Hawaiʻi Ma Kahaone, Beaches of Hawaiʻi Image Collection
Hawaiʻi Ma Kahaone, Beaches of Hawaiʻi Image Collection was a year-long preservation project supported by the Hawaiʻi Council for the Humanities, through support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. This project preserved over 800 images including photographs ,photo negatives, slides, and publication notes that were bequeathed to HHS by John Cark in 2016. John Clark is a well-known community researcher, scholar and author who has spent his life documenting Hawaiʻi’s surf spots and shorelines. These images were taken from 1974 to 1989 associated with his first four publications, Beaches of: the Big Island; Kauaʻi and Niʻihau; Maui; and Oʻahu.
“We name the places that we want to go back to.”–John Clark
John Clark was born and raised on O‘ahu. His great-great grandparents were William Carey Lane, an Irish sea captain, and Kukeakalani Kahooilimoku, a Native Hawaiian from O‘ahu. John attended Jefferson Elementary School, Washington Middle School, St. Louis School, and graduated from Punahou School in1964. His higher education degrees include an AS in Fire Science from Honolulu Community College (1975), a BA in Hawaiian Studies from UH Mānoa (1976), and a Master’s in Public Administration from UH Mānoa (1994).
John served two years in the US Army from 1968 to 1970, two years as a lifeguard at Sandy Beach, O‘ahu, and 33 years as a firefighter in the Honolulu Fire Department. He was the Deputy Fire Chief when he
retired from HFD in 2005.
John started researching and writing about Hawai‘i’s beaches, surf breaks, and shoreline place names in 1972, while he was still a lifeguard at Sandy Beach. He is now the author of 11 books published by the University of Hawai‘i Press: Beaches of O‘ahu (1977, 2nd Ed. 2005), Beaches of Maui County (1980, 2nd Ed. 1989), Beaches of the Big Island (1985), Beaches of Kaua‘i and Ni‘ihau (1990), Hawai‘i’s Best Beaches (1999), Hawai‘i Place Names: Shores, Beaches, and Surf Sites (2002), Guardian of the Sea: Jizo in Hawai‘i (2007), Hawaiian Surfing: Traditions from the Past (2011), North Shore Place Names: Kahuku to Ka‘ena (2014), Kalaupapa Place Names: Waikolu to Nihoa (2018), and Ni‘ihau Place Names (2023).
John also self-published two books: Hawaii’s Secret Beaches, Tongg Publishing (1989) and Clarence “Mac” Maki: Pioneer Surf Photographer, Legacy Isle Publishing (2024).
John’s books have received eight Ka Palapala Po‘okela Awards, which are given to local authors by the Hawai‘i Book Publishers Association. His best seller has been Beaches of the Big Island, which became a popular shoreline travel guide prior to the introduction of the internet.
John is a former president of the HHS board of directors (2004-2006, 2007-2011) and a former co-editor with Linda Menton of The Hawaiian Journal of History (2010-2019). In 2017 HHS designated John as a Kahu ‘Ikena, a “caretaker of knowledge.”
After the completion of the project, HHS hosted a Panel Discussion with John Clark, Bobby Camara, and DeSoto Brown to discuss the importance of this archival collection and how these images of the past are crucial in understanding today’s current environmental concerns.
To view the recording, click here to view video (1h : 31min). Enter passcode: *Vvwd3dD
With this generous funding, our goal is to preserve and provide access to this historical material. The below Finding Aid outlines the collection and call numbers to request information. To see this collection, please schedule an in-person, reference appointment by e-mail hhsoffice@hawaiianhistory.org or phone (808) 537-6271.
Beaches of Hawaiʻi Collection-Finding Aid
