2014 Hawaiʻi-Pacific Displays: March/April - World War II in the Pacific

Wartime in the Marshall Islands photo from War in the Pacific Digital Collection.

World War II in the Pacific is spread out across many different subjects headings in the library catalog. Try starting with "World War, 1939-1945" then adding the specific location. Here are a few examples:

• World War, 1939-1945 - Guam.
• World War, 1939-1945 - Hawaii.

E-books can also be found through Voyager or you can search eBrary directly by clicking here. The books in eBrary can only be accessed by students, faculty, and staff of UHWO.

The Senator Daniel K. Inouye Collection in the UHWO Library also offers an number of books on World War II. These books cannot be checked out and must be used at the Reference Desk. You must also sign a user agreement before requesting material. 

If  you find a book in Voyager that is not available at the UHWO Library, you can request it via our Intra-system Loan program. Please keep in mind that books take about 7-10 business days to arrive here and all Hawai'i-Pacific requests for the Mānoa campus are reviewed on an individual basis.

The titles listed below are the books that were displayed in the library. This list is NOT a comprehensive list of resources about the topic. Unless otherwise specified, the books can be found in the Hawaiʻi-Pacific Collection at the UHWO Library.

Samoan marines with their rifles. Image from the War in the Pacific Digital Collection.

When searching for articles in the databases that UHWO Library subscribes to, try doing a subject search for World War, 1939-1945 and a specific location (i.e. World War, 1935-1945 and Oceania; World War, 1935-1945 and Hawaii; World War, 1935-1945 and Guam). Remember, each database has their own way of searching for article so if you need some guidance, we are more than happy to help! Please see the librarian on duty at the Reference Desk.

Suggested Databases*

• Academic Search Premier
• EBSCOHost eBook Collection
• EBSCOHost Military and Government Collection
• eBrary Electronic Book Database
• JSTOR

*Access limited to UHWO students, faculty and staff.

Sample Articles

• Bailey, Beth and David Farber. "The "Double-V" Campaign in World War II Hawaii: African Americans, Racial Ideology, and Federal Power." Journal of Social History 26, no.4 (Summer 1993): 817-843. JSTOR (accessed February 2014).
• Dudley, Wade G. "Hallowed Ground... a date which will live in infamy." Military History 28, no. 5 (January 2012): 32-36. Military & Government Collection, EBSCOhost (accessed February 2014).
• Meilinger, Phillip S. "Unity of Command in the Pacific During World War II." JFQ: Joint Force Quarterly no. 56 (2010 1st Quarter 2010): 152-156. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed February 2014).
• Nelson, Hank. "Kokoda: and two national histories." Journal Of Pacific History 42, no. 1 (June 2007): 73-88. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed February 2014).

Open-access Journals available online (no login required)

• The Contemporary Pacific
• The Hawaiian Journal of History
• The Journal of the Polynesian Society
• Pacific Studies

Soldiers at a kava ceremoney in Fiji. Image from War in the Pacific Digital Collection.

Wolrd War II Digital Collections from Hamilton Library at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa

• Hawaiʻi War Records - Honolulu Newspaper & U.S. Army Signal Corps Photographs
  The HWRD includes 880 photographs taken by the U.S. Army Signal Corps and the U.S. Navy during World War II. These photographs, taken between 1941 and 1946, document the impact of World War II in Hawaii. They depict Army and Navy activities in Hawaii and illustrate the military's relationship with Hawaii's civilian population.
  
  
• Japanese American Veterans: 442nd RCT National Archives Documents
  The 442nd Veterans Club in Honolulu sponsors an ongoing project in which volunteers copy documents located in the National Archives that relate to the activities of the 442nd Regimental Combat team during World War II. The copies are then sent to Hawaii, allowing researchers to access valuable historical materials on the 442nd RCT without having to travel to the National Archives.

• War in the Pacific Digital Photo Collection
  The images contained in this online collection are digital reproductions of materials in several distinct art and photograph collections, covering a range of geographic regions and time periods. Taken as a whole, these collections document many facets of life in the Pacific during World War II, from the brutal and the tragic to the mundane.