Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities has supported work in the humanities since 1973. How amazing is that? In the 70s and 80s, our primary purpose was to fund humanities projects across the state. We started out as Hawaiʻi Committee for the Humanities and between 1973 and 1977 we supported over 1,000 projects through the state with over 500 participating humanities scholars. The range and depth of these efforts included topics like: "Civil Rights and Employment: How Does It Affect the Hawaiian People?," ILWU Inquiry: Communities in Transition," "Can We Afford to Eat? Hawaiʻi and the Food Crisis," "Mo Better You Live Hawaiʻi? Tourism and Humanism," "Neighborhood Humanities Forums: Citizens' Value Search for More Creative Public Policy Making," "Papa U-Lelo na Lanai: Future Changes and Alternatives for People of Lanai," and "Kabataan: Issues Affecting the Education of Filipino Youth in Hawaiʻi" to name a few. It's fascinating to consider how many of these issues continue to hold relevance in contemporary Hawaiʻi.
In this space, you will find fragments of our memories as a state council for the Humanities for nearly 50 years. If you're interested please check-in regularly, since we will continue to post more recollections, more remembrances, more pieces of who we are.
