[An extraordinary photo and photo negative archive visually documenting the historical archaeological surveys undertaken by Lockwood and Rossie Frost on the Bond Homestead, Kalahikiola Church (erected by the Bond family) south of Kapaau, Hawaii in Kohala, Hawaii originally established in 1841 by Boston missionary Reverend Elias Bond. The majority of the photos focus on the house interior, room appointments, artwork, objects, household goods, medical equipment, documents, and more purchased and used by Dr. Benjamin Bond, son of Elias Bond who substantially added to the home, updating and revising, as well as adding several buildings from 1884 through the early 1900s. The majority of the photos and negatives are black & white, but there is also a significant portion of colour images not only of homestead and building exteriors, but also interior household items, clothing, and more].

[Honolulu, HI & Kohala, HI: Frost & Frost, 1967-1972]. Archive. Approx. 820 photographs, 760 are 3.25 x 4.5 in. black & white silver gelatin; 40 colour photos (damage to 10 or so from dampstaining at margin, affecting image), all photos carefully marked in black & red ink codes, keyed to the film negatives also included with the archive, many with photo lab stamp on verso, a few with annotations on versos; more than 30 contact negative print strips; 257 strips of film photo negatives with over 1000 images, majority .35 mm. film stock (about 30% in colour); 70 strips of larger 4 x 5 negatives with most of those in colour, nearly all preserved in original wax paper negative sleeves, and almost all carefully marked in pen with numbers corresponding to the printed photos, as well as manuscript annotations indicating places, objects, as well as some dates added in manuscript, or in date codes; 8vo. 35 loose sheets held together with metal clip, in pencil & ink manuscript, dated 1972, diagrams, illustrations (some edgewear, foxing to first & last leaves, minor insect predation to outer leaves), still VG- exemplar. This noteworthy archive consisting of over 820 original photographs, and over 1000 individual negative images provides an essential visual record of the historic archaeological and architectural surveys carried out by the Frosts for the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society beginning in 1967 in the Bond Historic District located in the Iole Ahupua’a, one of the few remaining traditional land divisions in Hawaii. The Bond homestead, Kalahikiola Church, and the Kohala Seminary are all located within the Bond District, and the well preserved homestead was first established by Rev. Elias Bond (1813-1896) in 1841, with the Kalahikiola Church completed in 1855 (rebuilt after devastating earthquake in 2006), and the Kohala girl’s school founded in 1872. The hundreds of photos show the household objects, textiles, tools, furnishings, documents, artwork, books, equipment, and more all accumulated from 1841 through 1930 by the Bond family. Elias and his wife Ellen had sailed with the Ninth Company of Missionaries from Boston and settled at Kohala, HI in the mission established by Rev. Isaac Bliss who had completed the main building before their arrival. The Bond’s immediately began adding additional buildings such as the wash house, archway & walls, foundations of woodshed and carpenter sheds, as well as begun work on the Kalahikiola Church. Rev. Bond had founded the Kohala Sugar Co. in 1862 as “The Missionary Plantation” to support his church and schools, and he refused to institute the slave-like labor conditions of other sugar growers in the Hawaiian Islands. The profits made the Kohala Sugar Co. one of the largest benefactors to other missions operating for 110 years. Many of the artifacts depicted appear to have been accumulated and used by Dr. Benjamin Bond (1853-1930), his son who finished medical school at the Univ. of Michigan in 1882, and returned to live and work on the homestead, with a doctor’s office attached to the main house in 1884 for his practice. After Dr. Bond married Emma Mary Renton (1866-1951) in 1889, a wood-framed cottage was added at the East end for them. In addition, a small shed was expanded to shelter a horse carriage and single horse stall for emergency medical calls. A series of photos shows the scene of the Frost’s driving to the homestead, and then heading into the Bond properties. The photos meticulously document the china, glassware, stoneware, needlepoint & embroidery samples, an ABC sampler by Eliza Bond signed 1817, silver flatware, bellows, original photos & illustrations of homestead buildings, chairs, large benches, and sideboards. The kitchen, cooking implements, cookware, and equipment receive significant attention with photos showing the ancient kitchen burners, hot water tank, propane or oil-fired stove, historic coral stone chimney, dining chairs, and more. Of particular interest are the extended series of images depicting the artifacts, medical instruments, and furnishings in Dr. Bond’s office, including his book collection, Chautauqua desk, large safe, dried medical herbs, razors, astronomy atlas, anatomy atlas, diagrams, eyeglasses, glass beakers, pharmacy tools, and much more. Also included are photos of abandoned boxes for chemical and pharmaceutical supplies in the attic. The breadth of clothing, textiles, toiletry items, jewelry, rope beds, architectural elements, family photos, a Chinese compass, art easel, and more reflect the growing affluence of the family not only from Dr. Bond’s practice, but also as the sugar production and mill expand, however with much of the profit still being devoted to Mission Society projects. The negatives and photos also show the wagons used by the doctor and his family, the extensive tools employed on the homestead to maintain not only the family holdings, but also the Church and Girl’s School buildings. Photos also show a bookpress, bottles, sawmill equipment, a rock crusher installed for road paving, and more. After Dr. Bond’s death, the buildings were maintained by a special trust fund which terminated in 1968, and subsequent to that time, a family corporation helped finance the care of the estate. The manuscript diagrams and notes by the Frost indicate where windows were replaced from the original, when electrical work was done on the property, improvements to the buildings, where the hallway from the shop to kitchen was located, the women’s toilet, pantry cupboards, and rough charts and maps of locations of buildings, and objects on some of the walls. For a time the Industrial Building housing 12 occupational students and one teacher continued to operate, but in 1955, the school stopped functioning. For over a decade, the properties were used for conferences, retreats, and camping grounds, but eventually they became unoccupied and unused, so they were in very poor condition when surveyed by the Frosts over three years. The Frosts prepared a very scarce photo album and report consisting of 6 pages of text and 12 leaves containing 82 tipped-in photos in January, 1968, followed by a Feasibility Study for the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society in 1969, but we could find no similar extant collection of these photographs, or records of this historical survey. The National Register Survey was completed in 1973, and then filed in 1977, finally approved in 1978 for adding the properties to the National Register. See: Laura Souliere & Nathan Napoka, Father Elias Bond District, SE of Kapaau off Highway 27, National Register of Historic Places, March 30, 1978; Frost & Frost, Report of an Inspection Visit to the Bond House Complex, 1840-1968, in Kohala, Hawaii, January 11 & 12, 1968; Land of Iole, Kohala Institute (2018); Rebekah Oe-Len Kehaulani Luke, My Grandfather Chong’s House, Rebekah’s Studio (2011); Edward Beechert, The Reverend Mr. Bond and Kohala Plantation, Working in Hawaii: A Labor History (1985), pp. 71-72.