Ke Ala Hou, A New Path Forward – April 2026 DAGS Receives Records of Portuguese Arrivals in Hawaiʻi

The Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) Hawaiʻi State Archives division received a gift from the Consulate General of Portugal in San Francisco which contained several thousand immigration records of the Portuguese who migrated to Hawaiʻi from 1878 to 1934.

"These logs have the names of all Portuguese citizens who, upon arrival, registered with the consulate," noted Hawaiʻi State Archives Administrator Adam Jansen, Ph.D. "Because they are chronological, they correspond generally to the arrival of the various plantation era ships."

Jansen says he is excited to add this collection to the archives. "It was some of these very same immigrants that, after their three-year contracts working the fields expired, stayed and not only contributed to society, but invented the 'ukulele by combining their native Portuguese instruments - specifically, the rajão and machete. The Hawaiʻi State Archives has a massive collection of vintage 'ukulele and partnered with the 'Ukulele Hall of Fame to document this story and make these resources available to musicians, luthiers and researchers."

He noted that the 150th anniversary of the Portuguese immigration to these Islands is coming up in two years and that the consulate, together with Honorary Consul of Portugal in Hawaiʻi Tyler Dos Santos-Tam, is working with Portuguese clubs on each island to coordinate festivities. Dos Santos-Tam himself found two of his ancestors in the logs.

San Francisco Consul General Filipe Ramalheira was in Honolulu and signed over the scanned copies of its consular records to the archives so they can be made available to the public for genealogical and historical research.

Currently, the archives staff is working on uploading these documents to its website for public use.