I was born and raised in Hilo, Hawaiʻi. I grew up in the plantation community of ʻAmauulu Camp 1. The diversity of people and cultures is something I will always cherish and remember. My grandfather, my father and my uncles all grew up in ʻAmauulu and worked for the Hilo Sugar Company. After serving in the U.S. Army, I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and an MBA from the University of Hawaiʻi, Manoa Campus. I retired from the Federal Government working in Finance with the U.S. Small Business Administration and the USDA Rural Development as the Business Program Director. Presently, I am an active member of the Rotary Club of Hilo Bay and the Hawaiʻi Island Portuguese Chamber of Commerce. I live in Pāhoa, Hawaiʻi Island.

My passion for family history research started in 1984 when I was in my Master’s program at Biola University in California. It was then that I realized I knew nothing about my Portuguese ancestors, culture and heritage. I learned that my great-grandparents, João Cabral and Maria Josefa Lazaro, came to Hawai’i from the Açores in 1883 on the S. S. Bell Rock. This revelation inspired me to learn who my ancestors were, where they came from, why they came, how they came, and what they experience when they travels for days in the cargo section of the ship. My legacy is to preserve this information for my children, grandchildren, future descendants and the community. Besides building my family tree, my research focused on the immigration of the Portuguese to Hawaiʻi and on developing resources to help others with their research. I authored the book, “They Came in Ships to Terra Nova.” Also, six-volumes, titled "Always Remembered, Never Forgotten", listing over 17,000 names of Portuguese Immigrants who migrated to Hawaiʻi between 1878 and 1913. The highlight of my family research was when I traveled to São Miguel and met cousins who reflected the true generosity and kindness of the Portuguese who came to the Hawaiian Kingdom. My educational background includes an M.A. in Marriage, Family Therapy from Biola University and a Doctor of Clinical Psychology (Psy.D.) from Newport University in California. I am currently the President of Portuguese Family History Collections of Hawaiʻi (PFHCH) and live in Hilo, Hawaiʻi Island, where I was born. I am a member of the Hawaiʻi Island Portuguese Chamber of Commerce, Lyman Museum, Plantation Museum, Portuguese Genealogical & Historical Society of Hawai‘i, Portuguese Culture and Historical Center, and Honokaʻa Heritage Center.

Dr. Eschbach is a sociologist and demographer. He received a Ph.D. in sociology from Harvard University, and completed a post-doctoral fellowship in demography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is also an adjunct professor at University of Texas Medical Branch. Dr. Eschbach lives in Honomū.

I was born and raised in Hilo, Hawai‘i in the “village” of Kaiwiki on the slopes of Mauna Kea. I have a B.Ed. in secondary education and a P.D.in secondary history education from the University of Hawai‘i, Manoa.  For 32 years I was a middle school educator on the Island of Oʻahu:  teacher, accreditation coordinator, curriculum coordinator, school History Day coordinator, teacher coach/mentor, and East-West Center fellow for CTAPS.  I continue to be involved in education through HSTA (retired), NEA, and the National Middle School Association. As a teacher of Hawaiian history, I was very interested in immigration to Hawaiʻi and its resulting multi-culturalism, but, unfortunately, I didn’t know much about my own Portuguese roots and culture.  Were my ancestors from the Azores or from Madeira?  I do know now, though, because when I retired in 2004, genealogy became a passion and I have been creating ahnentafel charts for my maternal and paternal ancestors. A family visit to the Azores in 2012 motivated me even more to continue my research which I gladly share with family. I have been blessed to have visited many international destinations where I have experienced and embraced the interconnectedness of humanity.  One of my ongoing projects resulting from these travels is a blog that focuses on the influence of the Portuguese on Japanese culture.  I have travelled throughout Japan looking for these connections, which resulted in the publication of “Looking for Signs of Christianity in Japan,” published in my blog in August 2020 (sueannchun.blogspot.com).

Jackie Pualani Johnson was born and raised in Hilo, Hawai’i and earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in Theatre from the University of Colorado at Boulder.  She retired from the Performing Arts Department at the University of Hawai`i at Hilo in 2017, after 38 years as a drama professor. Over the course of her career, Jackie directed fully-staged musicals, classic drama, and contemporary offerings from Western and Ethnic theatre realms. She was the co-founder of the Hilo Community Players’ Shakespeare in the Park, celebrating 45 years of presentations in Kalākaua Park in 2022. For the last ten years, Jackie has scripted, staged, and performed living history.  Her endeavors include an array of works about the Hawaiian Monarchy, most notably Vespers at Hānaiakamālama, about Queen Emma, and several plays about the last queen of Hawaiʻi:  Lili’uokalani at Washington Place, The 100th Anniversary of Lili’uokalani Gardens, Liliʻuokalani’s Goten-e Visit, Hoʻokiaʻi: Liliʻuokalani, and He Aloha lā, He aloha, which she performed at Puʻu Hulu Hulu at the Mauna a Wākeaʻs celebration of the Queen’s birthday.  Other living history work includes the scripting and directing of  Anchored: Julia, Emma, and Lydia... Another Trilogy, and Final Harvest, which chronicled the closing of the sugar cane plantations. Under the auspices of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in an initiative to support the building of the proposed Portuguese Cultural Center, Jackie interviewed, then scripted, the living histories of several members of the Portuguese community on the Island of Hawaiʻi.  The presentations featured the life stories of Norbert and Emma Serrao, Dolores Tavares, Theresa Zendejas, and Jackie’s Grandfather, Edward Soares Medeiros.  The performances were brought to life by actors* from Hilo in presentations that were taken to venues across the island.  Filipino living histories round out the roster of cultures brought to life by Jackie's deep interest in our island heritages. January 2023 *Eddie & Beth Andrade performed the living history of Norbert and Emma Serra Gabriella Gabriel Cabanas performed the living history of Dolores Tavares Leanne Carvalho Baskin performed the living history of Theresa Zendejas David Carvalho performed the living history of and Jackie’s Grandfather, Edward Soares Medeiros.