Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives Presents Week-Long Discussion Series Examining History of The Hawaiʻi - New England Connection

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Hawaiian Mission Houses

Sep 25, 2019, 08:41 ET

BOSTON, Sept. 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- In partnership with the American Antiquarian Society and with support from Mass Humanities, the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives will be presenting "Encountering History using Innovative and Disruptive Narratives," a commanding week-long humanities discussion panel program in locations throughout Massachusetts.

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Hawaiian Mission Houses
Hawaiian Mission Houses
Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia was one of the first native Hawaiians to become a Christian, inspiring American Protestant missionaries to come to the islands during the 19th century.
Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia was one of the first native Hawaiians to become a Christian, inspiring American Protestant missionaries to come to the islands during the 19th century.

The discussion panels of distinguished scholars in humanities will explore new texts, current research, and thoughtful responses to the Bicentennial of the departure of the Congregationalist missionaries to the "Sandwich Isles" in 1819.

Host institutions include:

  • Phillips Academy, Andover - October 3
  • Williams College, Williamstown - October 7
  • the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester - October 8
  • Congregational Library and Archives, 14 Beacon Street, Boston - October 9

The program will include local New England scholars and Dr. Noelani Arista who is traveling from the University of Hawaiʻi, to discuss her new book, The Kingdom and the Republic: Sovereign Hawaiʻi and the Early United States. Discussions will be organized around the presentation of "My Name is ʻŌpūkahaʻia," a one-person play written by Moses Goods that sets the story of ʻŌpūkahaʻia into a narrative of Hawaiian agency.

This story, historically used in New England to recruit missionaries and provide funding for the mission to the Sandwich Islands, is at its core, a Hawaiian story. As the first Native Hawaiian Christian, today ʻŌpūkahaʻia is the subject of an intense debate about his role in Hawaiʻi's history.

The week of panels will be followed by a symposium and round table on Thursday, October 10, at the Pequot Museum in Ledyard, Connecticut, "Language as the Carrier of Culture: The Intersection of Language, Culture, Identity, and Traditional Knowledge," supported by Connecticut Humanities.

"The symposium, discussions, and roundtable are an extraordinary way to create an exchange between scholars from Hawaiʻi and New England," says Dr. Neal V. Hitch, Executive Director of HMH. "The goal is to create an opportunity to discuss the conceptualization of indigenous language and how language is encountered in a museum setting."  For more information, please visit www.missionhouses.org or view the Press Kit here.

The 2019 Hawaiian Mission Houses New England Tour will visit sixteen New England locations and is devoted to commemorating the Bicentennial of this remarkable alliance, exploring and showcasing the Hawaiian-New England story and its impact on Hawaiian history.  For more information about HMH, visit www.missionhouses.org/about or call HMH information at (808) 447-3910.

Media Inquiries contact:
Sylvia Hampton
Hampton Bates PR
T 617.413.6764
E [email protected]

SOURCE Hawaiian Mission Houses

Related Links

http://www.missionhouses.org

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