Plantation-era archives: Lyman schedules encore of Edmund Olson Trust presentation

Sugar plantations dominated agricultural land use on Hawaii Island for more than 160 years, before that era ended in the 1990s. Many of the old maps, land records and other documents of those times are unknown to current owners of former sugarcane lands, but might contain information of use or interest to such landowners.

The Edmund Olson Trust Archive is a remarkable repository of documents from Hawaii’s sugar plantations, tracing an important part of Hawaii history from the 1850s through the 1990s.

Weather permitting, the Lyman Museum is hosting an encore presentation from 3-4:30 p.m. Friday by John Cross of the Olson Trust Archive, who will give a tantalizing peek at these relics of bygone days that are still in use today and describe how to tap these irreplaceable historic resources for current purposes.

Call the museum at 935-5021 to confirm if the museum is open.

The presentation is part of the museum’s Saigo Public Program lecture series. Admission to this program is free to museum members, $3 for nonmembers. Space is limited; first come, first seated.

The nationally accredited and Smithsonian-affiliated Lyman Museum, at 276 Haili St. in Hilo, showcases the natural and cultural history of Hawaii. The museum’s regular hours are 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

For more information, visit www.lymanmuseum.org.