The Archives of the Lyman Museum

library@lymanmuseum.org
808.935-5021
We are open
By Appointment Only

If you are interested in using the Lyman Museum Archives please fill out the Research Registration Form and a staff member will contact you to confirm your appointment date and time.

The Archives of the Museum include historical documents, books, and photographic collections. Contact print books of many of the photographs, arranged very generally by theme, are available for your use. Staff can also search for photographs in our collection by keyword. We encourage patrons to utilize public libraries for browsing or general research. If you cannot locate the book you seek elsewhere and if we have it in our collection, we will gladly work with you to make an appointment to use it.

THE LYMAN MUSEUM RESEARCH COLLECTIONS

THE HILO BOARDING SCHOOL COLLECTION

These are records of the first industrial education (vocational) school for native Hawaiian boys founded in 1836 in Hilo, Hawai'i, by missionaries Reverend David B. Lyman and his wife, Sarah Joiner Lyman. Their goals were to educate boys in the "ways of industry and morality," and to establish a preparatory school. The Hilo Boarding School (HBS) closed in 1925, although its facilities were used for several years thereafter.

This collection consists of eleven series:

1. Historical Files
2. Charters of Incorporation, By-Laws and Amendments
3. Board of Trustee Records
4. Correspondence Files
5. Departmental Records
6. Education Files
7. Financial Records
8. Legal Files and Litigation Records
9. Lyman Hall Records
10. Hilo Center Records
11. Scrapbooks

The HBS Photograph Collection contains 735 photographs which document the history of the school from 1839 to 1936. The photos include albumen prints, glass slides, and electroplates, as well as hundreds of black and white prints. Some students in the photos have been identified by name and by town of origin.

HAMAKUA SUGAR COMPANY, 1899-1990

Hamakua Sugar Company was a consolidation of 7 original plantations: Hamakua Mill Company, Honokaa Sugar, Kaiwiki Sugar, Kukaiau Plantation Co., Laupahoehoe Sugar, Paauhau Sugar Plantation and Pacific Sugar Mill. Records from all of these companies are found in this collection. A close association developed between those plantations and Hawaiian Irrigation Company and Kukaiau Ranch. Although they were separate corporations, many of their records are included in this material.

KOHALA SUGAR COMPANY

KSC was founded on the Island of Hawaii in 1862, and closed in 1973. The Records consist of six series: Administration, History, Financial, Maps and Charts, Personnel Policies, and Production.

A seventh series, Other Companies, contains annual reports and journals of the Hawaii Railroad Company, the Homestead Plantation, Kehena Water, Kohala Ditch, Kohala Pineapple, Mahukona Terminal, and Pacific Sugar. All the “other” companies were incorporated into the parent company.

C. BREWER AND COMPANY, LTD.

These records contain information about the Hawaiian Agriculture Company, Ka’u Agribusiness, Hutchison Mill, and the Hilo, Onomea, Pepeekeo, Honomu, and Hakalau Sugar Companies. Records with dates prior to 1940 are available as part of the HSPA collection stored at the Hamilton Library, University of Hawaii at Manoa. There, they are listed as Hilo Coast Processing Company (Pepeekeo Sugar Company) and Mauna Kea Sugar Company (Onomea Sugar Company).

The C. Brewer & Company records have been arranged into seven series: Administration, Land, Financial, Payroll, Personnel, and the much smaller series: Production and Other Companies.

PHOTO COLLECTIONS

By appointment, the public is welcome to browse our extensive photo collection which includes:

1. The Herkes Collection
2. The Lyman Family Collection
3. The C.E. Shields Collection
4. The Wessel Collection
5. The Wilson Collection

Places of Interest:

1. Hilo
2. Hawai`i Island
3. The islands of Maui, Moloka`i, Lana`i, and Kaua`i

Topics of Interest:

1. People
2. Hawaiian Culture
3. People and Houses
4. Buddhism on the Island of Hawai`i
5. Plants and Scenery
6. Kohala Sugar Company
7. Sugar Plantations
8. Churches and Missions
9. Wars in Hawai`i
10. The 1946 Tsunami
11. Inter-island Steam Navigation
12. Matson Navigation Companies

Small contact prints (copies) of photos are compiled into binders which are available for your research. Prints are available for purchase.

If you are interested in doing research please fill out the Research Registration Form and a staff member will contact you to confirm your appointment date and time.