Series 047 - Public Archives Report

Robert Crichton Wyllie, Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1845-1865, was the first government official to recognize the need to preserve the government’s records. His efforts lead to the passing of a resolution in 1847 ordering all the Chiefs to collect any papers and letters they may possess, pertaining to the government and to the Chiefs, and send them in to the minister of foreign affairs for examination. These records today form the nucleus of the collection in the Public Archives.

Various actions, including legislative appropriations, were attempted to provide for the arrangement and preservation of government records. After Hawaii became a Territory of the United States, there was a concern that Federal officials would transfer Hawaiian government records to Washington D.C., so the territorial legislature appropriated funds for a dedicated archives building in 1903.

In 1905, Governor George R. Carter urged the legislature to consider the problem of caring for the public archives. Act 24 was enacted creating the Board of Commissioner of Public Archives for the Territory of Hawaii. Appointed by the Governor, with Senate approval, the three-member board served without pay.

Under the Board, two archives buildings were built, in 1906 (now named the Kanaina building and commonly referred to as the "old archives building"), and in 1953 (now the State Archives and named the Kekauluohi building). The State Reorganization Act of 1959 abolished the Board of Commissioners and placed the Archives in the Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) under the State Comptroller.

There were only five archivists during the Board's 54 year existence, 1905-1959.
The archivists were:
-Robert Colfax Lydecker (1905-1924)
-Albert Pierce Taylor (1924-1931)
-Charles Edward Hogue (1931, 3 months)
-Stella Maude Jones (1931-1955)
-Agnes Catherine Conrad (1955-1959; who became State Archivist 1960-1982).