Major references

 

Above is a photograph of the Kalaupapa peninsula on the north shore of Molokai. To the right is the mountain that isolates the peninsula from the rest of the island. To the left in the photo, at the tip of the peninsula, is the tiny airstrip where we'll be landing.

Here's a link from the National Park Service that provides some history on the Kalaupapa National Historical Park: http://npshistory.com/publications/kala/index.htm

Four books I'm using as major references for this work are:

The Colony: The Harrowing True Story of the Exiles of Molokai (John Tayman, 2006). This book is generally considered the definitive history of the colony at Kalaupapa.

Pilgrimage & Exile: Mother Marianne of Moloka'i (Sister Mary Laurence Hanley, OSF, and O. A. Bushnell, 2009). A biography of Mother Marianne Cope (Barbara Koob), a leader at the Kalaupapa settlement for many years. Her time there overlapped with Father Damien. She is buried at the settlement.

Shoal of Time: A History of the Hawaiian Islands (Gavan Daws, 1968). A thorough and readable history of the islands focusing on the time since the first White explorers arrived.

Unfamiliar Fishes (Sarah Vowell, 2011). This book focuses on the Americanization of Hawaii.