I posted a film yesterday about a woman discovering information about her great grandmother who lived in what was called the Kalaupapa (Moloka’i) Leprosy Settlement. Wikipedia has this to say about Kalaupapa:
The county is coextensive with the Kalaupapa National Historical Park, and encompasses the Kalaupapa Settlement where the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, the territory, and the state once exiled persons suffering from leprosy (Hansen’s disease) beginning in the 1860s. The quarantine policy was lifted in 1969, after the disease became treatable on an outpatient basis and could be rendered non-contagious. However, many of the resident patients chose to remain, and the state has promised they can stay there for the rest of their lives. No new patients, or other permanent residents, are admitted. Visitors are only permitted as part of officially sanctioned tours. State law prohibits anyone under the age of 16 from visiting or living there. With a population of 147 at the 2000 census, Kalawao County’s population is the second smallest of any county in the United States, ahead of only Loving County, Texas. Ranked by median household income, it is the poorest county in the United States.
(Source: Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalawao : Accessed 5 May 2010)
People who are looking into ancestors who lived in Kalaupapa do not have a lot of resources. If you are doing family history in this locale, here are some places you could try:
- Hawai‘i State Archives, Genealogy Research Guide (which includes some digitized vital records)
- Linkpendium > Genealogy > USA > Hawaii and the Pacific > Kalawao County
- US GenWeb Archives for Kalawao
- Remembering Kalaupapa
- Kalawao County HI GenWeb
- Family History Library Microfilm from the Church of St. Francis of Asissi, one reel, including:
Baptisms 1927–1964, 1978 (FHL US/CAN Film 1025712 Item 1)
Marriages 1896–1909, 1927–1977 (FHL US/CAN Film 1025712 Item 2–3)
Confirmations 1927–1975 (FHL US/CAN Film 1025712 Item 4)
Church accounts 1889–1891 Deaths 1904–1927 (FHL US/CAN Film 1025712 Item 5)
Deaths 1927–1977 (FHL US/CAN Film 1025712 Item 6)
Register 1873–1930 (photocopy of orig.) (baptisms, confirmations, marriages, burials) (FHL US/CAN Film 1025712 Item 7)