Announcement: US Civil War and Hawaii Historical Blog Site

For those interested in Hawaii's historical ties to the U.S. Civil War a unique online-based resource has been created at uscivilwarhawaii.blogspot.com. 

U.S. Civil War and Hawaii is listed with the Hawaii History Blog Project, a project-in-progress associated with the Hawaii Lyceum of History, a program started by History Education Hawaii, Inc. (HEH), the recognized state "council" of the National Council for History Education. 

"Our newest historical blog site, timed with the sesquicentennial observances of the U.S. Civil War around the country will, we hope, provide history teachers, students, historians and anyone with an interest in U.S. Civil War studies around the world a beneficial, all-purpose and convenient learning destination. Most all of the materials posted here now and in the future are centered around 19th century Hawaii-based perspectives on the war," said Jeffrey Bingham Mead, president of History Education Hawaii. 

At the time of the Civil War Hawaii was an independent kingdom with a substantial American community residing throughout the islands, with some -including Native Hawaiians- participating in battle. The kingdom was officially neutral in the conflict between North and South. 

Features of the blog site include word-search capability, language translation and the ability of users to post comments and questions under individual postings. The texts are being directly transcribed by volunteers from various 19th century Hawaii-based news sources. The blog site will be continuously updated.

"Our hope," Mead continued, "is that this historical blog site like the others featured in the Hawaii History Blog Project will generate interest and discussion inside and outside of the classroom, promoting scholarship and capitalizing on the increased popularity of online access via portable handheld devices anywhere in the world. Our outreach is intended to be local and global." 

History Education Hawaii, Inc., is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit corporation serving the history learning community of the state of Hawaii. It is the official allied "council" of the National Council for History Education (NCHE), headquartered in College Park, Maryland.