Hawaii. Documents include a letter in Hawaiian, dated October 1, 1840, signed by King Kamehameha III to Mataio Kekuanaoa, governor of Oahu; and a letter of Aug. 2, 1887 from the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City, containing the signatures of Desawongse and the king’s sons, Rabi, Pravitr, Chira, and Kitigakara. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: VAULT box Ayer MS 1959.
Account of an Expedition from Honolulu to Hilo [manuscript]. 1875 June 14 - Aug. 14. Unsigned account of an expedition from Honolulu to Hilo on the island of Hawaii, between June 14 and Aug. 14, 1875, with descriptions of excursions to Onomea Plantation and the Kilauea crater. The account, probably written by an American woman missionary teacher at a school in Honolulu, describes the journey she made to Hilo to visit friends. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: VAULT box Ayer MS 1462.
Coelho, W. J. Hawaiian Lessons [manuscript]. [ca. 1900]. Grammar of the Hawaiian language, composed around 1900 by W.J. Coelho, who later (1903) served as official interpreter of the Hawaiian legislature. Contains explanations of grammar points, vocabulary lists, and translation exercises. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: VAULT Ayer MS 1767.
Remy, Jules. Vocabulaire Havaiien-Français [manuscript]. [1852-1855]. Pocket dictionary of Hawaiian words and phrases with their meanings in French, compiled by Jules Remy during his travels in the Hawaiian archipelago between 1852 and 1855. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: VAULT Ayer MS 1768.
Liliuokalani, Queen of Hawaii. Nani na pua. San Francisco: Pacific Music Co., [18–]. Sheet music for a song composed by Liliʻuokalani, the first queen and last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. Location: Special Collections 4th floor. Call number: broadside Ayer 1753 .M9 L72 18—.
James Francis Driscoll Collection of American Sheet Music. ca. 1770s-1959. Hawaiian sheet music in box 192 with a lot of imagery on the covers. Location: General Collection 2nd floor. Call number: Driscoll.
Indigenous Histories and Cultures in North America
American Indian Histories and Cultures is a deep and wide-ranging selection of visual and textual resources related to Native American culture and history. Taken from the Newberry Library’s Edward E. Ayer Collection, one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of American Indian history, the resource provides documents, images, context, and insight into American Indian culture and history, the European settlement of the Americas, and the interactions between the two groups. Access to this subscription database is available on-site through any of the Newberry’s public computers.
The Hawaiian Historical Society, established in 1892, is a private non-profit organization created by a group of prominent citizens dedicated to preserving historical materials, presenting public lectures, and publishing scholarly research on the history of Hawai’i. Queen Lili’uokalani was an early patron of the Society. For more information on their holdings at the library of the historical society, click here.
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