Mission House Museum Research Paper
Nawaraj Bikram Kunwar
HIST 2002, The Global Experience since 1500
Professor: Dr.Gilbert
Course Paper on Mission Houses Museum It has been almost four months I left my country for abroad higher studies. I came long away from Nepal to Hawaii for my study and I have heard that there are numbers of historical places to visit but never got chances to visit any historical place of Hawaii. My professor Dr.Gilbert gave me that opportunity to visit idyllic and quiet property in the middle of downtown Mission Houses Museum on Tuesday April 3, 2012. I am very thankful to him for giving such a great and memorable opportunity. This piece of history is in downtown Honolulu, just few minutes’ walk from Hawaii Pacific University, Downtown. I reached there …show more content…
at around 2:30 and my classmates were already there. Professor Gilbert told us that we will be tour by Mr. Mike but at that time he was not there so we were introduced by mission houses museum volunteer Ms. Lisa and she was originally from Europe. The Mission Houses Museum offers visitors to its place of wonderment and history. Being in this place I felt so strange, it 's pretty neat and clean. I was pleasantly surprised that this place was very well kept up. Being as a Hawaii Pacific University student we got special discount and paid just $6 and tour was of 45 minutes. For other normal visitors general admission is $10 and tours are conducted every hour, and last tour begins promptly at 3pm. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. We can walk around the grounds and it 's free. There 's only street parking but I took the public buses run nearby. This place is really educational and one of the places everybody would probably say wow to. My tour guide was very knowledgeable and was able to tell us a lot about Hawaiian history. What the museum has been able to preserve and share is amazing. They have the oldest house of all of the Hawaiian Islands on the property which was actually shipped from Boston. I am going to describe short brief about the museum houses that I acknowledge from visiting Mission Houses Museum. I think, before describing about mission houses museum and my experience about tour I would like to remember Captain Cook who discovered the Hawaii in 1778 and King Kamehameha I (Hawaiian pronunciation: [kəmehəˈmɛhə]; ca.
1758 – May 8, 1819), also known as Kamehameha the Great who conquered the Hawaiian Islands and formally established the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1810. By developing alliances with the major Pacific colonial powers, Kamehameha preserved Hawaiʻi 's independence under his rule. According to Mission Houses Museum website and tour guide it was established in 1923 but according to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Mission Houses Museum was established in 1920. Whatever the establishment date is but it is true that it was established by Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society, a non-profit educational institution and genealogical society. The Museum interprets the "missionary period" of Hawaiian history, 1820-1863, which is fundamental to an understanding of contemporary Hawai‘i. Captain Cook rediscovered Hawaii in 1778 and missionaries came then after 50 years. We can still see the picture of Captain Cook and King Kamehameha hanging on the mission houses museum. They both are unforgettable and sources of Hawaii history. We did visit three mission houses and that houses used to serve as homes and workplaces for the first Christian missionaries who came here in
Hawaii. The first one is the Oldest Frame House (Ka Hale Lāʻau ‘the wood house’) and the materials to build this house were arrived by ship around Cape Horn from Boston in 1821. They had already been measured and cut, ready to assemble into a frame house suitable for the climate of New England: with small windows to help keep the heat inside and short eaves so as not to risk cracking under a load of snow. It was used as a communal home by many missionary families who shared it with island visitors and boarders. There we say different kinds of beds for guest and dining hall etc. The second one is Chamberlain House (Ka Hale Kamalani) and this house bears the name of the Mission 's first secular agent in Hawai‘i - Levi Chamberlain. In 1831, Chamberlain contracted for the building of this structure, which was to be used as a depository. The building was made of coral blocks cut away from the ocean reef, which were dried and bleached by the sun. These blocks were arranged and assembled to build the Chamberlain House. From this location, Levi Chamberlain was able to plan out and undertake the disbursement of provisions for the entire Sandwich Islands Mission. It now serves as the Museum 's temporary Exhibition Gallery. And the last one is Printing Printing Office (Ka Hale Pa‘i) and built in 1841. In 1841, a covered porch and balcony were added to the frame house, and an extra bedroom was built next door out of coral blocks. Both additions show further adaptation to an indoor-outdoor lifestyle appropriate to the climate. The extra coral building later became the mission 's Print House (Ka Hale Paʻi) and now serves as a museum exhibit to show how the missionaries and native Hawaiians worked together to produce the first materials printed in the Hawaiian language. In this office, some of the first books and printed materials in Hawaii were produced.
During the visit I came to know that the Mission Houses Museum collects, preserves, interprets, and exhibits documents, artifacts, and other records of Hawaii’s “missionary” period from about 1820 to 1863. It interprets its historic site and collections and makes these collections available for research, educational purposes, and public enjoyment. The museum’s collection holds over 3,000 Hawaiian, Western, and Pacific artifacts, and more than 12,000 books, manuscripts, original letters, diaries, journals, illustrations and Hawaiian church records. There is also a gift shop that sells many Hawaiian products and a cafe on site.
The tour was of forty five minutes only but I acknowledge a lot about mission houses museum. Missionaries had sacrificed and done a lot for Hawaiian community in many aspects. Before it was very difficult for missionaries to cope with indigenous Hawaiian people. First, Hawaiian people thought that they came to conquer Hawaii but when they started helping local people of Hawaii then their behavior has been changed. Bringing missionaries family here in Hawaii also gave positive message to local people and realize about missionaries mission. Then after missionaries were successful to accomplish their mission and made a history. After visiting mission houses museum I learned about Hawaiian history through the missionaries’ perspective. I found it to be very educational and for me to learn, or rather unlearn the things I thought about missionaries. Work Cited
1. http://www.missionhouses.org/
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Houses_Museum
HIST 2002, The Global Experience since 1500
Professor: Dr.Gilbert
Course Paper on Mission Houses Museum It has been almost four months I left my country for abroad higher studies. I came long away from Nepal to Hawaii for my study and I have heard that there are numbers of historical places to visit but never got chances to visit any historical place of Hawaii. My professor Dr.Gilbert gave me that opportunity to visit idyllic and quiet property in the middle of downtown Mission Houses Museum on Tuesday April 3, 2012. I am very thankful to him for giving such a great and memorable opportunity. This piece of history is in downtown Honolulu, just few minutes’ walk from Hawaii Pacific University, Downtown. I reached there …show more content…
at around 2:30 and my classmates were already there. Professor Gilbert told us that we will be tour by Mr. Mike but at that time he was not there so we were introduced by mission houses museum volunteer Ms. Lisa and she was originally from Europe. The Mission Houses Museum offers visitors to its place of wonderment and history. Being in this place I felt so strange, it 's pretty neat and clean. I was pleasantly surprised that this place was very well kept up. Being as a Hawaii Pacific University student we got special discount and paid just $6 and tour was of 45 minutes. For other normal visitors general admission is $10 and tours are conducted every hour, and last tour begins promptly at 3pm. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. We can walk around the grounds and it 's free. There 's only street parking but I took the public buses run nearby. This place is really educational and one of the places everybody would probably say wow to. My tour guide was very knowledgeable and was able to tell us a lot about Hawaiian history. What the museum has been able to preserve and share is amazing. They have the oldest house of all of the Hawaiian Islands on the property which was actually shipped from Boston. I am going to describe short brief about the museum houses that I acknowledge from visiting Mission Houses Museum. I think, before describing about mission houses museum and my experience about tour I would like to remember Captain Cook who discovered the Hawaii in 1778 and King Kamehameha I (Hawaiian pronunciation: [kəmehəˈmɛhə]; ca.
1758 – May 8, 1819), also known as Kamehameha the Great who conquered the Hawaiian Islands and formally established the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1810. By developing alliances with the major Pacific colonial powers, Kamehameha preserved Hawaiʻi 's independence under his rule. According to Mission Houses Museum website and tour guide it was established in 1923 but according to Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Mission Houses Museum was established in 1920. Whatever the establishment date is but it is true that it was established by Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society, a non-profit educational institution and genealogical society. The Museum interprets the "missionary period" of Hawaiian history, 1820-1863, which is fundamental to an understanding of contemporary Hawai‘i. Captain Cook rediscovered Hawaii in 1778 and missionaries came then after 50 years. We can still see the picture of Captain Cook and King Kamehameha hanging on the mission houses museum. They both are unforgettable and sources of Hawaii history. We did visit three mission houses and that houses used to serve as homes and workplaces for the first Christian missionaries who came here in
Hawaii. The first one is the Oldest Frame House (Ka Hale Lāʻau ‘the wood house’) and the materials to build this house were arrived by ship around Cape Horn from Boston in 1821. They had already been measured and cut, ready to assemble into a frame house suitable for the climate of New England: with small windows to help keep the heat inside and short eaves so as not to risk cracking under a load of snow. It was used as a communal home by many missionary families who shared it with island visitors and boarders. There we say different kinds of beds for guest and dining hall etc. The second one is Chamberlain House (Ka Hale Kamalani) and this house bears the name of the Mission 's first secular agent in Hawai‘i - Levi Chamberlain. In 1831, Chamberlain contracted for the building of this structure, which was to be used as a depository. The building was made of coral blocks cut away from the ocean reef, which were dried and bleached by the sun. These blocks were arranged and assembled to build the Chamberlain House. From this location, Levi Chamberlain was able to plan out and undertake the disbursement of provisions for the entire Sandwich Islands Mission. It now serves as the Museum 's temporary Exhibition Gallery. And the last one is Printing Printing Office (Ka Hale Pa‘i) and built in 1841. In 1841, a covered porch and balcony were added to the frame house, and an extra bedroom was built next door out of coral blocks. Both additions show further adaptation to an indoor-outdoor lifestyle appropriate to the climate. The extra coral building later became the mission 's Print House (Ka Hale Paʻi) and now serves as a museum exhibit to show how the missionaries and native Hawaiians worked together to produce the first materials printed in the Hawaiian language. In this office, some of the first books and printed materials in Hawaii were produced.
During the visit I came to know that the Mission Houses Museum collects, preserves, interprets, and exhibits documents, artifacts, and other records of Hawaii’s “missionary” period from about 1820 to 1863. It interprets its historic site and collections and makes these collections available for research, educational purposes, and public enjoyment. The museum’s collection holds over 3,000 Hawaiian, Western, and Pacific artifacts, and more than 12,000 books, manuscripts, original letters, diaries, journals, illustrations and Hawaiian church records. There is also a gift shop that sells many Hawaiian products and a cafe on site.
The tour was of forty five minutes only but I acknowledge a lot about mission houses museum. Missionaries had sacrificed and done a lot for Hawaiian community in many aspects. Before it was very difficult for missionaries to cope with indigenous Hawaiian people. First, Hawaiian people thought that they came to conquer Hawaii but when they started helping local people of Hawaii then their behavior has been changed. Bringing missionaries family here in Hawaii also gave positive message to local people and realize about missionaries mission. Then after missionaries were successful to accomplish their mission and made a history. After visiting mission houses museum I learned about Hawaiian history through the missionaries’ perspective. I found it to be very educational and for me to learn, or rather unlearn the things I thought about missionaries. Work Cited
1. http://www.missionhouses.org/
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mission_Houses_Museum