Aloha shirt printing block and fabric

The exhibition Creating Hawai‘i opened on August 21, 2009, and features aloha shirts. The precise origins of the aloha shirts are unclear, but Ellery Chun, owner of King-Smith Clothiers and Dry Goods, is believed to be the originator. Using leftover kimono fabric, Chun and his seamstress sister, Ethel Chun Lum, manufactured the first of the vibrantly-colored, floral, short-sleeved shirts. In 1936, Ellery Chun patented the name "aloha shirt." His sister's designs influenced and promoted the "Hawaiian" look. Ethel Chun donated the original aloha shirt designs, sketches, sample fabric, and printing blocks to the Smithsonian in 1998.

Also on display is Tom Selleck's signature aloha shirt from the 1980's TV detective show Magnum, P.I., as well as an inexpensive JCPenney aloha shirt which helped popularize the laid-back lifestyle to the public in the 1960s. Aloha shirts continue to be worn in Hawai‘i as uniforms on the job, in weddings, and as everyday wear, and are appreciated by tourists and people outside of Hawai‘i.

Gift of Ethel Chum Lum

Hawaiian Flag Quilt, 1898

This quilt made its debut as part of the Creating Hawai‘i showcase which opened in August 2009 at the National Museum of American History. Missionaries introduced quilting in Hawai‘i in the 1820s, and by the 1840s the flag image began to appear in quilts. Soon after annexation in 1898, there was an increase in the making of Hawaiian flag quilts.

The lettering on the quilt reads "Hawaii Ponoi [the state song and former national anthem of Hawai‘i] Ua Mau Ke Ea O Ka Aina IKa Pono," which is Hawaii's motto and translates to "The Life of the Land is Perpetuated in Righteousness."

Gift of Adelaide D. McDonough

Honda Tofu store sign and photo

Founded in 1917 by Japanese immigrants Eizo and Tsuyo Honda, Honda Tofu is one of the nation's oldest tofu businesses. In 1914, Eizo Honda moved to Wahiawa on the island of Oahu, Hawai‘i, with his wife Tsuyo and their three children and took over a general merchandise store. The property was leased from the California Packing Corporation, now known as Del Monte.

In 1917, the Hondas started a small tofu factory in the back of their store. By the late 1920s, Eizo decided to close the general store to concentrate on the more profitable tofu business in order to support his expanding family. The Honda family donated the wooden store sign, a tofu knife, labels, and photos to the Smithsonian APA Program.

The tofu-making business was handed to son Haruo and his wife, Josephine, and then to their son Dennis and his wife Dulcie. These days, Dennis makes about 800 to 1,000 tofu blocks in a day. He gets up at 2:30 a.m. to make the delivery rounds, then returns to the store to make fresh batches until 7:00 p.m., six days a week. They supply tofu not only to neighbors but to restaurants, local supermarkets, and even Costco and Sam's Club. Thanks to the Hondas, who keep the traditional methods alive and continue to bring smiles to their customers.

Gift of Dennis and Dulcie Honda

Rochelle Ballard's surfboard

This fiberglass surfboard was used by professional female surfer Rochelle Ballard of Kaua‘i. She's been surfing since age 10, when she fell in love with the sport. Since then, she's been competing for two decades. Her highest rating was runner-up in the Association of Surfing Professionals' world title competition. She also appeared in number of surf films as a stunt double. She's passionate in teaching young girls how to surf.

Gift of Rochelle Ballard

Backstage Pioneer of American Ballet

May Asaki Ishimoto, the daughter of Japanese immigrants, was an established wardrobe mistress from the 1960s to 1990. Her illustrious career spanned three major ballet companies: the National Ballet in Washington, DC; the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center in New York City; and the American Ballet Theatre, also at Lincoln Center in New York City.

This tutu was made for Marianna Tcherkassky, one of the first Asian Pacific American prima ballerinas, for her title role in Giselle. Ms. Tcherkassky continues her career with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.

Gift of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and Ms. Marianna Tcherkassky. Photo by Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

Chinese Coaching Book (1938)

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 prevented all but a few Chinese to enter the United States legally. In 1906, a major earthquake and resulting fire in San Francisco destroyed public records, allowing many Chinese to claim that they had been born in San Francisco. These men, with newly established citizenship status, periodically returned to China and claimed citizenship for their children (overwhelmingly boys) who could then immigrate into the United States as citizens. As U.S. officials became aware of this practice, they created extensive "traps" to uncover these "paper sons." At the Angel Island immigration station (1910-1940) located off the coast of San Francisco, officials detained immigrants for weeks, months, and sometimes years, before admitting or rejecting them.

Elaborate "coaching books" were studied by would-be immigrants in order to tell the same stories put forth by the alleged U.S. citizen who was waiting for his "paper son" on the American shores of Gold Mountain. Questions included minute details of the immigrant's home and village as well as specific knowledge of their ancestors.

This artifact is such a coaching book: it was studied by Choi Tsia who arrived on Angel Island in 1938. Approximately 175,000 Chinese immigrants came through Angel Island.

Gift of Ted Gong.

Ben Kuroki: "The Boy From Nebraska"

Ben Kuroki joined the U.S. Army Air Corps shortly after the Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Sergeant Kuroki was one of the few Nisei (second-generation Japanese American) admitted to the Corps. He earned two Distinguished Flying Crosses and was acclaimed as the first Nisei war hero after flying 30 missions in Europe as a tailgunner and top turret gunner aboard a B-24 plane.

The government sent him on a tour to Heart Mountain and two other prison camps in an effort to promote U.S. military recruitment. Not surprisingly, the U.S. government faced increasing draft resistance among Nisei men who were incarcerated for no other reason than their ethnic Japanese heritage.

Kuroki asked for duty in the Pacific and, after initial rejection, became the only Nisei to serve in active combat with the Air Corps in the Pacific theater, flying 28 more missions over Japan as a tailgunner on a B-29 plane.

After the war, he became the first Japanese American editor of a general newspaper in Nebraska. He later edited newspapers in Michigan and Southern California. Kuroki recently donated his personal scrapbooks, along with his personal letters and wartime artifacts, to the Smithsonian.

In this photo, Kuroki is pictured holding his airplane's turret, which was demolished over the German city of Munster during his 30th mission in Europe. Fortunately, he had briefly leaned back seconds before into the plane before the flak hit and was lucky to not be seriously injured.

Gift of Ben Kuroki. Photo credit: 93rd Bombardment Group.

Apolo Ohno's Skates

Apolo Anton Ohno, a short-track speed skater and winner of five Olympic medals, returns to the newly renovated National Museum of American History. Ohno wore these skates at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah where he won Gold in the 1500-meter and Silver in 1000-meter competitions. At the 2006 Olympics held in Italy, Ohno again won Gold in the 500-meter and Bronze in both the 1000-meter and 5000-meter relays.

The ever-determined Ohno continues to skate toward further gold, currently training for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Ohno's medal-winning skates are now display in the Popular Culture exhibit, proudly keeping company with other noteworthy acquisitions from fellow athletes and renowned entertainers. Come check out Dorothy's ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz (the most popular object in the NMAH!), boxing gloves from Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, and even Rocky, Celia Cruz's swinging dress and heels, and of course, everyone's amphibious favorite, Kermit the Frog.

Butsudan (Buddhist altar), 1942–45

Made in a Japanese American prison camp [War Relocation Authority] in Poston, Arizona, during World War II, this butsudan (Buddhist altar) provided a comforting connection to faith in a time of crisis.

The altar was handcrafted from scrap wood and used by the Murata family behind barbed wire during World War II and later in their home until 2006.

Gift of Ms. Alice Murata. Photo by Smithsonian National Museum of American History Archives.

Hawai'i Sugar Plantation Wedding Outfit

In 1868, 148 Japanese arrived in Hawai'i to work as contract laborers on sugar plantations. Kichizo Sugimoto came along with his father in the early 1900s. Kichizo married Nobuko Sugimoto in Waipahu, Camp 1, Oahu in 1918.

Barbara Kawakami donated this wedding kimono, as well as numerous other Japanese immigrant-related items from Hawai'i.

Photo by Smithsonian National Museum of American History Archives.

Cane Knifes

Cane knives were used by Japanese American laborers to harvest sugar cane (kachiken) in Hawai'i. By 1890, 72 plantations in Hawai'i produced about 260,000,000 pounds of raw sugar.

Many plantation workers worked under harsh conditions from dawn to dusk, earning $4.00/month until 1885. By 1920, the average wage for common laborers increased to $20.00/month.

Gift of Barbara Kawakami. Photo by Smithsonian National Museum of American History Archives.