Bicentennial Book Set
Hawaii Mission Houses announces the publication of two new books which add to the scholarship and understanding of the American Protestant missionaries, those with whom they worked, and the impact of their presence on the history of Hawai`i. The 2020 Bicentennial of the arrival of the first of the Sandwich Islands Mission is an opportunity for reflection and rejuvenation. These books will bring attention to the uniqueness of the relationships that occurred in the mid-nineteenth century as well as the resulting changes and renew these partnerships for the future.
Partners in Change: A Biographical Encyclopedia of American Protestant Missionaries in Hawaiʻi and their Hawaiian and Tahitian Colleagues, 1820-1900, is a reference work for individuals involved in the Mission work. It includes the Hawaiians and Tahitians who worked with the Mission, ABCFM missionaries, and London Missionary Society missionaries. The expanded nature of Partners in Change will be a boon to researchers in its expanded scope from the 1969 Missionary Album. The fact that it uses a modified Chicago Manual of Style system provides an accessible form of documentation for casual readers, yet maintains a clear pathway for scholars to check and verify our statements/quotations and to build upon them if they choose to do so.
Kōkua Aku, Kōkua Mai: Chiefs, Missionaries, and Five Transformations of the Hawaiian Kingdom is a series of essays which develop the HMH site theme: Collaboration between Native Hawaiians and the American Protestant missionaries resulted in, among other things, the introduction of Christianity, the development of a written Hawaiian language and establishment of schools that resulted in widespread literacy, the promulgation of the concept of constitutional government, the combination of Hawaiian with Western medicine, and the evolution of a new and distinctive musical tradition with harmony and choral singing. The authors of the essays in Kōkua Aku, Kōkua Mai are among the leading scholars in their essay topics. Please find an index for this book posted online.