Museum Celebrates Annual Living History Day

Children pose with an Amelia Earhart impersonator at Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum’s Living History Day on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019. PC: Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum celebrated America’s WWII history to life at its annual Living History Day on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019.

More than 2,500 visitors attended the event featuring a brass band, swing dancing, open cockpits, RC flight lessons and more.

The event was held in affiliation with Smithsonian Magazine’s Museum Day, providing free admission to those who presented a Museum Day ticket, downloaded free from the website.

This year’s event celebrated WWII history in the cradle of aviation in the Pacific. Ford Island Runway was the first airstrip in the Hawaiian Islands and home to many historic milestones, as well as being the site of America’s WWII Aviation Battlefield. These events were evidenced by costumed re-enactors portraying Amelia Earhart, Imperial Airman 1st Class Shigenori Nishikaichi, Rosie the Riveter and a 1940s Army Infantryman. Guests were able to interact directly with them through a scavenger hunt that encouraged exploration of the entire event.

Visitors were also treated to hands-on opportunities like learning the basic steps of swing dancing, shooting a rivet with Rosie, climbing into the cockpits of historic aircraft, the new Fighter Ace 360 flight simulators and learning first-hand what it takes to pilot a large-scale RC aircraft. There were also two movie screenings that took guests back in time in the museum’s state-of-the-art HD theater.

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate and ranked one of the nation’s top 10 aviation attractions in the nation by TripAdvisor. Its mission as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization is to develop and maintain an internationally recognized aviation museum on Historic Ford Island that educates young and old alike, honors aviators and their support personnel who defended freedom in the Pacific Region and preserve Pacific aviation history. Learn more at www.PearlHarborAviationMuseum.org.