With the help of the Internet, the Bishop Museum will turn once-musty pages in time into a vibrant record of 19th and 20th century Hawai'i.

The Ho'olaupa'i Hawaiian Newspaper Resource Project aims to digitize and put on the Internet tens of thousands of pages from many of the Hawaiian-language newspapers published between 1934 and 1948. The Hawaiian papers are equal to about 125,000 pages of text and represent the largest collection of native language writings of any Pacific people.

Puakea Nogelmeier, who has researched and written on Hawaiian language newspapers, calls the papers the dialogue of a nation. This is an important window into time.

In these pages, we read the words of Hawaiian speakers talking to Hawaiian speakers.

The project was started about four years ago by the late Dwayne Steele, a businessman and philanthropist who did much for Hawaiian language and music, and Office of Hawaiian Affairs Trustee Oz Stender. Steele, Stender, project manager Kau'i Sai-Dudoit, Nogelmeier and others who are involved should be lauded for helping to preserve this important part of history.

But it will take donations to ensure their good work survives. The project thus far has been funded by small, private grants, which are important, but no guarantee for long-term support for a project expected to take many years. A benefit concert (see box) will be held to fund the project.

These papers are more than interesting artifacts — they are a connection to the foundations of the people, culture and ethos of these Islands. The project deserves support.