6. Descriptions of the Collections


From the 1850s, with changing land ownership and use, the Hawaiian Kingdom demonstrated a vested
interest in the success of large-scale agricultural development. The Transactions of the Royal Hawaiian
Agricultural Society (1850-1856) chronicle the interest of the Monarchy in agricultural research as well
as in exploring additional crops suitable for the islands' climate. The government also promoted its
agricultural products at 19th century international expositions. For example, the catalog published for
the Paris Exposition in 1889 highlights the success of the sugar plantations.

Hawai'i's sugar industry was an economic monolith dependent on the American market. The Reciprocity
Treaty of 1876 allowed sugar and other products grown in the islands to enter the U.S. market duty free.
Preferential treatment for agricultural products from Hawai'i lasted until 1891 when the treaty was
repealed by the McKinley Tariff. American businessmen associated with sugar plantation interests were
instrumental in the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893, thus paving the way for annexation by
the United States in 1898 and the restoration of a favorable sugar market. Annual reports of sugar
companies and plantations that provide insight into these political and economic developments are in
critical need of preservation in the collections of the University of Hawai'i Library and Lyman House
Memorial Museum in Hilo.

In the isolated rural communities of Hawaii, the plantation defined rural life and its owners controlled
most aspects of daily life. By the mid 1860s, the decline in the Hawaiian population precipitated a search
for plantation laborers. The Hawaiian Kingdom created the Bureau of Immigration in 1864, leading to
the establishment of a contract labor system. The government was concerned not only with the needs of
the sugar planters, but also wanted to find workers who might settle in the islands and marry Hawaiians to
"strengthen the race." The Biennial Report of the Board of Immigration (1879-1899) includes statistics
on the plantations and the number of people of each race employed, as well as reports by the Inspector-
in-Chief concerning specific immigrant groups. The Planter's Labor Supply Company (1882-1895) and
later the Hawaiian Sugar Planter's Association (HSPA) published reports on labor issues as well as current
developments in technology and agricultural research in the Planters' Monthly (1882-1909).

Contract workers lived in plantation housing segregated by ethnic group. Single Chinese men were the
first group of immigrants, arriving in the late 1850s. Upon completion of their contracts, many laborers
stayed in the islands and married Hawaiians. They raised taro and rice in traditional taro fields taking
advantage of existing irrigation systems. For a brief time in the 1860s and 1870s, rice was also produced
as an export crop. Rice cultivation was considered picturesque and illustrated articles about rural life
were found in the jounals such as Paradise of the Pacific (1888-1966) and the Mid-Pacific Magazine
(1911-1954).

The first Japanese workers came to the island in 1868, but large-scale immigration did not begin until
1885. By 1890, the Japanese comprised more than 42% of the plantation work force. As Japanese
workers completed their contracts, they often married picture brides from Japan and settled in rural
communities. Employment centered around the plantations and immigrants established a variety of small
businesses--from photograph studies to barber shops. Plantations controlled most of the prime
agricultural land and thus there was limited opportunity for independent farmers. Coffee, however, was
not suited to plantations, and by 1920 virtually all of the commercially-produced coffee was grown by
Japanese tenant farmers in Kona, on the island of Hawai'i. Japanese-American prominence in the coffee
industry has continued for three generations.

Significant works of Japanese literature produced in Hawai'i prior to World War II survive in limited
numbers and are in critical need of preservation. The literature--from poetry to politics--was based on
experiences on the plantations and in rural communities. Literary clubs were popular social groups and
they published the work of their members. One of the first histories of the Japanese in Hawai'i, Shin
Hawai'i (1900) by Hidegoro Fujii, contained a section of poetry including the following poem by
Sasakura Ushu: