Bishop Museum
Encyclopedia
The Bishop Museum is a museum
of history
and science
in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu
on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu
. Founded in 1889, it is the largest museum in Hawai'i and is home to the world's largest collection of Polynesian
cultural and scientific artifacts. Besides the comprehensive exhibits of Hawaiiana
, the Bishop Museum has an extensive entomological collection of over 13.5 million specimens, the third largest collection in the United States
. The museum is accessible on public transit: TheBus Routes A, B, 1, 2, 7, 10.
, a philanthropist and co-founder of Kamehameha Schools
and First Hawaiian Bank
, built the museum in memory of his late wife, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop
. She was the last legal heir of the Kamehameha Dynasty
, which ruled the Kingdom of Hawaii
between 1810 and 1872. Bishop had originally intended the museum to house family heirlooms passed down to him through the royal lineage of his wife.
The museum was built on the original boys campus of Kamehameha Schools, an institution created to benefit native Hawaiian
children as outlined in the Princess' last will and testament. In 1898, Bishop constructed Hawaiian Hall and Polynesian Hall in the then popular Richardsonian Romanesque
architectural style. The Pacific Commercial Advertiser newspaper dubbed the buildings as "the noblest buildings of Honolulu." Both Hawaiian Hall and Polynesian Hall stand today and have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. Hawaiian Hall is home to a complete Sperm Whale
skeleton with papier-mâché
body suspended above the central gallery. Along the walls are prized koa wood display cases worth more than the original Bishop Museum buildings. It is also home to the Hawaiian Royal regalia, including the Hawaiian royal crown and the consort's crown.
In 1988, construction of the Castle Memorial Building was begun. Dedicated on January 13, 1990, Castle Memorial Building houses all the major traveling exhibits that come to the Bishop Museum from institutions around the world.
The Richard T. Mamiya Science Adventure Center opened in November 2005. The building is designed as a learning center for children, and includes many interactive exhibits focused on marine science, volcanology
, and related sciences.
The Archives holds the results of extensive studies done by Museum staff in the Pacific Basin as well as manuscripts, photographs, artwork, oral histories, commercial sound recordings and maps.
Many of Hawai'i 's royalty (including Bernice Pauahi Bishop and Queen Lili'uokalani) deposited their personal papers at Bishop Museum. Manuscripts in the collection also include scientific papers, genealogical records, and memorabilia.
The book collection consists of approximately 50,000 volumes with an emphasis on the cultural and natural history of Hawai'i and the Pacific, with subject strengths in anthropology, music, botany, entomology, and zoology. The Library provides extra access to the collection of published diaries, narratives, memoirs, etc. relating to 18th and 19th century Hawai'i.
and the oldest planetarium in Polynesia.
Also on the campus is Pauahi Hall, home to the J. Linsley Gressit Center for Research in Entomology which houses some 14 million prepared specimens of insect
s and related arthropod
s, including over 16,500 primary types, making it the third largest entomology collection in the United States and the eighth largest in the world. An active research facility, Pauahi Hall is not open to the public. Nearby is Pākī Hall, home to the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame, a museum library and archives, open to the public.
From 1988 until 2009, the Bishop Museum also administered the Hawaii Maritime Center
in downtown Honolulu. Built on a former private pier of Honolulu Harbor
for the royal family, the center was the premier maritime museum in the Pacific Rim
with artifacts in relation to the Pacific whaling
industry and the Hawaii steamship industry.
On the Big Island of Hawai'i
, the Bishop Museum administers the Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden, specializing in indigenous Hawaiian plant life.
The Secretariat of the Pacific Science Association
(PSA), an independent regional, non-governmental, scholarly organization that seeks to advance science and technology in support of sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific, has been based at Bishop Museum since PSA's founding in 1920.
-driven oil tanker
which was moored at the Hawai‘i Maritime Center. In early 2007, the ship was closed to public tours for safety reasons and in order to facilitate repairs to the deteriorating tank, which frequently caused the ship to list dramatically. The decision was also made to conduct a more thorough inspection by marine experts. Between 1998 and 2008 the Museum incurred more than $2 million in preservation costs.The museum had plans to sink the ship by the end of 2008 unless private funds were raised for a perpetual care endowment. On September 28, 2008, ownership was transferred to the non-profit group, Friends of Falls of Clyde, which intends to restore the ship. In October 2008, the Bishop Museum was accused of "incompetence and dishonesty" for having raised $600,000 to preserve the ship but then spending only about half on the ship. The accusation also focused on other decisions about how the money was used.
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
of history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and science
Science
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...
in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu
Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...
on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu
Oahu
Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
. Founded in 1889, it is the largest museum in Hawai'i and is home to the world's largest collection of Polynesian
Polynesian Triangle
The Polynesian Triangle is a region of the Pacific Ocean with three island groups at its corners: Hawaii, Easter Island and New Zealand. It is often used as a simple way to define Polynesia....
cultural and scientific artifacts. Besides the comprehensive exhibits of Hawaiiana
Hawaiiana
Hawaiiana is a popular term of academia used in reference to history and various aspects of the culture of Hawai'i, currently a region and state of the United States. The term is used especially in reflection of the periods of antiquity and the Kingdom of Hawai'i era. Hawaiiana has become...
, the Bishop Museum has an extensive entomological collection of over 13.5 million specimens, the third largest collection in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The museum is accessible on public transit: TheBus Routes A, B, 1, 2, 7, 10.
Establishment
Charles Reed BishopCharles Reed Bishop
Charles Reed Bishop was a businessman and philanthropist in Hawaii.Born in Glens Falls, New York, he sailed to Hawaii in 1846 at the age of 24, and made his home there. Bishop was one of the first trustees of and a major donor to the Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii...
, a philanthropist and co-founder of Kamehameha Schools
Kamehameha Schools
Kamehameha Schools , formerly called Kamehameha Schools/Bishop Estate , is a private co-educational college-preparatory institution that specializes in Native Hawaiian language and cultural education. It is located in Hawaii and operates three campuses: Kapālama , Pukalani , and Keaau...
and First Hawaiian Bank
First Hawaiian Bank
First Hawaiian Bank is a regional commercial bank headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii at the First Hawaiian Center. It is a subsidiary of BancWest Corporation, which itself is a subsidiary of the French banking company, BNP Paribas...
, built the museum in memory of his late wife, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop
Bernice Pauahi Bishop
Bernice Pauahi Bishop , born Bernice Pauahi Pākī, was a Hawaiian princess, philanthropist, alii, and direct descendant of the royal House of Kamehameha. She was the great-granddaughter of King Kamehameha I and last surviving heir...
. She was the last legal heir of the Kamehameha Dynasty
House of Kamehameha
The House of Kamehameha , or the Kamehameha Dynasty, was the reigning family of the Kingdom of Hawaii between the unification of the islands by Kamehameha I in 1810 and the death of Kamehameha V in 1872...
, which ruled the Kingdom of Hawaii
Kingdom of Hawaii
The Kingdom of Hawaii was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lānai, Kauai and Niihau by the chiefdom of Hawaii into one unified government...
between 1810 and 1872. Bishop had originally intended the museum to house family heirlooms passed down to him through the royal lineage of his wife.
The museum was built on the original boys campus of Kamehameha Schools, an institution created to benefit native Hawaiian
Native Hawaiians
Native Hawaiians refers to the indigenous Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands or their descendants. Native Hawaiians trace their ancestry back to the original Polynesian settlers of Hawaii.According to the U.S...
children as outlined in the Princess' last will and testament. In 1898, Bishop constructed Hawaiian Hall and Polynesian Hall in the then popular Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque
Richardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...
architectural style. The Pacific Commercial Advertiser newspaper dubbed the buildings as "the noblest buildings of Honolulu." Both Hawaiian Hall and Polynesian Hall stand today and have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Hawaiian Hall is home to a complete Sperm Whale
Sperm Whale
The sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus, is a marine mammal species, order Cetacea, a toothed whale having the largest brain of any animal. The name comes from the milky-white waxy substance, spermaceti, found in the animal's head. The sperm whale is the only living member of genus Physeter...
skeleton with papier-mâché
Papier-mâché
Papier-mâché , alternatively, paper-mache, is a composite material consisting of paper pieces or pulp, sometimes reinforced with textiles, bound with an adhesive, such as glue, starch, or wallpaper paste....
body suspended above the central gallery. Along the walls are prized koa wood display cases worth more than the original Bishop Museum buildings. It is also home to the Hawaiian Royal regalia, including the Hawaiian royal crown and the consort's crown.
Later development
In 1940, Kamehameha Schools moved to its new campus in Kapālama, allowing the museum to expand. Bishop Hall, which had been built for the school, reverted to museum use. Most other school structures were razed and new museum facilities were constructed. By the late 1980s, the Bishop Museum had become the largest natural and cultural history institution in Polynesia.In 1988, construction of the Castle Memorial Building was begun. Dedicated on January 13, 1990, Castle Memorial Building houses all the major traveling exhibits that come to the Bishop Museum from institutions around the world.
The Richard T. Mamiya Science Adventure Center opened in November 2005. The building is designed as a learning center for children, and includes many interactive exhibits focused on marine science, volcanology
Volcanology
Volcanology is the study of volcanoes, lava, magma, and related geological, geophysical and geochemical phenomena. The term volcanology is derived from the Latin word vulcan. Vulcan was the ancient Roman god of fire....
, and related sciences.
Library and Archives
The Library has one of the most extensive collections of books, periodicals, newspapers and special collections concerned with Hawai'i and the Pacific.The Archives holds the results of extensive studies done by Museum staff in the Pacific Basin as well as manuscripts, photographs, artwork, oral histories, commercial sound recordings and maps.
Many of Hawai'i 's royalty (including Bernice Pauahi Bishop and Queen Lili'uokalani) deposited their personal papers at Bishop Museum. Manuscripts in the collection also include scientific papers, genealogical records, and memorabilia.
The book collection consists of approximately 50,000 volumes with an emphasis on the cultural and natural history of Hawai'i and the Pacific, with subject strengths in anthropology, music, botany, entomology, and zoology. The Library provides extra access to the collection of published diaries, narratives, memoirs, etc. relating to 18th and 19th century Hawai'i.
Institutions
On the campus of Bishop Museum is the Jhamandas Watumull Planetarium, an educational and research facility devoted to the astronomical sciencesAstronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
and the oldest planetarium in Polynesia.
Also on the campus is Pauahi Hall, home to the J. Linsley Gressit Center for Research in Entomology which houses some 14 million prepared specimens of insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s and related arthropod
Arthropod
An arthropod is an invertebrate animal having an exoskeleton , a segmented body, and jointed appendages. Arthropods are members of the phylum Arthropoda , and include the insects, arachnids, crustaceans, and others...
s, including over 16,500 primary types, making it the third largest entomology collection in the United States and the eighth largest in the world. An active research facility, Pauahi Hall is not open to the public. Nearby is Pākī Hall, home to the Hawaii Sports Hall of Fame, a museum library and archives, open to the public.
From 1988 until 2009, the Bishop Museum also administered the Hawaii Maritime Center
Hawaii Maritime Center
The Hawai`i Maritime Center was the principal maritime museum in the State of Hawai`i from 1988 until it closed in 2009. Located at Pier 7 of Honolulu Harbor east of Aloha Tower, the center was a campus of the Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum...
in downtown Honolulu. Built on a former private pier of Honolulu Harbor
Honolulu Harbor
Honolulu Harbor, also called Kulolia and Ke Awa O Kou, is the principal seaport of Honolulu and the State of Hawaii in the United States. It is from Honolulu Harbor, located on Mamala Bay, that the City & County of Honolulu was developed and urbanized, in an outward fashion, over the course of the...
for the royal family, the center was the premier maritime museum in the Pacific Rim
Pacific Rim
The Pacific Rim refers to places around the edge of the Pacific Ocean. The term "Pacific Basin" includes the Pacific Rim and islands in the Pacific Ocean...
with artifacts in relation to the Pacific whaling
Whaling
Whaling is the hunting of whales mainly for meat and oil. Its earliest forms date to at least 3000 BC. Various coastal communities have long histories of sustenance whaling and harvesting beached whales...
industry and the Hawaii steamship industry.
On the Big Island of Hawai'i
Hawaii (island)
The Island of Hawaii, also called the Big Island or Hawaii Island , is a volcanic island in the North Pacific Ocean...
, the Bishop Museum administers the Amy B.H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden, specializing in indigenous Hawaiian plant life.
The Secretariat of the Pacific Science Association
Pacific Science Association
The Pacific Science Association is a regional, non-governmental, scholarly organization that seeks to advance science and technology in support of sustainable development in the Pacific Rim...
(PSA), an independent regional, non-governmental, scholarly organization that seeks to advance science and technology in support of sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific, has been based at Bishop Museum since PSA's founding in 1920.
Controversies
From 1968 until September 2008, the Bishop Museum owned the Falls of Clyde, the oldest sailSail
A sail is any type of surface intended to move a vessel, vehicle or rotor by being placed in a wind—in essence a propulsion wing. Sails are used in sailing.-History of sails:...
-driven oil tanker
Oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...
which was moored at the Hawai‘i Maritime Center. In early 2007, the ship was closed to public tours for safety reasons and in order to facilitate repairs to the deteriorating tank, which frequently caused the ship to list dramatically. The decision was also made to conduct a more thorough inspection by marine experts. Between 1998 and 2008 the Museum incurred more than $2 million in preservation costs.The museum had plans to sink the ship by the end of 2008 unless private funds were raised for a perpetual care endowment. On September 28, 2008, ownership was transferred to the non-profit group, Friends of Falls of Clyde, which intends to restore the ship. In October 2008, the Bishop Museum was accused of "incompetence and dishonesty" for having raised $600,000 to preserve the ship but then spending only about half on the ship. The accusation also focused on other decisions about how the money was used.
See also
- Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical GardenAmy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical GardenThe Amy B. H. Greenwell Ethnobotanical Garden is a botanical garden near Captain Cook, Hawaii in the Kona District on the Big Island of Hawaii.-Description:The garden is operated by the Bernice P. Bishop Museum...
- Ray Jerome BakerRay Jerome BakerRay Jerome Baker was an American photographer, film maker and lecturer, especially noteworthy as a pioneering photographer, and in particular for his studies portraying the people of Hawaii.- Biography :...
, donor of a large collection of original prints, negatives, glass plate lantern slides, and ephemera