Clinton Kanahele Collection

Clinton Kanahele (1902-1979) spent his career as an educator in Hawaii. He served as principal of Castle High School in Kailua, Benjamin Parker Elementary School in Kaneohe, and Laie Elementary School in Laie. He served in the Oahu Stake Presidency under Edward Clissold for many years. Kanahele spoke fluent Hawaiian and was deeply committed to the preservation of the Hawaiian language. From June to September of 1970, Kanahele, with the assistance of William Sproat, interviewed twenty individuals whose exceptional knowledge of Hawaiian language, history, and culture would prove valuable to future generations and help to “preserve the Hawaiian language.” The subjects of the interviews range from Hawaiian culture, to the history of specific places such as Laie, Oahu, and Peahi, Maui, to the personal experiences of Native Hawaiians throughout their lives.

Clicking the “mp3” link next to each interview will access the audio file and will open in your default audio or media player (Windows Media Player or Quicktime). Right-click the link to save the file on your hard drive. You can click the link that lists the page numbers for each interview to open a PDF file of the interview transcript in Hawaiian and English (must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed to access PDF files).