Margaret Lam

  Researchers who have spent time studying the sociology of race in Hawai‘i are familiar with the name Margaret Lam. Her MA thesis (“Six Generations of Race Mixture in Hawaii,” UH 1932) was the first study to trace the genealogy and background of the Beckley’s, a prominent and well known hapa Haole family. Bob Dye’s…

Student Life, Casual Segregation, and Informal Prejudices

Hawaii’s public schools were unofficially segregated for most of the Territorial Era, from the 1920s to the 1950s. Under pressure from a growing number of White migrants, the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) implemented a program of selective admissions based on English language abilities. English Standard Schools (ESS) were open to students who could pass…

Social Process in Hawai‘i

One of the most interesting aspects of the RASRL Collection is the seriousness the students brought to their work.  Most of their work was only ever seen or evaluated by their professors; some provided background and qualitative data for other researchers – other undergraduates, graduate students, and professional researchers.  The papers were sometimes rough drafts…