The first time I saw the term Hawaian Missionaries was in 2006. That year I attended a stamp show in Washington D.C. where I saw the Hawaiian Missionary postage stamps. Also on display were some similar stamps that were thought to be forgeries. Flying back to Hawaii where I live I was reading about the forged stamps when I came across a passage that indicated a family connection between those stamps and one of the members of the American Mission I decided to do a little research of my own on the subject. Now, five years later I have published a book on the subject. The book is about the American Missionaries and the Hawaiian Missionary stamps. I have always collected stamps that pursuit has opened my eyes and broadened my horizon enough to make me want to research the lives of the people behind these stamps and for that I am grateful.
About the Cover
The background is a piece of Kapa from the Bishop Museum collection in Honolulu. Kapa is a cloth made from bark and was used to make the Malo a loincloth which was the main garment worn when the American Missionaries arrived.
On the front cover is a painting of, Reverend (1789-1869) and Mrs. Hiram Bingham (Sybil Mosely, d. 1848) By Samuel Finley Breese Morse, (the same person who invented Morse Code). Yale University Art Gallery Gift of Hiram Bingham, B.A. 1898
Reverend Bingham was a member of the Pioneer missionary company that arrived in 1820. He resided in the islands of twenty-one years. Under his leadership the American Missionaries accomplished some amazing things.
