The series includes 6 record center boxes, 1 document case, 7 card files, and 1 oversize folder of materials related to administrative activities of the Hawaii War Records Depository, the bulk of which were created between 1943 and 1949. This series is one of nine series within the Hawaii War Records Depository. Researchers interested in the collection should contact archives@hawaii.edu for more information.

The papers within this series have been organized into twelve subseries: General, Collecting Materials, Correspondence, Depository Staff and Leadership Files, Financials, Hawaii’s War Years, In Freedom’s Cause, Newsletters, Other War Records Projects, Personnel, Publicity, and Requests. The subseries Depository Staff and Leadership Files has been subdivided into six sub-subseries representing individual staff members at the depository. (For a more detailed explanation of the content of individual subseries, see the descriptions later in this document and the series’ folder list, available upon request). The arrangement of the series largely conforms to its arrangement as it was housed in several file drawers with in the Archives & Manuscripts Department of the University of Hawaii. While it is unknown whether this arrangement is truly the series’ original arrangement as established and used by the HWRD staff in the 1940s, the storage of files in relatively distinct groupings suggests that the files have been little used or tampered with since their time of creation and that their current arrangement closely reflects their arrangement during their active life. Small amounts of administrative information was also found while processing other portions of the collection, so occasionally individual files within a subseries can be found among multiple boxes, but for the most part, this series represents a discrete set of papers, stored and accumulated entirely separately from the other series within the collection.

The materials in this series focus primarily on the Hawaii War Records Depository’s period of active record collection and research, roughly from 1943 to 1949. While some materials within the series date from after this time period, very little documentation exists charting the administration or care of the collection after the HWRD ceased to be actively staffed and the collection became part of the University of Hawaii’s archives. Additionally, there is very little documentation regarding the formation of the depository. While it is known that Ralph S. Kuykendall, professor of history at the University of Hawaii, was very active in the formation of the depository and later served as chairman of its executive committee, the files found within the Kuykendall Files sub-subseries do not dwell on this period in the depository’s history.

The material was largely in good condition. Paper clips, staples, and rubber bands that had caused minor damage were removed, but staples and paper clips are still scattered within the series. Similarly, not all newspaper clippings present in this series were photocopied for retention. Where possible, the presence of newsprint has been noted in the series’ folder list. Several folders and the papers within them exhibited extensive insect damage. Where the damage rendered documents completely unstable, photocopies were made and the originals discarded. Where the insect damage was small, notation of the fragility of the documents was made on the outside of new acid-free folders. All documents formerly stored in metal filing cabinets were given new acid-free folders. Photographs within the series are stored in separate boxes from the rest of the documents in the series and the small amount of oversize material was moved to a drawer to allow flat storage.

Select published materials remain in the series within the In Freedom’s Cause subseries: finished copies of the memorial volume In Freedom’s Cause and two additional memorial volumes from other states that were used as examples for the HWRD staff in preparing In Freedom’s Cause.

The majority of duplicate materials within the series were removed when discovered, but there are still select duplicates within the series. For example, there are several lists of subject headings used in cataloging the ORIGINAL SUBJECT FILES series, the portion of the collection that was cataloged at the item level in the 1940s. These different subject lists have been retained because they show the evolution of the subject list to include all 73 subject categories currently used in the collection and because they occasionally contain notes made by staff members. Large numbers of duplicate form letters and blank forms were discarded.

Since the materials in this series were created by an organization working within the library, no formal deeds of gift were signed or individual donors singled out. The series was processed in 2009.

All of the papers are open for research.

For other research related to Hawaii’s role in World War II and the war’s effect on the territory, please consult the University of Hawaii Library’s online catalog. See also the cataloged portion of the Hawaii War Records Depository, accessible via card catalog in the Moir Reading Room.