By Kahoʻokeleholu “Kale” Hannahs, OHA Research Systems Administrator
Like many of the articles in this month’s Ka Wai Ola, OHA is recognizing various organizations and individuals that were not only affected by the 2023 Maui Wildfires, but who are also leading the recovery and rehabilitation of Maui and its residents.
The Lahaina Restoration Foundation (LRF) is one of the cornerstone entities that is spearheading this rebuild. Located in the heart of Lahaina Town, LRF was critically affected by the wildfires that ravaged West Maui with eight historic sites owned by LRF destroyed or critically damaged – including the Baldwin Home Museum and the historic Lahaina Courthouse, along with tens of thousands of objects and archives (equating to 95% of the archives), including the Hawaiian flag that was lowered at the courthouse when the Kingdom was overthrown.
Established in 1962, LRF has diligently worked for the past 62 years to fulfill its vision of preserving Lahaina’s prominent history and rich cultural traditions through the authentic preservation of significant sites, buildings and artifacts.
In addition to its commitment to historic site restoration, their kuleana includes the stewardship of archival collections of artifacts, photographs, letters, maps, ships’ logs and other materials that memorialize all eras of Lahaina’s rich and eclectic history.
In 2022, LRF and OHA agreed to a partnership that would assist LRF with the digitization of various collections within its archives. In return, the agreement would provide OHA with non-exclusive dissemination rights to feature selected collections within the Papakilo Database, a free online digital archive consisting of 1.2 million historical Hawaiian documents.
Fortunately, the digitization process was completed before the August 8 wildfires, thus ensuring the preservation of 95% of LRF’s archives in perpetuity.
As a result of the timely digitization of LRF’s archives, the following collections (all of which were completely lost) are currently available on LRF website and will be available on OHA’s Papakilo Database starting in August 2024 in observance of the 1-year memorial of the Maui Wildfires.
- Historic Photos of Lahaina Town: 298 images of key areas, events and residents dating from the early 1900s to 1992.
- Baldwin Family Documents: approximately 80 images and 167 letters relating to four generations of the extended Baldwin family (a missionary and sugar era family).
- Pioneer Mill Company Records: approximately 950 records (floor plans, layout, and occupancy information of sugar plantation camps and property maps) of Pioneer Mill Company holdings from the early to mid-20th century.
LRF Executive Director Theo Morrison said, “If we did not have the OHA partnership in place, we would have lost not only the physical archives, but also all of the information contained within them. The digitization done with the OHA partnership literally saved irreplaceable handwritten personal thoughts, emotions, and stories from Lahaina’s past.”
Morrison added “It was with shock and dismay that we viewed the wreckage caused by the wildfire. We could not even imagine such total destruction. My advice to others would be that safeguarding the tangible objects of the past with which we are entrusted needs to be a daily priority.”
The road to recovery for Maui is long with many of the residents still facing the challenges of obtaining financial support, and the rebuilding homes, lives, and futures.
LRF has committed to rebuilding and restoring all eight buildings that they own and manage, while its digitized collections will continue to serve as a foundational cornerstone for the community to build upon as they reestablish and redefine what Lahaina and its community will look like in the future.
To support the Lahaina Restoration Foundation and learn more about Lahaina’s recovery efforts, Morrison and her staff encourage people to become members of LRF and to visit www.lahainarestoration.org.
