The Hawaii Plantation Museum is hosting an event that could help residents learn about their ancestors.
Six volumes of books listing more than 22,000 Portuguese immigrants who migrated to Hawaii from Sao Miguel and Madeira between 1878 and 1913 will be on display at the museum, located at 27-246 Mamalahoa Highway in Papaikou, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Kahealani Martins Curammeng with the Portuguese Family History Collections of Hawaii spent five years researching to find the names of thousands of Portuguese immigrants.
After her own experience with discovering her ancestry, Martins Curammeng decided to pursue this challenge to help the descendants of plantation workers find their families and learn about their history.
“Finding my grandpa took me 30 years, because his name changed. English people changed many names when Portuguese immigrated,” Martins Curammeng said. “This is what motivated me, and I decided I was going to correct the records for everyone.”
Most names include dates of birth, baptism and marriage. The books also list which ship each person took and their immediate family members who traveled with them or were born shortly after arrival.
Many names also have a passport number, a Portuguese citizen registration number and a passenger list number.
Martins Curammeng hopes to digitize her work and make it more accessible to the general public. Until then, Saturday will be the only day to look at the volumes of Portuguese immigrant names.
During the event, attendees will have the option to tour the museum to learn about the lives of the Portuguese immigrants who migrated to Hawaii.