State archivists are asking the public to help identify a mystery man in a picture from the early 1900s.
ʻIolani Palace in Honolulu used to host the Malihini Christmas Tree celebration, where wealthy newcomers who wanted to give back to the community would buy gifts and provide food for thousands of underserved keiki in Hawaiʻi.
The Hawaiʻi State Archives believes the event ran for about seven years from 1908 to 1915, stopping before the onset of World War I.
Almost 50 pictures from the 1911 Malihini celebration have been donated to the Hawaiʻi State Archives, but one stands out among the others.
The picture in question features red parentheses marked around a man on the steps of ʻIolani Palace. It is the only marked picture from the collection, and archivists have not been able to track whether the marked man is in any of the other pictures.
State Archivist Adam Jansen is intrigued by the seemingly random nature of the marking.
“What makes it stand out to us is the fact that somebody, and we don't know who, put a red circle to make him stand out. We don't know why somebody thought that this person was of note and marked it, but didn't leave any documentation on why that had been done,” Jansen said.
“It's one of the blessings and the banes of the Archives; it's always an adventure, but we never have as much documentation as we would prefer.”
Jansen explained that pictures have been donated over many years from different sources, so it’s close to impossible to track down where this picture came from.
He added that based on the man’s outfit and where he was standing, it could be safe to assume he was one of the wealthy malihini, or newcomers, who had helped put on the event. But because of the lack of information and context, the man could easily be the father of one of the keiki who attended.
“That's what makes this so much fun, is that there's so many possibilities and it's such an interesting intellectual challenge that we're hoping others will feel the same way,” Jansen said.
“Even if we can’t track down his identity, we’re hoping this will spark enough intrigue to continue doing things like this. Because that discovery process when someone recognizes someone, usually a family member, from a century ago, is just a remarkable experience.”
Jansen urges people to contact the Archives if anyone has any information on the mystery man or anyone else in the photos.
