SHARING MANA‘O
Before
Google, there was Gail Ainsworth.
It has been four years since the beloved librarian, historian, and author passed away peacefully, albeit unexpectedly, in her sleep. The longtime Makawao resident was—and continues to be—an invaluable resource for folks seeking to learn more about Maui and its people.
Among her many accomplishments was the indexing of The Maui News, from 1900 to 1973. She spent countless hours poring over microfilm files to compile the incredibly thorough index, published in three volumes by the Maui Historical Society. Each entry consist of a brief description of the article or, in some cases, advertisement, along with the issue date and page number of the original item. Volume 3 (1951–1973) is the one I revisit most often, at least monthly, to double-check my memory of specific dates when writing this column.
A few weeks ago, while searching for information on bygone restaurants, I came
across the subject heading “Hippies,” which triggered a ton of personal memories. The first few of more than 120 entries were:
¯ Vegetarian beatniks under observation 5/22/1965
¯ Vagrants not welcome 5/29/1965 ¯ Girl with message wears burlap, sleeps outdoors 7/28/1965
¯ Girl in burlap thought missing in crater 8/4/1965
In order to discover the fate of the burlap-clad girl, or what her message was, I would have to access the newspaper’s archives, which I just might do, someday. For now, though, these thumbnail glimpses are enough to transport me back to those “good ol’ days.”
I was just a kid in the mid-1960s, but I do remember hearing the grown-ups talking about the “hippie invasion” and bemoaning its effects on our sleepy, innocent little island.
¯ Alarmed Lahaina residents told nothing can be done unless law is broken 5/24/1967
¯ Molokaians fearful of invasion 6/7/1967
¯ Editorial: opposes supporting unwashed multitudes 5/8/1968
¯ Elmer Cravalho offers 5-point hippy situation plan 6/26/1968
¯ Citizens Action Committee forms
to combat hippy influence on children
2/1/1969
¯ County Council asks state Department of Health to investigate hippy colonies 2/26/1969
The most famous of those colonies was Banana Patch in Haiku, where landowner David Joseph, out of kindness and empathy, allowed dozens of folks to live communally on his property.
¯ 28 summons issued for health violations at Banana Patch 7/5/1969
¯ Health, building code and land use violations alleged in Banana Patch case 7/19/1969
¯ David Joseph and 13 other defendants ask for jury trials 9/13/1969
¯ Defense attorneys ask for dismissal of Banana Patch case 10/27/1970
¯ Banana Patch property sold, residents leave 10/21/1971
Again, a visit to the Maui News archives is required for a full recounting of the saga. A Google search turns up a few articles from various news sources of the day, as well as social media reminiscences from both sides of the issue. I searched, unsuccessfully, through my school memorabilia curated by my doting mother, for a paper I wrote on the topic, as a 13 year old freshman at Baldwin High School.
I do remember the opening lines of my entry in the Original Oratory division of the County speech tournament: “Long hair! Barefoot! Filthy parasites! These are some of the words used to describe the so-called hippies who have come to our island in droves over the past few years.” My speech went on to cite examples of mistaken first impressions and to stress the importance of cool heads, open minds, and compassion. The message my father repeatedly delivered whenever I asked him about the controversy.
The last entry under the subject heading was: See also OBSCENITY, VAGRANCY, HEALTH AND DISEASE, DRUGS AND DRUG ABUSE
I did scroll down to the Obscenity heading and found an even deeper rabbit hole. It will have to wait for another column. Or you can look it up yourself; the Index to the Maui News is available for download through the University of Hawaii system repository. Google it. Kathy Collins is a radio personality (The Buzz 107.5 FM and KEWE 97.9 FM/1240 AM), storyteller, actress, emcee and freelance writer whose “Sharing Mana‘o” column appears every other Wednesday. Her e-mail address is kcmaui913@gmail.com.