About the Collection

The Records of the Hawaii Sugar Planter’s Association at the Joseph F. Smith Library Archives and Special Collections include: approximately 100,000 labor records, passenger lists for vessels transporting workers between Honolulu and Manila, and a small collection of photographs from the Philippines. The collection was created and managed jointly by the Hawaii Sugar Planter’s Association and the U.S. Department of Labor to document and manage the labor contracts of Filipinos arriving as contract workers in Hawaiian sugar plantations between 1906 and 1949.

The card records contain information on contract workers and their dependents, including name, age, sex, date of arrival and/or departure, and plantation assignment. In addition, some cards contain fingerprint records, information regarding special conditions or changes in contract, and village or region of origin. A special “Dependents” class of card records contains information about spouses and children of contract workers, including dates and places of birth, and dates of arrival and/or departure. Passenger lists are arranged chronologically, tagged by month and vessel.