Hawaiʻi 1968-1978 Constitutional Convention Newspaper Clippings Archives
This collection includes scrapbooks from the 1968 and 1978 Hawaiʻi Constitutional Convention (Con Con).
Administrative History
The Information Booklet on the 1968 Constitutional Convention was published by Governor John A. Burnʻs 1968 Constitutional Convention Public Information Committee. This convention took place after Hawaiʻi was admitted into the U.S. Union as the 50th State in1959. The booklet summarizes some of the major issues that were considered at the 1968 convention.
The 1978 Constitutional Convention scrapbook includes Honolulu Advertiser and Star-Bulletin newspaper clippings of articles leading up to and during the 1978 Con Con. Publicly elected delegates convened to revise the constitution by reflecting on the socio-political change and influence within the state’s fundamental laws. Hawaii’s third and last, to date, constitutional convention was held on July 5th, 1978. The convention was dubbed “the People’s Con Con” because there were more women and racial and ethnic minorities in attendance as delegates, thereby representing Hawai’i’s diverse makeup (Id. at 309).
The convention proposed around forty additional sections that gave constitutional status and recognition to Native Hawaiian Rights including the establishment of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), the adoption of Hawaiian as an official state language, protection of natural resources as part of the public trust, and amended the Constitution’s preamble to better reflect the custom and culture of the islands (Trask, supra at 310. Van Dyke 1998).
Physical Description
The 1978 newspaper clippings scrap book is in FRAGILE condition. It has a Yellow cover sheet. The newsclipping are pasted on a 18” x 24” on rough newsprint paper. The company of the scrapbook medium is M. Grumbacher, Inc. 50 sheets.
Access Restrictions
The materials are accessible in person at the University of Hawaiʻi School of Law Library. Please see the Access page for more information.
Reference Code
These items are cataloged as the 1968-1978 Hawaiʻi Constitutional Convention Newsclippings Archive. Go to the index pages of this collection to browse the records. Note the Box number and folder number to request access to them.
Resources
Constitution for the State of Hawaiʻi
http://lrbhawaii.org/con/conorg.html
Bibliography
Governorʻs 1968 Public Information Committee. Information Booklet of Hawaiiʻs 1968 Constitutional Convention. (1968).
Jon M. Van Dyke, The Political Status of the Native Hawaiian People, 17 Yale L. & Pol’y Rev. 95 at 109 (1998)
Michael M. McPherson, Trustees of Hawaiian Affairs v. Yamasaki and the Native Hawaiian Claim: Too Much of Nothing, 21 Envtl. L. 453 at 472 (1991)
D. Kapua’ala Sproat, An Indigenous People’s Right to Environmental Self-determination: Native Hawaiians and the Struggle Against Climate Change Devastation, 35 Stan. Envtl. L.J. 157 at 184 (2016).