Hawaii-Southern History
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 1996
From: Barbara Allen
Subject: Re: Hawiian-Southern history
Robert Forbes' post reminding us of the contributions of Hawaiian history to the US reminds me of my dillemas in that area of research. I am interested in the development of the Hawaiian sugar plantation in the 19th century. The race and gender issues have strong parallels to some Southern themes, but are complexified because of the diversity of ethnicities brought in as indentured servants. It becomes a great reflexive lens for looking at the South as we have come to realize that the Southern story is not one of Black and White, but of many "shades," blacks and whites.
This is my dilemma: I have submitted some of my research to conferences on U.S. West History and the say that Hawaii is not "West." (no cowboys, although plenty of indigenous people!) I submitted something to a Southern conference who also felt the work inappropriate. The only place I have found an audience is in Asian studies meetings!
I hope that as Southern Historians we can broaden our horizons to comparative work that may at first seem askew, but might shed new light on complicated issues that become ossified "problems" within our own regional visions.
Barbara Allen
University of Southwestern Lousiana
email: ALLENB@RPI.EDU
Date: Thu, 8 Feb 1996
From: Terence Finnegan
Subject: Re: QUERY: Hawaiian-Southern history
Dorothee Schneider writes:
Since Barbara Allen is working in such a non-traditional comparative context, I recommend she skip the regional conferences and present her work directly to some audiences interested in comparative work. I have learned interesting things from presentations on Hawaiians and mainland "ethnics" at the Social Science History Association's Annual meetings (mostly from Sopciologists and Anthropologists), at the OAH and (less so) AHA; She should also try the Southwest Labor Studies Association annual meetings and the Pacific Branch of the AHA which has annual conferences in August.
The audience is definitely out there and I hope to hear a presentation of Barbara's work soon!
Dorothee Schneider
University of Illinois
Date: Tue, 13 Feb 1996
From: Tom Vaughn
Subject: REPLY: Hawaiian/Southern history
[X-Post from H-West]
Barbara:
[Barbara writes:]
<<--This is my dillema: I have submitted some of my research to conferences on U.S. West History and they say that Hawaii is not "West." (no cowboys, although plenty of indigenous people!)-->>
The folks turning you down should be chased out of town by the paniolos! They've obviously never eaten at Makawao, or visited Hana (where the ratio of critters to acres is about 1:1), or driven for hours through the Parker Ranch at Kamuela (at one time the largest individually owned ranch in the US, as I heard it), or been in Naalehu at rodeo time.
I DO agree that Hawaiian history is an odd mix of Native American, Asian studies, and westward expansion (imperialism?). It may relate more to our Pacific coast history than to the interior west.
Tom Vaughan
11795 County Road 39.2
Mancos, CO 81328 USA
(970) 533-1215
wt@animas.frontier.net
X-Post from H-West
Date: Tue, 13 Feb 1996
From: Carl Abbott
Subject: REPLY: Hawaiian/Southern history
Barbara Allen writes about the dilemma of finding a regional "home" for research on Hawaii. I'd like to reassure her that many "western" historians do consider Hawaii part of the American West. It earns an entire column in the index of Clyde Milner and Carol O'Connor's OXFORD HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN WEST, for example. It is also important to point out that the Pacific Coast Branch of the AHA encompasses Hawaii, and periodically holds its August conference on one of the islands (Maui in 1995).
Hawaiian topics are appropriate for the PCB's annual meeting and for consideration by its journal, the PACIFIC HISTORICAL REVIEW [for which I will become co-editor in 1997].
Carl Abbott
Portland State University
Date: Tue, 13 Feb 1996
From: Elliott West
Subject: REPLY: Hawaiian/Southern history
No cowboys in Hawaii? Whoever said or wrote that has not taken a very close look. There are plenty, and have been for generations. I am not positive, but I believe that the Parker Ranch on the "big island" (Hawaii) is the largest ranch in the US.
The scholar most active in writing about Hawaii as west and frontier at the moment is John Whitehead of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. He has a fine article in the _Western Historical Quarterly_ a few years back. See also a review essay by Patricia Nelson Limerick in _American Historical Review_, also a few years ago, that considers several books on the Hawaii, the West, the Pacific rim, etc.
Elliott West
University of Arkansas
ewest@comp.uark.edu
Date: Mon, 19 Feb 1996
From: Rob Forbes
Subject: REPLY: Hawaiian/Southern history
Re the review essay by Patricia Nelson Limerick in _American Historical Review_: The cite is Feb 1992, v97, n1, pp. 121-27. It is well worth checking out; it contains fine discussions of some of the most methodologically interesting hsitorical works to come out in the last few years. My one problem with the review, however, is that Limerick describes Hawaiian history as "peripheral history." Now, I will not argue with anyone who wants to claim that Hawai`i is _remote_. But I categorically deny that Hawai`i can be described as "peripheral." It is the most _centrally_ located place on the planet, as far as the West is concerned.
Regards,
Rob Forbes
_______________
Robert P. Forbes (garrison@minerva.cis.yale.edu)
Department of History
Yale University
New Haven, CT 06520
Tel.: (203)432-0714 Fax: (203)773-9777
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