Boy Scout troop on the Catholic Mission grounds in Honolulu July 1912 (Photo courtesy of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts U.S. Province)
The Dolores Furtado Martin Foundation has awarded the U.S. province of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts a $12,000 grant to develop a computerized database of historic Hawaii images from the congregation’s archives that soon will be available for public viewing.
The collection will include more than 1,600 photos digitally scanned from acetate, nitrate, and glass plate negatives in the Sacred Hearts province collection.
Once on the computerized database, the images and data about them will be available for on-site viewing in the provincial archives which is now in the process of moving from Kaneohe to a new, yet to be disclosed location on Oahu. On-line access to images is being planned for the future.
Sacred Hearts archivist Stuart Ching said that he expects the archives will be in its new facility “within the next couple of months,” although a definite date has yet to be determined.
“Renovation work is still continuing,” he said.
Dating to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, these images provide a visual record of the Sacred Hearts Fathers and Brothers and the people they served in Hawaii. The pictures include portraits and landscapes and photos of churches and institutions, many of which have long since been abandoned, demolished or replaced.
“Digital scans of all the images have been completed,” Ching said. “Work is proceeding on researching subjects and inputting images and catalog information into the computerized database.”
Established in 2011, the Sacred Hearts U.S. province archives contains the collective memory of the Fathers and Brothers of the Sacred Hearts in Hawaii, Massachusetts, Texas and their missions abroad. Its Hawaii holdings include original letters and objects associated with St. Damien de Veuster, late 19th to early 20th century photographs of the Kalaupapa Settlement on Molokai and early Catholic mission publications in the Hawaiian language.
The Dolores Furtado Martin Foundation is a private Hawaii-based charitable foundation established in 2009 and named after a pioneer in the modern Democratic Party in Hawaii.
To inquire about collection location and availability, and to schedule an appointment, please contact Ching at ssccusarchives@gmail.com.
