Video Talk Story
The closing of the last planation on the Big Island in 1996, also closed off a way of earning a living, but, even more, a way of life. The people who worked for the plantations and their spouses and children moved on--some to Honolulu, the mainland, or other places. Some to retirement. Some to new careers. Memories of the plantation communities--special to many who lived in them--are often cherished, but are now fading. New generations, new residents, and new visitors increasingly have no direct memories of the plantation days.
For our video memories project, we recorded short interviews--between one and fifteen minutes--with people who worked for the plantations, grew up and lived in plantation communities or in retail and service centers such as Hilo and Honokaʻa in the Plantation era. They talk story about many different topics. Some talk about their husbands, wives and family life. Some talk about their work for the plantation, and how it changed over the years. Several graduated high school shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and had their lives changed by this timing. Some tell of what they saw and what they did when a tsunami struck the Big Island in 1946, and again in 1960.
Together, we hope that the stories shared here will create a window into the character of life in plantation communities.
For our video memories project, we recorded short interviews--between one and fifteen minutes--with people who worked for the plantations, grew up and lived in plantation communities or in retail and service centers such as Hilo and Honokaʻa in the Plantation era. They talk story about many different topics. Some talk about their husbands, wives and family life. Some talk about their work for the plantation, and how it changed over the years. Several graduated high school shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, and had their lives changed by this timing. Some tell of what they saw and what they did when a tsunami struck the Big Island in 1946, and again in 1960.
Together, we hope that the stories shared here will create a window into the character of life in plantation communities.
Accidents
Bobby Jardine on a fatal accident (1:23)
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Walter Branco, Billy & Gordon Dias on a radiator accident (4:46)
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Leo Crivello on getting locked in a freezer (1:44)
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Labor unions, work rules, and strikes
John FitzGerald on working with the union as a manager (3:00)
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Ray Stewart on his father and industrial relations at the Hilo Sugar Company
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Bobby Jardine on the 1958 sugar strike (6:45)
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Bobby Jardine on workers getting a house from the plantation (2:16)
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Bobby Jardine on plantation closing and mergers (2:01)
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Bobby Jardine on the bell not to work (1:11)
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Courtship, love and marriage
Takashi Nonaka: How I met my wife
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Tony Medeiros: How I met my wife
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Leo Crivello: How I met my wife
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Billy & Gordon Dias, Walter Branco: Meeting wives
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Hisao and Hagie Kaya: Courtship, marriage, & love
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Home, family, community
Tony Medeiros on home and family life
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Gordon Dias, Billy Dias and Walter Branco on growing up on the plantation
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Hisao and Hagie Kaya on sharing
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Robert Fujimori on the plantation camp shared baths until the 1950s (4:00)
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Robert Fujimori on getting to school by walking, or taking a sampan bus (2:43)
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Walter Branco, Gordon & Billy Dias on hunting and fishing (2:50)
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Plantation work
John FitzGerald on working with plantation horses
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Takashi Nonaka on becoming a chemistry research lab manager
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Hisao and Hagie Kaya on weed control, fertilizing and harvesting sugar cane
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Tony Medeiros on the mechanization of cane transfer and the end of fluming
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Billy & Gordon Dias and Walter Branco on starting out throwing fertilizer
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John FitzGerald on the inventiveness of the plantation machine shops
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Shops and stores
Kumiko Shirai Tobara on the Kilauea Fish Market
Tsunami, Volcanos, Earthquakes and Weather
Kumiko Shirai Tobara on the 1959 and 1960 eruptions and the 1960 tsunami
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Tony Medeiros on the fall of the Onomea Arch in 1956
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John FitzGerald on the 1946 tsunami: the view from Maui
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Kawaihona Poy on Laupahoehoe before and during the 1946 tsunami
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Kawaihona Poy: April 1, 1946 in Laupahoehoe as she saw it
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Tony Medeiros on rain, floods and pests
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World War II
Wayne Subica on the Victory Corp: Students pinch hitting for plantation workers during the war
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Takashi Nonaka on cutting cane as a teenager during World War II
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Takashi Aragaki (1924-2019) on serving as a cook in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team
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Trains Trains Trains
This section hosts two videos produced by our neighbors and friends at the Laupahoehoe Train Museum. These are not talk story like the others. Hāmākua Scenic Express is a documentary with historical video footage about the passenger service on the Hāmākua Division of the Hawaiʻi Consolidated Railway. Life on the Rail in Hawaiʻi tells the personal story of Roy Wilson, whose career working with the Hawaiʻi Consolidated Railway spanned several decades and several different responsibilities until the railroadʻs final closure in 1948 shortly after the 1946 tsunami.
Hāmākua Scenic Express (9 minutes)
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Life on the Rail in Hawaiʻi (Long: 45:36)
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