Carry the story of Hawaiʻi forward.
Members of the Mary Kawena Pukui Society have included Bishop Museum in their estate plans — sustaining the collections, research, and cultural knowledge of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific for generations to come.
Already included the Museum in your estate plan? Two minutes to let us thank you and welcome you to the Society.
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All tools →The Mary Kawena Pukui Society
The Mary Kawena Pukui Society was created in 2007 to recognize and honor donors who are supporting Bishop Museum through a bequest or other deferred gift. If you have already included Bishop Museum in your estate plans, please tell us your plans. This is not a legal commitment.
Tell us your plansBy making a planned gift to Bishop Museum, you can weave your legacy into those of our founders, Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop and Charles Reed Bishop, and others whose scholarship, research, and storytelling has breathed life into the Museum’s collections for over 135 years, including Mary Kawena Pukui.
Mary Kawena Pukui
Mary Kawena Pukui is recognized as the leading authority of her time on Hawaiian language and culture. Mrs. Pukui came to Bishop Museum in 1928 to translate the Museum’s collection of Hawaiian-language newspapers and manuscripts. She spent 34 years working in the Museum’s Library and Archives, where Mrs. Pukui cemented her legacy as a Hawaiian scholar, cultural practitioner, and cherished leader of Bishop Museum.
Mrs. Pukui quite literally wrote the book on Hawaiian language, co-authoring the Hawaiian-to-English Dictionary with Samuel H. Elbert in 1957. Over the course of her storied career, Mrs. Pukui authored at least 50 manuscripts, composed many mele, and was an expert on hula. Mrs. Pukui embodied Bishop Museum’s mission to explore, celebrate, and perpetuate Hawaiʻi’s extraordinary culture. Her ʻike continues to be seen and felt across the Museum.
We are proud to honor Mary Kawena Pukui’s enduring impact on Bishop Museum, the local community, and the Museum’s global audience through The Mary Kawena Pukui Society.
The Society meets annually to gather like-minded supporters of the Museum and give them an opportunity to enjoy Bishop Museum and to learn of the current work and plans of the Museum.
Founded by Charles Reed Bishop in honor of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop.
Natural history specimens and cultural objects in the Museum's care.
The Mary Kawena Pukui Society was created to recognize and honor donors supporting the Museum through a bequest or other deferred gift.