[Annotated Vernacular Photo Album Documenting a Woman's Time in Hawaii, Including Several Conferences of the Y.W.C.A., a Volcanic Eruption, Camp Naue at Kauai, and More]

[Various locations in Hawaii, mostly in and around Honolulu, 1934. Very good.. [44] leaves, illustrated with 233 photographs and a few real photo postcards in mounting corners, and nine loose images. Square large quarto. Contemporary Japanese-style photograph album bound in limp blue cloth, sewn in red thread. Minor edge wear, light soiling and rubbing. Internally clean. A fascinating annotated vernacular photo album documenting the personal adventures and service of an unnamed woman working with the Y.W.C.A. in Hawaii in the early 1930s. The photographs are a mixture of group portraits and action shots capturing the activities of the young women at (truncated) various Y.W.C.A. camps, along with more personal photographs of the compiler in numerous locations in Hawaii and at home. The Y.W.C.A. pictures emanate from places or events such as the Halekipa Camp, Church of the Crossroads Camp (November 1933), the McKinley Festival of Nations (mid-March 1934), the Y.W.C.A. Annual Spring Conference at the University of Hawaii (late-March 1934), the "McKinley Girl Reserve Cabinets" (May 1934), the Halekipa Camp at Camp Naue in Kauai (June-July, 1934), a "Hukilau" (a fishing party) at Haena Beach, and the Keahou Camp.

Inherently, the Y.W.C.A. photographs depict young men and women from a broad range of ethnic or regional backgrounds; the small panorama from the 1934 Annual Spring Conference best shows this diversity, picturing a healthy balance of Japanese or Japanese Americans, indigenous Hawaiians, and Anglo Americans. The last page of the album contains two group portraits of mostly Japanese American and indigenous Hawaiian students, probably the Punahou School near Ala Moana Park. The Y.W.C.A. photographs also picture the staff, young people performing various camp activities such as choir, weaving, and dancing, the settings of the various camps, and more. One page features a local man named Hano Hano making an "imu" (an in-ground oven) for the campers at Luau. The Keahou Camp photographs feature group portraits of delegations of indigenous Hawaiian young ladies from Hilo, Kona, Kohala, and Honokaa. Following these images are a couple of shots picturing indigenous children in Honaunau-Napoopoo.

The personal segments of the album capture the compiler hiking to Sacred Falls from Punalau, spending time at a cottage in Kokokahi, on Christmas vacation in Punaluu, taking elevated views from Pacific Heights and Kolekole Pass, visiting the Haleakala Crater on Maui, attending the 1934 University of Hawaii Pageant, visiting the Hanalei and Kalalau Valleys, as well as numerous volcanoes, among other places such as the Devils Throat Crater, Moanaloa Gardens, Diamond Head, Waikiki (where she encountered two surfers), and Ala Moana Park. Many dozens of the personal photographs picture the compiler's family, friends, and associates, often accompanying her at various celebrations and activities. The compiler's fairly regular manuscript captions often identify the location and date of the photographic subjects, and even a few names, like Cenie Hornung, "Uncle Ches," Lulu E. Pontious, and "The C.G. Livingstons." These names should assist researchers with identifying the compiler.

A wonderful collection of images memorializing the Y.W.C.A. and personal experiences of an unidentified woman who evidently had quite a rewarding experience over a two-year period in Hawaii. (Inventory #: 2855)