Take a step back in time to learn Kauai’s history to better understand where it’s headed.
Kauai Historical Society historian Randy Wichman will be sharing “The Minutes of History: A Century of Kauai Historical Society” at its annual membership meeting today. The former Society president and Polynesian antiquity expert will discuss early activities based on minutes kept by his relative Elsie Wilcox, a founding member and secretary/treasurer for four decades.
“I’m obviously very proud of the Society,” Wichman said. “My family were founding members. The first president was my great-great-grandfather.”
“My motivation is not just professional and I’m passionate about history, but it’s also kind of a family legacy I grew up with.”
The nonprofit — and second-oldest historical society in the state — was founded in 1914 by a group of people dedicated to the preservation of Kauai County historic sites, records, stories and memories.
For more than a century, the Kauai Historical Society has collected, preserved, and provided access to Kauai and Niihau’s oral, written, and pictorial history curating the largest collection of the islands’ historical records, photographs and manuscripts.
“We have the original official Captain Cook exploration journal from 1782,” Wichman said. “We have one of the 16 left in existence.”
The extensive collection includes all the Kauai books, materials from Honolulu’s Bishop Museum, botanical studies, place names, legends, history, Hawaiian music and language, the first books written in Hawaiian grammar, genealogy and plantation records, influential articles, yearly almanacs, detailed maps and Hawaiian proverbs, as well as original Garden Island newspapers filed in the old mayor’s office.
“It’s a cool journey, we have some real stunning things,” Wichman said. “The society represents an eclectic mix of all cultures and all their unique stories.”
Over the years, society volunteers have scanned and indexed Kauai documents dating back to 1914 to allow access to their archived database. More than 16,000 photographs have been digitized, the oldest photo dating back to 1864 of Lihue Plantation. Access to the collections covering ancient through modern times is complemented by the Society’s educational outreach programming and publications.
“The Society for a hundred-plus years has advocated for the preservation of many things that wouldn’t be in existence today,” Wichman said.
The Society was pivotal in preserving the caves at Haena, Menehune Ditch, Russian Fort at Waimea, ‘Alekoko Fishpond at Niumalu, and the original Koloa Sugar Mill sites. It was also instrumental in raising the Captain Cook Monument in Waimea, founding the Kokee and Kauai museums, restoring the Haraguchi Rice Mill and renovating the Historic County Building.
An election of this year’s board members will take place at its annual meeting, and light refreshments will be provided while welcoming incoming president Bob Schleck, who was an active member in the early ’70s and served as president from 1975 to 1976.
“The Kauai Historical Society is a memory of the island,” said Schleck, who was also a curator for Grove Farm Museum. “It houses many memories that have been a collection of what people experienced and remember of the island and of their lives on it.”
“The Society really is the caretaker of those histories and memories,” he added.
Its member meeting will recap 2017 accomplishments from 1 to 3 p.m. at Island School’s Main Hall.
