Weaving Voices: Visionary Women in Politics and Education
March 4th, 2021

As educators, women have played a leading role in shaping the minds of the youth of our nation. For some, teaching has led to even larger leadership roles in government, including elected office. In honor of Women’s History Month, join us in conversation with teacher and Hawaiʻi’s First Lady, Dawn Ige, and third generation retired schoolteacher, Pilialoha Lee Loy, to reflect on the impact of some of the earliest elected and influential women in Hawaiʻi's political and educational arenas. 

Featuring oral histories from Congresswoman Patricia Saiki, county and state lawmaker Helene Hale, and educator Marion Lee Loy, this program will explore what inspired these women to emerge as community leaders in pursuit of their policy goals and how education served as a tool for women to empower and engage our communities. 

This event was organized in partnership with the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa’s Center for Oral History (in celebration of the Department of Ethnic Studies' 50th Anniversary), the King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center, and the Hawai‘i Council for the Humanities as part of the Why it Matters: Civic and Electoral Participation initiative.

Public Program -- Weaving Voices: Memories and Futures of Waialua
February 24, 2021

A recording of our virtual Weaving Voices event, Memories and Futures of Waialua. 

As plantations began to phase out in Hawaiʻi, these oral histories were collected to document the way of life in our plantation and rural communities and offer insight into the daily life of Native Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, and Peurto Rican communities of Waialua in the early 20th century--gathering ʻopihi, cutting and loading cane at the Waialua Sugar Mill, playing volleyball. Listen to a discussion about finding resilience and relationship in our rapidly changing Hawaiʻi, looking to the past to weave our future. 

Panel and Discussion event featuring

Keith Awai--Kumu Hula, Waialua Hawaiian Civic Club

Tehani Louis-Perkins--North Shore Neighborhood Board Member

Aunty Judy Miram, Waialua community member 

Uncle Leif Andersen, Waialua community member

This event was organized in partnership with the UHM Center for Oral History, the Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities,  Hawaiʻi Public Radio, the North Shore Ethnographic Field School, and the Waialua Hawaiian Civic Club. In conjunction with our virtual public events, you can listen to our past with the Weaving Voices Podcast, which intertwines oral history voices, recorded by the Center for Oral History, with special guests to be featured on Hawaiʻi Public Radio's "The Conversation." These oral history recordings are stored in the Hawaiian Collection at Hamilton Library, UHM.









Stopped the Bombing 30th Anniversary Kahoʻolawe Aloha ʻĀina
November 29, 2020
On October 22, 1990, President George H.W. Bush ordered the Secretary of Defense to stop bombing Kahoʻolawe. First generation oral histories
on the Aloha ʻĀina movement that mobilized thousands across the islands to stop the bombing of Kanaloa Kahoʻolawe, sparked a renaissance of Hawaiian culture, language, arts and sciences, and continues to protect sacred Hawaiian lands. This celebration of the 30th anniversary was in partnership with the UHM Center for Oral History, the Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities, Hawaiʻi Public Radio, the Protect Kahoʻolawe ʻOhana and DAWSON.









Looking to Our Past for New Political Visions
October 20, 2020

What kind of leadership do we need to take us out of COVID-19? What power does our vote have in this upcoming election? In the next event in our Weaving Voices series, we continue to explore communities in transition by using oral histories to revisit the era of economic change from plantations to tourism, and political change with the return of AJAs and rise of the Democratic Party in the 1950s. In those times of tumult, new political leaders brought forth a strong and different vision for the future of Hawai‘i, sparking huge transformation. Join us for a conversation that weaves together past, present, and future to make political change together.

Featured Speakers: Sandy Ma, Executive Director of Common Cause Hawai'i, and Colin Moore, Director of the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa's Public Policy Center

Voices from Oral History: Hawaiʻi State Chief Justice William S. Richardson, State Senator John Ushijima, Territorial/State Governor William Quinn, State Representative Helene Hale, and State Representative Robert Oshiro

This event was organized in partnership with the King Kamehameha V Judiciary History Center, UH Mānoa's Center for Oral History, Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities, and Hawaiʻi Public Radio.