With the ability to carry heavy loads, donkeys, affectionately known as “Kona Nightingale,” were an essential part of the coffee industry and carried most of the grower’s crops across Kona’s steep and rocky slopes. Pictured is Kona coffee farmer Masaichi Fukumitsu, c. 1934. Photo courtesy of Kona Historical Society.
Kona Historical Society (KHS) will display the award-winning exhibit, “The Kona Coffee Story: Along the Hawaiʻi Belt Road” for the public at the H.N. Greenwell Store Museum in Kealakekua beginning Monday, March 27, 2017.
The world-traveled exhibit was featured at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, as well as in museums worldwide. It tells the story of the early days of the Kona coffee industry.
Personal accounts by 19th century Kona coffee farmers and community leaders are featured in the exhibit, as well as never-before-seen historic photographs and artifacts included from KHS’ collections and archives.
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The exhibit will be open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and the first Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. until January, 2018. Admission is $5.
KHS is a community-based nonprofit organization and Smithsonian Museum affiliate dedicated to preserving and sharing the history of the Kona districts and their cultural heritage within Hawaiʻi.
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