ʻUluʻulu: The Henry Kuʻualoha Giugni Moving Image Archive of Hawaiʻi

Read about the efforts of the Hula Preservation Society “to document the great voices of hula before they go silent” in the current issue of Hana Hou! Magazine.

The Lyman Museum in Hilo, currently showcases Hawaiʻiʻs volcanoes from the 1880s to present. The exhibit includes historic film footage, a portion of which was digitized in ʻUluʻulu’s Pilot Project. In an email, archivist Miki Bulos comments, “The films have already generated a lot of interest in the public as well as the scientific community… If ʻUluʻulu hadn’t digitized these films they may have, in all likelihood, been lost for ever.”

SAA Student Chapter from UH Manoa in the stacks

UH Manoa’s student chapter of the Society of American Archivists  paid us a visit recently to tour our lab and learn about moving image archiving. We talked about our digitizing, cataloging and preservation efforts and how our classes and experiences as students in the Library and Information Science program at Manoa prepared us for this type of work.

One major learning experience we emphasized was the LIS Internship Program. It’s an excellent way for students to gain hands-on professional experience in the field. We are an approved LIS 690 Internship site and have intern positions available for Spring 2012. Interested students are encouraged to apply!

We are pleased to announce the newest addition to our permanent collections, the Joe Fumio Konno Collection, which includes 16mm and 8mm motion picture film reels shot by Konno in the 1950s-1960s. Konno was one of the first television news cameramen in Hawaiʻi working for the Maui News, KULA Television (later KHVH and now KITV) and KHET (now PBS Hawaiʻi). Konno’s production credits include “The Pau Hana Years” (KHET 1966-79) and “China Visit” (PBS Hawaiʻi 1977).

Janel Quirante, Leslie Konno, Joe Konno and Mary Bitterman

Mr. Konno met with Archives’ staff recently and reminisced about his friendship with Henry Kuʻualoha Giugni. He recalled travelling to Washington DC in 1965 to cover President Johnson’s inauguration. Giugni met him at the train station and brought him to Senator Inouye’s house and offered him a chance to shoot exclusive photos of the the Senator and his new baby. Konno declined and explained to Giugni that he should also invite newsmen from AP and UPI as this would encourage good public relations with the national media. The next morning Konno woke to see a front page article and photograph of Senator Inouye sitting in a rocking chair with his baby — an image that reached a much wider audience than Konno’s exclusive could have.

Janel Quirante, Heather Giugni, Joe Konno, and Mary Bitterman

The Joe Fumio Konno Collection complements the Archive’s collection of another of Hawaiʻi’s television news pioneers, the Ted Shibuya Collection, and offers a unique glimpse into the early years of Hawaiʻi’s television history. The collection is currently closed to researchers as Archives staff works to catalog the materials and prepare them for public access.

Senator Dan Inouye and Irene Hirano with Jacob Rosen, Janel Quirante, Heather Giugni and Robbie Omura

Senator Dan Inouye, Irene Hirano and members of the Senator’s staff visited the Archives on Aug 10 to tour our facility and to see the progress that we’ve made since starting operations in 2010. Sen. Inouye has always been a strong supporter of our moving image preservation efforts and was instrumental in the formation of the archives which honors his longtime aide Henry Ku’ualoha Giugni.

Irene Hirano watches a passenger disembark from a 1920's Interisland Airways flight. The footage is from a 16mm film from the Lyman Museum.

Staff gave demonstrations of our video cataloging, cleaning, and digitizing equipment and showed the Senator clips from our Pilot Project including footage of the Senator himself in the 1960s welcoming Jacqueline Kennedy as she arrives at the Honolulu airport.

Robbie Omura and Sen. Inouye

We were honored and thrilled by the visit from the Senator and his wife Irene!

Sen. Inouye and Irene Hirano with Heather Giugni

Before... Original 16mm film reel from the KGMB TV collection

After... Image of Bill Paty from newly digitized film

Archival footage from the KGMB TV collection was recently used in PBS Hawaii’s Long Story Short. Bill Paty, who presided over the Hawaii Constitutional Convention in 1978, talked with Leslie Wilcox on the July 5 episode. The original 16mm film footage of the convention was preserved and digitized as part of the HKG Archives Pilot Project. Don’t worry if you missed the show, it will be re-broadcast on Sunday, July 10 at 4:00 pm.