October Events: National Farmer's Day

Honouliuli National Historic Site was only found again thanks to the local farmers in the area who were able to identify the site based on historic photographs. Without their knowledge of the land and expertise, it is very possible that Honouliuli may have taken many more years to find, and therefore delayed its establishment as a National Park.

Additionally, prior to the camp, the land was owned by the Oʻahu Sugar Plantation and after the camp was closed, reverted back to agricultural use again. Both incarcerees and prisoners of war also tended to gardens where a variety of vegetables were grown.

October will be centered around celebrating National Farmer's Day in gratitude to the farmers who not only helped find Honouliuli, but also to Bayer Hawaiʻi who donated the land to establish the National Park. This month will feature two speakers and a movie screening. The Hawai‘i Farm Bureau will also be hosting events this month in celebration of National Farmer's Day.

Please Note:

Nearly all of our Speaker Series events will be virtual.

Event details will be posted closer to the month in which they take place. Please check back for updates to the calendar and event pages.

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Speaker: Jay Sturdevant

National Park Service

Date and Time: October 15, 2025, 5:30-6:30 PM. Please use the following link to register for the event: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Ij7U6MecS82mT4a6nzHvFQ

Discussion Summary: Heavy Lifting History: Reflections on Resource Management and Creating a Preservation Landscape at Honouliuli National Historic Site

This talk will present the long-term process of landscape change at Honouliuli National Historic Site leading to the creation of a preservation landscape. Honouliuli National Historic Site is a place that holds significant meaning for people globally. Landscapes hold physical aspects of the past and can accumulate numerous generations of human inhabitants that can modify and change landscapes over time. These physical objects bring connection to the present by creating those timeless experiences - touching an object that others once touched, to stand in the places where they once stood, to learn the lessons of the land that they once learned. The loss of physical resources can break connections, create gaps in knowledge, and diminishes a people by removing their connections to the landscape. How parks manage historic landscapes also is a process of creation and renewal. What are the actions that we take to preserve resources into the future and how does this create a preservation landscape that is different from what has come before? Resource management at Honouliuli has much to teach us through the hard work of preservation. Physical objects take hard work and intentional restoration to ensure that the integrity of significance continues. The talk will contextualize Honouliuli within its historic landscape and explain the ways that the park is actively working to create a landscape focused on preserving these essential elements of history for future generations to engage and connect to the stories at Honouliuli.

Biography: Jay Sturdevant brings over 25 years of National Park Service experience, having worked in parks from Hawaii to the Atlantic coast. He began his career working as an archeological technician at Dinosaur National Monument before serving as an archeologist at the Midwest Archeological Center in Lincoln, Nebraska for 22 years. From 2021 until 2024, Mr. Sturdevant served as the Integrated Resources Division lead at Pearl Harbor National Memorial and Honouliuli National Historic Site. Today, he serves as the Superintendent at Scotts Bluff National Monument and Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in western Nebraska. Mr. Sturdevant received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology from Colorado State University in 1999 and a Master of Arts degree in Anthropology from the University of Nebraska in 2001. He is a registered professional archeologist and a past President of the Plains Anthropological Society.

 

Speaker: William Belcher, Alan Takemoto, and Christine Ogura

University of Hawai‘i West Oahu, Bayer, Honouliuli NHS

Date and Time: October 29, 2025, 5:30-6:30 PM. Please use the following link to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/mZuT5qOaQau_Y7xYco_icQ

Discussion Summary: Past, Present, and Future: The Role of Agriculture as Part of Historic Preservation

Join current Superintendent Christine Ogura, former University of Hawaii West Oahu professor William Belcher who led archaeological work at the park, and Bayer Hawaii’s Alan Takemoto who played a critical role to establish the park as they share about the important role agriculture played in the creation of the camp, its establishment as a national park, and future preservation of the site.

Biographies:

William Belcher
Dr. Bill Belcher is a distinguished forensic anthropologist and archaeologist with over three decades of academic and professional expertise. He is an Associate Professor at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln in the School of Global Integrative Studies. Dr. Belcher holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology/Archaeology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and a member of the Registry of Professional Archaeologists. His research spans forensic anthropology, archaeological investigations, and ethnoarchaeology, with a focus on human remains, taphonomy, and ancient subsistence practices, particularly in South Asia and North America. For four years, he conducted an undergraduate archaeological field school at the University of Hawai‘i West O‘ahu at the Honouliuli National Historic Site.

Christine Ogura
Born and raised on Oʻahu in Moiliili, Christine worked for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for 14 years before joining the NPS in 2024. She also worked for the late U.S. Congresswoman Patsy T. Mink and for non-profits acquiring lands for the NPS and supported international conservation efforts in more than 10 countries. She was the planner for the Hawaiʻi Wildlife Action Plan and managed the Hawaiʻi Division of Forestry and Wildlife’s Watershed Partnerships program, which involved over 60 public-private landowners/partners.

In her role, working with others, Christine shepherds a site dedicated to telling the history of incarceration, martial law, and the experience of prisoners of war in Hawaiʻi during World War II. It is a place to reflect on wartime experiences.

Alan Takemoto
Coming soon.

 

Movie Screening: "Removed by Force" with Panelists

Doris Duke Theatre; Kinetic Productions

Date and Location: October 19, 2025, Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Museum of Art, 900 S Beretania St, Honolulu, HI 96814, 2:00-4:00 PM including the panel after the movie concludes. Tickets can be reserved here.

Parking information can be found here

About the Event: Local Hawaiʻi resident and Director Ryan Kawamoto has created multiple documentaries about internment and incarceration in Hawaiʻi with his production company Kinetic Productions. "Removed by Force" originally aired on PBS Hawai'ʻi and highlighted the unique experience of the 1,500 Japanese Americans in Hawai'i that were evicted, but not interned, during WWII. Thanks to Pacific Historic Parks, the community will be able to watch the one hour film for free at the Doris Duke Theater at the Honolulu Museum of Art. This special film screening will be followed by a discussion of Honouliuli and Hawaii's internment experience with panel members, including Ryan Kawamoto himself, Carole Hayashino, the former President/Executive Director of the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i, and William Kaneko, the former past chapter President of the Honolulu Japanese American Citizens League.

Two more of Ryan Kawamoto's films were screened at Doris Duke Theater as a part of Honouliuli's 10th Anniversary Celebrations:

Untold Story (June 22)
Voices Behind Barbed Wire (August 17)

 

Kahuli Festival: Table Event

Date and Location: October 25, 2025, Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, HI 96817, 3:00-9:00 PM

About the Event: Honouliuli National Historic Site is joining the 4th annual Kahuli Festival to bring the community a table event opportunity to learn more about the connection to shells and those incarcerated at Honouliuli. The festival brings together the community of research and conservation partners, along with artists and cultural practitioners.

 

Honouliuli Traveling Pop-Up Exhibit: Kahuku Public and School Library

Kahuku Public and School Library

Date and Location: All of October, 2025, the Kahuku Public and School Library, 56-490 Kamehameha Hwy, Kahuku, HI 96731, open during library hours.

About the Event: For the entire month of October, the Kahuku Public and School Library will be the home of Honouliuli National Historic Site's traveling exhibit. Visit the library to read up on the history of Honouliuli and what work has been done on the site since its discovery. For a comprehensive list of literature related to Honouliuli and Japanese American incarceration, please check out our Recommended Reading List.

 

Honouliuli Monthly Bookstore Educational Item

Pearl Harbor National Memorial Gift Shop

Date and Location: October 2025, 1 Arizona Memorial Place, Honolulu, HI, 96818

About the Event: The Honouliuli National Historic Site bookstore is located in the Pearl Harbor National Memorial bookstore. The bookstore, which carries items beyond just books, provides visitors with a range of interpretive and educational materials about Honouliuli. The income generated from these items supports important historic preservation, ongoing research, visitor interpretation, natural and cultural resources management, and educational programs at the park.

To find other ways to help support the park, explore the drop down menu under the Get Involved section of the navigation banner.