Center for Labor Education & Research Guide : Home

Fall 2025 CLEAR Archives Reference Desk Hours are by appointment on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 1:00-4:00pm. Contact the CLEAR Librarian (Digital Archivist) at ellenrae[at]hawaii.edu or (808) 689-2765.

We are located at the 2nd floor of the James & Abigail Library at the UHWO campus 91-1001 Farrington Hwy, Kapolei, HI 96707.

• Fill out this research request form to begin your research process. Then, schedule research assistance and appointments during above reference desk hours. Your research request will be subject to evaluation by the CLEAR staff due to the conditions below.
  • Requests to use CLEAR archival material for commercial or educational purposes will need to be disclosed in the researcher registration form.  Commercial use of archival items may incur a service fee. Any commercial and educational use of the archive must cite CLEAR in its citation, bibliography, or acknowledgements.
  • The archive does not necessarily own the copyright of all materials. It is the responsibility of the researcher to secure the copyright permissions from third party owners.
  • Print, photo, ephemera, audio visual and book materials found in the CLEAR archives and library are for use at the Center only and will not be loaned out. No original archival materials can be removed from the archive.
  • When filling out the archive request form, please note the subject items you are interested in viewing.  Due to staff capacity, 5 subject items can be requested per day. 
    • Researchers will then be contacted to confirm their in-person appointment during archives desk hours. Archives access must be facilitated by the archivist.
      • During in-person appointments, the archivist will bring out the archival materials to you at a reading area. No food, drink, pens, or bags are allowed near archival materials.  No archival materials shall be written on, cut, folded, stapled, paper clipped, altered, or damaged in any way. Staples and paperclips of existing documents may only be removed by CLEAR staff. 
      • Upon request, the CLEAR archivist may allow researchers to take notes with a piece of paper and pencil or a personal laptop.  Researchers may digitally copy print materials using their personal digital cameras or mobile phones
      • If the archive request form has been evaluated and approved, digital copies of requested print and photo items may be scanned using CLEAR's scanning machines, so long as the materials are not harmed or marked.  Due to current staff capacity, only 5 items can be scanned per appointment.  Please allow 2-3 business days to allow staff time for digital processing and e-delivery.
  • Users violating any of the above rules shall be denied access to the archive.

Enter your topic term in the search engine above or browse the red tabs to find subjects or titles that interest you. Once you've found something of interest, contact the Librarian to access the item. The item may be sent to you as a digital scan, or it can be viewed and copied in person by making an appointment during archives desk hours.

Archives Room

The CLEAR center has an archives room that houses physical collections in print, audio visual, and ephemeral materials.  This archives room stores materials in numbered labeled file cabinets and shelves.  Discovery tools to search the Archives Room:

• enter your topic term in the search engine above to find subject listings of interest to you.
• open access digital collection of CLEAR archival materials in the UHWO DSpace.

Reference Library

The CLEAR center has a lobby and alcove with book shelves containing legal reference books related to state and federal labor laws, Hawai'i and U.S. labor history, and union publications. 

• Enter your term in the search bar above to find book titles of interest.

Audio Visual Materials

CLEAR has a collection of physical and digitized audio visual materials.  Some physical audio visual materials are kept in the archives room.

For online access to the majority of CLEAR documentary productions, such as the Rice and Roses series, are stored and accessible in the ʻUluʻUlu Audiovisual Center at the first floor of the James & Abigail Campbell Library.

• CLEAR Collection on 'Ulu'Ulu

The Ah Quon McElrath Project is a documentary project on this labor leader.

• Ah Quon McElrath Project

The CLEAR YouTube channel hosts some of CLEAR's completed documentaries.

• CLEAR YouTube Channel

Other audio visual archives have been cataloged and are available for view through the UHWO Library catalog (UH Log In required). Older VHS by CLEAR have been digitized by the former Wong Audio Visual Library, and made streaming through the UHWO Library Catalog.

• The labor newspaper Honolulu Record by Koji Ariyoshi
• Production Files and Tapes of Special Research Projects
  • Brothers Under the Skin (about the Hilo Massacre in 1938)
  • 1946: The Great Sugar Strike
  • The Great Hawaii Dock Strike (about the 1949 strike)
• Author's notes and research files for CLEAR's publications
  • William Puetteʻs The Hilo Massacre: Hawaiʻiʻs Bloody Monday August 1st, 1938 (1988) and the CLEAR Guide to Hawaiʻi Labor History
  • Edward Beechert's Aupuni i Laʻau: A History of Hawaiʻiʻs Carpenters Union, Local 745 (1993)
  • Bernard Sternʻs Rutledge Unionism: Labor Relations in the Honolulu Transit Industry (1986) and The Aloha Trade: Labor Relations in Hawaiʻiʻs Hotel Industry 1941-1987 (1989)
• Research notes and files of Hawai'i labor historians John Reinecke (1904-1982) and Edward Beechert (1920-2014)
• Correspondence of the AFL-CIO, Federation of American Trade Unions)
• Files of the Honolulu Central Labor Council 
• Arbitration Decisions of former Labor Arbitrator, Ted Tsukiyama

Enter your search term in the search engine above, or  browse the tabs above to find subjects of interest to you.