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The Kenneth Baldridge Oral History Collection includes transcripts of more than 400 interviews collected between 1971-2004 under the auspices of the BYU Hawaii Oral History program. Kenneth Baldridge was professor of history at BYU Hawaii from 1968-1991, and served as chair of the department of History several times. Between 1991 and 2008, following Professor Baldridge’s retirement, the oral history program was administered through the Jonathan Napela Center for Pacific Island and Hawaiian Studies under the direction of the late Professor William Kauaiwiulaokalani Wallace III, the former director of the Center.

Through a collaboration with their history students over the years, Professors Baldridge and Wallace organized oral interviews with community members from Oahu’s Ko’olauloa region through the Hawaiian Public History course. The vast majority of the interviews focus on the history of Laie, but also include a great deal of information on the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Oceania and the Pacific Islands region. There is a great deal of information on topics such as the role of the Church in the transpacific diaspora and the development of Church education in the Pacific. Users can expect the continued expansion of the collection as newer interviews are transcribed and added to the online database.