--- title: The Beautiful Half-Truth of the Hawaiian Melting Pot description: On the anniversary of Hawaii's statehood, a look back at a LIFE photo essay depicting the state's racial harmony--and the story it left out. canonical: https://time.com/3985733/hawaii-melting-pot/ author: Eliza Berman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-21T12:00:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:02:09.476Z og:title: The Beautiful Half-Truth of the Hawaiian Melting Pot og:description: On the anniversary of Hawaii's statehood, a look back at a LIFE photo essay depicting the state's racial harmony--and the story it left out. og:url: https://time.com/3985733/hawaii-melting-pot/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte915414783bec641/69885dfecd1bba33b86fc998/150805-hawaii-06.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2100 og:image:height: 1181 og:image:alt: Hawaii melting pot 1945 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Beautiful Half-Truth of the Hawaiian Melting Pot twitter:description: On the anniversary of Hawaii's statehood, a look back at a LIFE photo essay depicting the state's racial harmony--and the story it left out. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte915414783bec641/69885dfecd1bba33b86fc998/150805-hawaii-06.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Beautiful Half-Truth of the Hawaiian Melting Pot > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Aug 21, 2015 12:00 PM UTC  Children with an American flag hang out on a front porch. Children with an American flag hang out on a front porch. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  by [Eliza Berman](https://time.com/author/eliza-berman/)  ## Eliza Berman Berman is a senior editor at TIME. Aug 21, 2015 12:00 PM UTC In November of 1945, LIFE Magazine declared Hawaii “the world’s most successful experiment in mixed breeding, a sociologist’s dream of interracial cultures.” The islands—which would become the 50th American state on Aug. 21, 1959—were populated by more than a dozen ethnic groups. Intermarriage was common, and from the children produced by those marriages, LIFE declared, “a new race is emerging and stabilizing.” Photographer Eliot Elisofon’s portraits of the people of Hawaii serve as a visual aid to the magazine’s utopian perspective on the territory. A young white girl and a young Chinese girl hold hands as they play together. A white man from Indiana and his Chinese wife pose for a sweet family photo with their two young daughters. A series of attractive young women are presented with captions that describe their racial makeup: “Caucasian-Hawaiian,” “Asiatic-Caucasian,” “Asiatic-Hawaiian.” All are smiling, windswept, a picture of harmony. Though the magazine doesn’t completely evade mention of racial tensions—the story acknowledges that some upper class whites worked to maintain subtle color lines—the tone is overwhelmingly sunny. Despite their origins in Japan, China, the Philippines, Puerto Rico and elsewhere, the magazine explained, the territory’s 430,000 residents were unified by English as an increasingly universal language, by church communities and by American schools. “There are so many races, pure and mixed,” LIFE declared, “that prejudice for or against any one of them is simply impractical.” Impractical as it may have seemed from the outside, that prejudice certainly did exist, and the omission of this more troubling side of Hawaii’s history of race relations is not unique to this LIFE photo essay. Depictions of Hawaii, particularly by outsiders, have historically done a thorough job recounting the islands’ superficial qualities—laid back tropical vibes, idyllic scenic beauty—and glossing over the more troubling elements of the island’s history, like marginalization of the native Hawaiian population, internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and discrimination against Filipino laborers. Perhaps this is why many Hawaiian residents receive the state’s annual statehood anniversary celebrations with lukewarm enthusiasm. Despite the fact that the vast majority of registered voters favored statehood in 1959, members of Hawaiian sovereignty groups still believe that the political and cultural silencing of the Hawaiian people was set in motion in 1893, when the U.S. overthrew the kingdom of Queen Lili’uokalani for control of the islands’ sugar plantations. Complex debates about sovereignty, recognition and a just path forward continue in full force today. Elisofon’s photographs beautifully illustrate a story of unity and respect for differences. And that story is true—it’s just not the only one. _Liz Ronk, who edited this gallery, is the Photo Editor for LIFE.com. Follow her on Twitter_ [_@lizabethronk_](https://twitter.com/LizabethRonk)_._  Caption from LIFE. Mary Lou Parker, 4, plays with Letty Mai Pang, 5, a Chinese \[schoolmate\], in the playground of a polyracial Honolulu school. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A young girl dances in a hula skirt. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A fishing net hangs out to dry in front of a fisherman's house, while a young child sits underneath. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A plantation worker comes home and washes off his boots after a day's work. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  An elderly Japanese man walks toward his house. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Children with an American flag hang out on a front porch. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Japanese boys jump from a sea wall while playing soldiers in the American army. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A fisherman sits near fishing nets by the sea. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. At dawn Hawaiians put out to sea to pull in their fish nets. By law, their boat flies the American flag at bow. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  An elderly man sits in the sun in Hawaii. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A fisherman with a spear prepares to make a catch. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Clemon Apeahi is Hawaiian. Rated as shiftless husbands, many Hawaiian men remain bachelors. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A portrait of two farmers in Hawaii. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A worker on the Dole plantation carries an armload of pineapples. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A worker on the Dole plantation gathers ripe pineapples. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Plant sprayers at the Dole Plantation in Hawaii pose for a portrait. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Eight University of Hawaii students are chosen by the student body to serve as Princesses and Queen in the annual May Day ceremony held at the University. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Caucasian-Hawaiian (Portuguese, Irish, Hawaiian) is Barbara Sylva, 20, Hawaii senator's daughter. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Women dressed in hula skirts dance onstage. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Asiatic-Caucasian (Korean, Spanish, Engish) is Lava Pak, 23, an Army translator, named for an eruption. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Two Hawaiian girls walk together along the shore. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Waikiki tomboys, under a banyon on beach are (from left) Marion Woolsley, 14, Chinese-Hawaiian-English; Patricia Cameron, 16, Portuguese-Scotch-Irish; Beatrice Clarke, 16, Hawaiian-Chinese-German. Canoes are stored under roots. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A couple in Hawaii poses for a portrait against a fake landscape backdrop. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  A man and woman dance together at the Rainbow Club U.S.O., Hawaii. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Several pairs dance at the Rainbow Club U.S.O., Hawaii. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Indiana Quaker, Sam Lindley, married a Chinese Quaker and has two fair haired girls, Renie and Renda. He raises goats and works as librarian at the University of Hawaii. He studies Chinese, wants to visit China. Eliot Elisofon—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images  Caption from LIFE. Chinese family includes elder Youngs, 78 and 71, and son, John, a painter. Chinese brought few wives from China because their bound feet were rated useless on plantations. Exclusion Act, which was repealed in 1943, shut out Chinese in 1900. 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