Kona Historical Society joins Smithsonian affiliate program

Advertiser Staff

KEALAKEKUA, Hawai'i — The Kona Historical Society has become the first Hawai'i institution to join the Smithsonian's affiliate program.

The association will allow the Kona group to develop programming, share exhibits and collaborate with the Smithsonian Institution, the national organization in Washington, D.C.

Jill Olson of the Kona Historical Society said it also will open up fellowship programs for her staff of 25.

More than 64 American cultural institutions have joined the Smithsonian Affiliations Program since it was established in 1997. The Kona Historical Society is among 90 museums and historical institutions in Hawai'i.

The Kona Historical Society, which has 1,000 members, earlier won recognition for its Uchida Coffee Farm, a re-creation of a 1930s coffee farm, and is establishing a cattle ranching museum at a former family ranch operation.

The society recently received a $2,000 grant from the Hawai'i Electric Industries Charitable Foundation to be used as part of a matching Endowment for the Humanities challenge grant.