Hawaiʻi State Archives digitizes indexes to hundreds of thousands of records

The Department of Accounting and General Services, Hawaiʻi State Archives division, has finished digitizing 64 volumes of indexes and uploaded them to its website for the public to use for free.

Files can be viewed online at https://digitalarchives.hawaii.gov/browse/parent/ark:70111/1Q6x.

• Do you want to see who got married on Niʻihau between the years of 1849 to 1856?
• Do you want to know who was buried at Makiki Cemetery between 1896 and 1954?
• Do you want to research land holdings from over a century ago?

That’s just a fraction of what can be found at the Archives.

These indexes cover topics like genealogy, land, court records and more. It’s similar to an old-fashioned card catalogue, a traditional library tool in which one card represented one book or item.

This is just a menu to a fraction of what the Archives has; finding the information online is the first step in a research project. The next step would be to ask an archivist where they can find the actual information (like a newspaper article or a court document) in the Hawaiʻi State Archives’ collection.

“This is an important step forward as the public can now, from the comfort of their home and at any time of day, start their search and see whether or not we even have the information they want. If we do, then they can have the proper citations ready for faster service when an archivist is able to help them,” explains Hawaiʻi State Archivist Adam Jansen, who holds a doctorate in archival studies.

This is a project the Archives began in 2020 and finished at the end of 2025. The indexes start roughly in the early-1800s and end in the late 1990s.

For instance, a book of First Circuit Court indexes might contain subcategories of criminal cases, divorce cases and probate cases spanning certain years. An index book for the burial records of one particular cemetery might, within that book, be further broken down to removal permits, burial permits and disinterment permits, all meriting their own index.

“Previously, people would have to come in person to search through the indexes. This widens access, particularly for people doing research projects from the neighbor islands or out-of-state,” notes Jansen. “Public access is important to us as we are a state resource.”

If members of the public have questions about this resource, they are welcome to email Hawaiʻi State Archives at archives@hawaii.gov.