The OVERSIZE MATERIALS series includes 6 flat boxes and 15 map case drawers of oversize materials and accompanying resources related to life in Hawaii during the Second World War. The materials in the series originate primarily from the war years, 1941 to 1945, with some information dating as far back as 1936 and continuing as late as 1954. This series is one of nine series within the Hawaii War Records Depository. Separate finding aids have been created for the UNCATALOGED SUBJECT FILES series, ADMINISTRATIVE FILES series, and SCRAPBOOKS series and can be found here. Future finding aids for additional series within the collection will be posted as processing is completed. Researchers interested in other series within the collection should contact archives@hawaii.edu for more information.

The papers within this series have been organized into fifteen subseries based on their contents. Where possible, subseries titles match the subject headings originally given to Hawaii War Records Depository materials during cataloging efforts in the 1940s, despite the fact that the majority of these materials were not cataloged by the original staff of the HWRD. This was done in an effort to facilitate searching for similar materials in other series or in the original HWRD card catalog. Two subseries represent an exception to this policy and have been given titles that reflect their size and importance within the series and the HWRD collection as a whole: A. S. MacLeod Artwork and Children’s Posters. (For a more detailed explanation of the content of individual subseries and sub-subseries, see the descriptions later in this document and the series’ folder list, available upon request).

The oversize materials in this series were found in both the portion of the collection that was originally cataloged in the 1940s and the unprocessed portion of the HWRD. The materials from the cataloged portion were present in the original card catalog compiled for the HWRD, but have now been integrated into the OVERSIZE MATERIALS series and will no longer be considered a part of the SUBJECT FILES series. Cards will remain in the card catalog, with location information updated to reflect new box or drawer numbers.

This series had no discernable arrangement prior to processing and was separated from the rest of the collection due to size and storage concerns. Movements of the collection over time ensured that even had these materials once been integrated with materials in different locations throughout the collection, such connections were abandoned. As mentioned above, uniform subseries titles were imposed in order to create an intellectual link between these materials and others within the collection. Whenever possible, substantial subseries (those containing more than one folder) have been arranged as coherent groups to facilitate retrieval. The Children’s Posters subseries has been arranged according to poster size and grade of the student.

Much of this series is composed of oversize materials that had previously been stored folded in letter or legal sized folders. Folded materials were unfolded and laid flat in oversize folders. In the case of the maps used in the writing of Ambassadors In Arms, maps were found not only folded unevenly in boxes, but also taped together to show larger geographical areas than single maps allowed. These maps have been stored flat in oversized folders, but since they are primarily published maps of Europe with no additional notations, tape has not been removed. Children’s posters were previously stored in large folders in map case drawers and have been separated into folders according to their size and separated within folders by large sheets of acid free paper or tissue paper. MacLeod watercolors are also separated by acid free tissue paper in boxes and a map case drawer. Acidic mats have been removed from the watercolors and notations found on mats have been transferred to the back of the artwork. Mats are still present on drawings, but they are separated from one another by acid free tissue paper. When time permits, the University of Hawaii Preservation Department will replace these mats with acid free alternatives. During processing, two flat boxes were removed from this series and their materials merged into other boxes or other series.

The materials in this series were collected as part of a large-scale collecting effort, and no formal deeds of gift were signed or individual donors singled out. Where administrative files within the collection (which can be further explored in the ADMINISTRATIVE FILES series) document contact with the creator of specific materials, that information is reflected in the sub-subseries description below. The series was processed in 2010.

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.