The Hawai‘i State Archives Is Home to the Largest Vintage ‘Ukulele Collection in the World
The collection includes more than 28,000 phonographic records and 650 instruments.
It’s no coincidence that shortly after Hawai‘i’s participation in the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, which included live music performances, Hawaiian music outsold every other genre in the U.S. “The ‘ukulele was very influential in shaping music as we know it today, but most people don’t know that story,” says Hawai‘i State Archivist Adam Jansen.
But he hopes more people will learn it as the archive continues to grow its collections and further its mission to educate people about the official ‘auana (modern) musical instrument of Hawai‘i.
“We don’t know of any other repository on the island that actually actively collects ‘ukulele-related materials,” Jansen says. And with donations from personal collections and partnerships with groups like the ‘Ukulele Hall of Fame, the Hawai‘i State Archives’ collection of sheet music, records and ‘ukulele has grown significantly over the past few years. It’s gone from about 300 instruments to 650, plus more than 28,000 phonographic records and thousands of pieces of sheet music and method books.
SEE ALSO: Meet the Hawai‘i Family That Makes the World’s Most Famous ‘Ukulele
The plan is to continue digitizing the collection to increase accessibility. More than 350 songs out of copyright are now online to download for free, while songs still under copyright can be listened to at the archive. ‘Ukulele that are structurally sound will be restrung with traditional gut strings to allow researchers and musicians to (carefully, under supervision) play them, and 3D models will be created, allowing for more accurate measurements and comparisons of the instruments. The organization also wants to host more historic concerts with vintage instruments and Hawaiian Kingdom-era music.
“We cannot find any other memory institution in the world that allows public access to vintage instruments,” Jansen says, “so there’s no model that we can follow. But we have worked with the ‘Ukulele Guild of Hawai‘i and have vetted over three dozen instruments that have already been inspected, restrung and are ready to go. We just have to get the rest of the protocols in place.”
Jansen hopes to start putting out some of the 3D models this month; he also plans to have more pop-up events where the public can see some of the more unusual ‘ukulele in person.
Hawai‘i State Archives, 364 S. King St.
