John Howard Pierce Photographs

The John Howard Pierce Photograph Collection contains Pierce’s surviving body of work—tens of thousands of photographic negatives and prints taken from the time he began work at the Hawaii Tribune-Herald in 1951 through 1973.

The collection’s significance lies in the years covered and the extensive range of subjects captured. Pierce and his camera bore witness to many community activities and development on Hawaiʻi Island during a historically important period of tremendous growth and change—those years before and after statehood. This expansive and comprehensive view of Hawai‘i Island from construction, economic development, and tourism to a burgeoning Hawaiian Renaissance, makes the collection an invaluable contribution not only to Hawai’i Island’s story, but to Hawaiʻi’s historical record.

The collection was given to the Lyman Museum in 2007. The Photo Identification Project is an ongoing effort to recruit help from the community to solve these mysteries. Most of the images in the collection have little information beyond date. With the help of the public, thousands of Pierce photographs have already been identified. This ID Project is only one step toward the goal of sharing digital images with the larger public.

To learn more about the Pierce Photo Collection or to help identify photographs, contact the Archives for a research appointment: https://lymanmuseum.org/archives/.

Note: Hawaiian diacritical marks comprise just two symbols: the ʻokina (glottal stop) and the kahakō (macron). We use them with Hawaiian place names, but do not add them to proper names if a family or a company does not use them.

Born in Hebron, Illinois (northwest of Chicago), J. Howard Pierce (1903-1979) married Emily Thomas on the Pomona College campus in 1941. The couple’s daughter, Nancy Ann “Nani” Pierce, was born in Hilo in 1951. Pierce’s first newspaper job was at the Crockett Signal in California. He began working at the Hilo Tribune Herald as a reporter and photographer in 1951. In his final years he worked as a Curator at the Lyman Museum.
Aloha Airline jet at Hilo airport, April 9, 1951. In the 20th century local businesses began to develop the tourism industry, after the decline of Hawai‘i’s sugar businesses. Aloha Airlines operated from 1946 to 2008.
Dedication of the University of Hawaiʻi Telescope, Maunakea, Hawaiʻi Island, June 26, 1970. John Jefferies of the University of Hawaiʻi suggested that the University built an 88-inch telescope (2.24 meter). The State of Hawaiʻi agreed to build a reliable, all-weather roadway to the summit. Construction on the telescope began in 1967 and use began in 1970. Local government officials viewed astronomical research as essential to economic development for the Island. The Mauna Kea Science Reserve was established in 1968 and was leased by the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). The “Astronomy Precinct” is a 525-acre special land use zone which is located within the 11,228-acre Mauna Kea Science Reserve. The University of Hawai’i Hilo managed the Reserve. In 2022, the State Legislature established the Mauna Kea Stewardship and Oversight Authority (MKSOA) within DLNR for administrative purposes. It includes eleven voting Board members.

The Kailua-Kona coastline, site of the future Royal Kona Resort before construction, October 21, 1966 and the Kailua-Kona coastline, with the Royal Kona Resort constructed, March 2, 1968. Building construction across the Island boomed in the wake of statehood in 1959 and the devastating tsunami in Hilo in 1960.

Royal Hawaiian Court. Aloha Week, possibly at Afook Chinen Auditorium in Hilo, 1963. Some of the individuals include Doreen Henderson (Queen), Kalani Schutte (King), DeeDee Victor (far left, sitting), Iwalani Kamoku (princess on left), Francis Naope (young man), George Naope (spear man on left). In the late 1960s and 1970s the Hawaiian community experienced a cultural renaissance. Interest increased in the Hawaiian language, music, traditional navigation and voyaging, traditional medicinal and spiritual practices, traditional art and craft forms, and hula. Cultural awareness also generated a political activism seeking greater autonomy and sovereignty and protection of Native rights. The first Merrie Monarch festival took place in 1964. In 1971 a revived festival offered hula competitions and became a renowned cultural event.
Hula dancers B.J. and Patricia Cockett Bergin before a crowd on the airport tarmac during the visit of the King and Queen of Thailand, June 17, 1960. Center: Nancy Ellen Witbeck Quinn, wife of the Governor; Sirikit, Queen of Thailand; W. M. Quinn, Governor; and Bhumibol Adulyadej, King of Thailand. This and other Pierce photographs document the period just after statehood. People both within the Islands and on the U.S. mainland held strong feelings about admitting Hawai‘i to the Union. Hawai‘i’s importance during World War II helped establish its identity as “American” for most local residents as well as mainlanders. 94% of voters ratified an earlier congressional vote for statehood. In August 1959, President Dwight Eisenhower signed the proclamation that admitted Hawai‘i to the Union as the 50th state.
4-H Champion Steer competition, July 29, 1964. Veronica Awong and Beverly Awong (age 15). While Europeans and Americans settling in the Islands in the early 1800s decided on sugar as the most profitable crop, cattle ranching also became a prominent livelihood for many. The Parker family established Parker Ranch in 1847, while many other ranches soon started. Other agricultural industries have been introduced over the years—pineapple, coffee, papaya, macadamia nuts, tropical flowers, and more—each contributing to the economic development of the Islands.
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