Mission Houses Museum

"Fun with the Family"

This is a living museum designed to show visitors the importance of the missionary era in Hawaii. The missionaries arrived in 1820 from the eastern coast of the United States with a goal to convert the “heathen” natives to the ways of their Christian god. Their success and the resulting impact on Hawaiian society were tremendous. European-style clothing became commonplace, Christian marriages were peformed, and the hula, a rhythmic form of communication, was pretty much discontinued. Missionaries believed the ancient dance to be vulgar and distasteful, and it remained mostly absent from the culture until King Kalakaua assumed control in 1874 and reinstated the hula.
At the Mission Houses Museum, guides and hosts are dressed in period clothing. These actors make believe they are the missionaries who made that long pilgrimage overseas years ago. They welcome questions about their journey, their lifestyle, their religious motives, and, most interestingly, their interactions with the native Hawaiians.
The museum grounds encompass two main houses, a printing-house annex, a library, and a gift shop. Each building is restored and furnished to its former architectural and decorative design.