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The Archival Collections at the University of Hawaiʻi School of Law Library: Home

A portal to the archival collections being preserved at the University of Hawaiʻi School of Law Library.

Welcome!

Our Mission

The University of Hawaiʻi School of Law Library Archive mission is twofold:  to preserve and make accessible records of enduring value regarding the history of the W.S. Richardson School of Law and to preserve and make accessible historically significant material regarding the local and regional legal community.

Our Collections

The Archive holds these collections: the Law School History Collection, Law School Faculty Publications Archive, Chief Justice William S. Richardson Collection, Samuel P. King CollectionJon Van Dyke Archival Collection. The Archive has also made available smaller collections such as the H-3 Litigation Archive, the Pacific Islands Committee Archive, the Hawaiʻi 1978 Con Con News clippings, Myer C. Symonds Collection, Judge Myron Bright Collection, Judge Betty Vitousek Collection, and Richard Kanter Collection. These unique collections provide material significant to the history of the William S. Richardson School of Law, and individuals who made contributions to the legal history of Hawaii and the Pacific.

​​Our repository does not necessarily hold copyrights, privacy permissions or releases, or publicity rights to all the items in our collections.  It is the researchers' obligation to determine the copyright status and holders, meet all holder requirements and honor restrictions.

Donate to our Archive

We accept historical material that is within the scope of our mission. If you are interested in donating your materials, please contact the Library Director at vjs777[at]hawaii.edu or 956-5580.

Access Policy

Remote Access Procedures

If you have explored the finding aid or search engine and found an item that you would like to access, please fill out the Researcher Registration Form (pdf) OR email the Archives Manager with this information:

  • The item title, identifier and collection name.
  • Your name 
  • Email address

If there are no restrictions or problems with fulfillment, the Archives Manager will email you a digital copy of the item requested.

In-Person Access Procedures

Step 1: Prepare a Research Appointment
  • To research in our archives database (archives.law.hawaii.edu), enter keywords in the search box at the top right of the page.  When you find items in the search results, identify the title or which collection, series # and/or folder # your item is located in.  
  • Not everything is digitized and made publicly accessible due to copyright, privacy, or sensitivity issues.  But you can gain wider access to the items in the database by contacting the Archives Manager at 956-2867 or at the email address above. If you encounter 404 error pages when you click on a link on any of our indexes, or fail to access relevant search results in your search, please contact the Archives Manager for reference assistance, or to set up login credentials to access more items in the database.   
  • All items, digitized and non-digitized, are accessible in person by scheduling a meeting with the Archives Manager, or remotely through email correspondence, and by completing a Researcher Registration Form (pdf).
  • Items can be viewed when the Archives Manager, or another qualified staff member, is on duty.  Please contact the circulation desk at 808-956-7583 if you have any questions about our hours of operation. 
Step 2: When You Come In
  • Read the archives access policy and fill out the Researcher Registration Form (pdf).
  • Please prepare to submit a form of collateral (ID, credit card, etc.) to begin researching in the archives. It will be returned once your appointment is completed.
  • Please help us protect the longevity of our collections: No food, beverages, pens, or gum chewing is allowed during the use of the archival material.
  • Follow the staff to the designated Archives research space to begin examining the items. 
  • No backpacks, bags, purses, pens, highlighters, or ink-based writing instruments are allowed in the Archives research space. The Archives Manager can provide you a pencil and paper upon request. 
  • If you need assistance finding specific items, the Archives Manager will need to interview you about your research question to help identify relevant items.  To help save time, you can review the collection finding aids and box lists yourself and inform the Archives Manager of these items. 
  • The Archives Manager will bring out the items. Please keep all archival materials in the order you found them, in their designated folders.
  • Archival material must not be altered in any way.
  • Physical archival material cannot be taken out of the library. However digital scans can be e-delivered to you at no cost, and xerox copy prints are possible at $0.10 a page.
  • All original material must be returned to the Archives Manager or staff member serving you.

Gallery

Intensive Storage

A peek into our climate controlled location where we keep our archival collections for long term preservation..

Archives Display

An exhibit of our archival collections specializing in legal histories of Hawai'i and the Pacific region.

House Journal

We also maintain rare books on law and legal history.

Hawaiian Dictionary

Rare books such as this Hawaiian Dictionary are great resources for Hawaiian legal research.

Evening Library Supervisor & Archives Manager

Profile Photo
Ellen Rae Cachola
Contact:
956-2867

Hours of Operation

To access the archives, please contact the Archives Manager at ellenrae[at]hawaii[dot]edu or call 956-2867.

By appointment only: Sunday-Thursday 6pm-8pm

University of Hawaiʻi School of Law Library
2525 Dole St.
Honolulu HI, 96822