Plantation bango (number) – ID tags assigned to laborers working on plantations in Hawai‘i. All Hawaiʻi plantations used the bango system, which was borrowed from the slave tag system used in the South before the American Civil War.
The University of Hawaiʻi – West Oʻahu Center for Labor Education and Research won the 2016 Reference and User Services Association John Sessions Memorial Award honoring libraries that recognize the history and contributions of the labor movement in the United States. Located in the UH West O‘ahu Library, the Center for Labor Education and Research maintains a research collection and archive of labor history and law containing clipping files on local unions in Hawai‘i, as well as an ever-growing collection of contracts, union newsletters, books and pamphlets focusing on Hawai‘i’s rich labor history. In addition, the archive houses the “Rice and Roses” television series about Hawaiʻi’s labor movement; and rare books and texts including the Na Lula Halawai text translating 1854 pre-territorial parliamentary procedures from Native Hawaiian to English.
“The mission of the labor archive at the Center for Labor Education and Research is to preserve labor history materials for future generations, protect the artifacts and make them accessible for public use, and defend the importance of working class history,” said award committee chair, Kate Kosturski.
The UH West Oʻahu Center for Labor Education and Research labor archive.
The UH West Oʻahu Center for Labor Education and Research will be honored with an award plaque sponsored by the Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO at the Reference and User Services Association Achievement Awards Ceremony and Reception in Orlando this June.
Center for Labor Education and Research
The Center for Labor Education and Research is an endowed, outreach program established in 1976 that provides labor education, research and labor-related programs to workers, their organizations, university students, and the general public through a variety of methods including classroom instruction, seminars, workshops, publications and the use of the public media.
Reference and User Services Association
The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA), a Division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers’ advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need. Learn more about the association at www.ala.org/rusa.