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Introducing Nūhou Mondays

Cover Image: Ka Hoku o Hawaii masthead for the date October 16, 1940. This was the seventh and final masthead design for this newspaper which was published in Hilo and ran for a total of 42 years from 1906 to 1948. It was the last Hawaiian language newspaper.

Image: Comparison of image currently online with an image taken from an original copy of the newspaper. “La Hanau,” Ka Hoku o Hawaii, October 16, 1940, p. 1.

Aloha Nūhou Monday!

Dear Reader, today we launch a cross-platform series we are calling Nūhou Mondays. Nūhou is the Hawaiian word for news. Nūhou Mondays will be a place where we talk about the project He Aupuni Palapala: Preserving and Digitizing the Hawaiian Language Newspapers. Its aim is to ultimately get the best images of all of the known Hawaiian language newspapers online and word searchable. The project is made possible through generous support from the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority along with cooperation from Kamehameha Schools and Awaiaulu. 

Nūhou Monday posts will cover news of all sort—new as well as old. The new news will include glimpses into the progress being made by the project team from He Aupuni Palapala. The old news will include articles found in the Hawaiian language newspapers from their beginning in 1834 to their close in 1948.  

There are currently 60,009 newspaper pages word searchable online, as reported on papakilodatabase.com. However, many of those pages are only partially legible. A missing word here or even an unclear letter there can easily change the understanding of history. Many pages are not available online at all. 

The article and accompanying photo that we share with you today announces the birthday of Edwin Miller Desha, the manager of the last Hawaiian language newspaper, Ka Hoku o Hawaii. On the left is what you can see online. On the right is a new image taken from the original newspaper. For an unknown reason the image of Desha is not discernable online, whereas it is clear in the original. 

Aloha Nūhou Monday!

Dear Reader, today we launch a cross-platform series we’ are calling “Nūhou Mondays.” Nūhou is the Hawaiian word for news. Nūhou Mondays will be a place where we talk about the project He Aupuni Palapala: Preserving and Digitizing the Hawaiian Language Newspapers. Its aim is to ultimately get the best images of all of the known Hawaiian language newspapers online and word searchable. The project is made possible through generous support from the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority along with cooperation from Kamehameha Schools and Awaiaulu.

Nūhou Monday posts will cover news of all sort—new as well as old. The “new news” will include glimpses into the progress being made by the project team from He Aupuni Palapala. The “old news” will include articles found in the Hawaiian language newspapers from their beginning in 1834 to their close in 1948.

There are currently 60,009 newspaper pages word searchable online, as reported on papakilodatabase.com. However, many of those pages are only partially legible. A missing word here or even an unclear letter there can easily change the understanding of history. Many pages are not available online at all.

The article and accompanying photo that we share with you today announces the birthday of Edwin Miller Desha, the manager of the last Hawaiian language newspaper, Ka Hoku o Hawaii. On the left is what you can see online. On the right is a new image taken from the original newspaper. For an unknown reason the image of Desha is not discernable online, whereas it is clear in the original.

The article reads: 

Birthday 

Edwin M. Desha 

Edwin M. Desha, the General Manager of Ka Hoku O Hawaii, is celebrating his birthday on this coming Friday, October 18. 

Aside from his position of big boss for the Hoku, Mr. Desha is a secretary for Chairman Samuel M. Spencer of the County of Hawaii. He is a upstanding member of the Lions Club of Hilo, and also of some other organizations. In other words, he is a man busy with work, and he does not have time to take his vacation, and so too on his birthday. 

With good wishes for a happy birthday, O Eddie, from the entire press of the Hoku. 

(Ka Hoku o Hawaii, October 16, 1940, p. 1) 

—Post by Bishop Museum Library & Archives Staff

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