Around the turn of the 20th century, Lahaina’s Chinese formed the Wo Hing Society, a benevolent social, cultural and religious organization. In its early years, the society provided members with a sense of community and mutual support. The earliest Chinese on Maui came on merchant ships. They helped build tunnels and irrigation systems in the mountains. Between 1852 and 1898, thousands of Chinese, primarily men, were brought to Hawaii to work on sugar cane plantations. Hundreds lived and worked in Lahaina. A group of these men in the early 1900s formed the Wo Hing Society. By the 1900s, they constructed a second and larger Wo Hing Society Hall and cookhouse at the same location on Front Street. The upstairs was the temple for religious celebrations, and the ground floor was a social gathering place. The cookhouse was the community kitchen where members would cook for special events.
Throughout the years, most society members had moved away or died, and the building began to decay. In partnership with the Wo Hing Society, the Lahaina Restoration Foundation (LRF) restored the building in 1983 and reopened it as the Wo Hing Museum in 1984. The Museum played a significant role in teaching the history of the Wo Hing Society and the Chinese in Lahaina. We also showed our visitors the significance of the past and how it applies to future generations. The Wo Hing Society Hall had a collection of Chinese artifacts along with memorabilia and the history of Dr. Sun Yat-sen and his elder brother Sun Mei on Maui. The cookhouse displayed the old cooking woks, steamers and other utensils used by society families. Inside, locals and visitors viewed the film ‘Finding Sandalwood Mountain’ featuring Wo Hing Society members, as well as the story of Dr. Sun Yat-sen in Hawaii.
The Wo Hing Society and LRF conducted the Chinese Lunar New Year event, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, the Kite Festival, and many other celebrations that the community loved to attend. Remarkably, a sizable collection of the society’s old documents was discovered at the Wo Hing Society Hall in 1983 when the LRF restored the buildings. The work on those records started in 1999. With support from the Hawaii Council for the Humanities, the County of Maui, the LRF, and Wo Hing Society, the work continued to preserve and translate them. The collection comprises 2000 documents, besides 103 traditional Chinese booklets, and is part of the research material that was archived months before the fire.
We hope we can recreate and revamp what Wo Hing used to be. The work that we do, preserving history, is still there to do. We are optimistic that we can organize it and continue to share it with the world. We will invite people to come and join different research platforms, continue to do the translations, and help us interpret the message our ancestors would like us to share. We want to continue to bring knowledge and wisdom to the community and the world. With trust in the future, with hope, when the time is right, we will rebuild.
This unprecedented fire emergency has brought tragedy to our doorstep. We need to come together now to make sure our Museum and Temple recover from this. Your help is needed now! Give your best gift to make sure The Wo Hing Museum will have a bright future.
Your gift will be used to help with the recovery efforts for The Wo Hing Society. Please make sure this tragedy is not the end of our story. Give today to show the world that Lahaina is stronger when we work together.