Posted on: Thursday, January 6, 2005
Chinatown's history gets a home
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
More than 100 years ago, Yee Shee Young, wife of O'ahu Market founder Anin Young, was the epitome of beauty and wealth with her tiny bound feet and handmade embroidered shoes.
Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser The all-volunteer Hawai'i Heritage Center, 1040 Smith St., will open to the public later this month. It already offers walking tours of Chinatown, and the new 3,805-square-foot center will eventually feature exhibits, workshops, dance and music performances as well as lectures, forums and cultural classes.
The center is expected to become the starting point for tourists and residents who want to learn about the historical significance of the area, the many ethnic groups who have lived on the island and where important sites can be found.
"This is going to be a great base for the start of tours," said Walter Chang, president of the non-profit group. "It will generate pride of the area and promote Chinatown."
For information about becoming a volunteer with the new Hawai'i Heritage Center in Chinatown, or to donate to its endowment fund, call 521-2749. The city spent about $5 million to buy the land and to renovate the building, using money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The center has a 25-year lease from the city for its portion of the property.
As part of the lease, the city required the center to install a permanent display of artifacts found during city construction projects in Chinatown, and a display case inside is filled with bottles, rings and even a sword handle found during the work.
The Heritage Center expects to spend about $100,000 to create display space and offices and is raising money for the effort. It is also providing offices free of charge to Catholic Charities so it can offer services for immigrants and the elderly.
Stella Wong, vice president of programs for Catholic Charities, said the charity was forced to move out of its offices in Iwilei years ago when the rent was raised.
"We really wanted to move back to Chinatown and this is our chance to do it," Wong said. "We are going to be back where the clients are. That is a huge draw for the immigrants."
The Hawai'i Heritage Center was founded in 1980 to preserve and perpetuate Hawai'i's multi-cultural heritage. The group has a smaller office on Smith Street that is filled with previous exhibits put together by the organization.
"This gives us an opportunity to take the exhibits out of the crates," said center vice president Karen Motosue.
Motosue expects the new center to be open to the public for a few hours a day by mid-January after docents are trained. Construction is expected to be completed by June.
The center is raising money for the construction as well as to create a $500,000 endowment to keep the center in operation.
Motosue said it is important for people to learn about how the different ethnic groups came to Hawai'i and how they lived. Preserving their cultural history has become her life's work.
"It's going to be great for Chinatown and the different ethnic groups," said Motosue, who grew up in Chinatown. "It is something we have to leave behind for the future generations."
Reach James Gonser at 535-2431 or jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com. Correction: Karen Motosue's title was incorrect in the photo caption in a previous version of this story. Also, center president Walter Chang was not identified in the photo caption.
The now-outlawed practice of binding women's feet — designed to make the stunted limbs resemble a pointed lotus bulb — is long gone, but Yee Shee's tiny shoes remain, part of the first exhibit at the new Hawai'i Heritage Center in Chinatown. The "Family Treasures," exhibit includes artifacts donated from seven local Chinese families going back five generations.
Walter Chang, president of the Hawai'i Heritage Center, and vice president Karen Motosue examine a pair of tiny shoes worn by Chinese women of an earlier era who had their feet bound to prevent them from growing. The shoes are part of an exhibit at the new Heritage Center at 1040 Smith St.
The building has been named the Daniel S.C. Liu Building by the city after a former Honolulu police chief. The property, at the corner of Hotel and Smith streets, was seized by federal marshals in a drug trafficking case in 1995 and part of it has been converted into a police substation.
Heritage center
