The Jean P. Haydon Museum is a
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
in
Pago Pago
Pago Pago ( ; Samoan: )Harris, Ann G. and Esther Tuttle (2004). ''Geology of National Parks''. Kendall Hunt. Page 604. . is the territorial capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County on Tutuila, which is American Samoa's main island. ...
dedicated to the culture and history of the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
territory of
American Samoa
American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...
. It contains a collection of canoes, coconut-shell combs, pigs’ tusk armlets and native pharmacopoeia. It also houses exhibits on natural history, tapa making, traditional tattooing, as well as a collection of war clubs, kava bowls, and historic photographs. Constructed in 1913 as
U.S. Naval Station Tutuila Commissary, the building was home to Tutuila Island's Post Office from 1950 to 1971. The museum has displays of various aspects of the Samoan Islands’ culture and history. It is the official repository for collections of artifacts for American Samoa. Funded by the American Samoa Council on Arts, Culture and the Humanities, it is the venue used for numerous of the cultural resource activities in American Samoa.
The museum is located on the north side of Route 1 in
Fagatogo, American Samoa
Fagatogo is the downtown area of Pago Pago (the territorial capital of American Samoa).Grabowski, John F. (1992). ''U.S. Territories and Possessions (State Report Series)''. Chelsea House Pub. Page 51. . Located in the low grounds at the foot of M ...
, roughly opposite the main
post office
A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...
. The building in which it is located, formerly Navy Building 43 of
Naval Station Tutuila, is itself historically significant as one of a few surviving buildings constructed by the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
in 1917 with locally fashioned rusticated concrete blocks. The building served as the naval base's commissary until 1950, when it was turned over to civilian administration and converted to the island's main post office.
The post office moved to new facilities, and in 1971 the building was opened as the museum, which is named for the wife of then-governor
John M. Haydon. It was dedicated by anthropologist
Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s.
She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Co ...
, who had returned to American Samoa to visit
Ta'ū Island, where she wrote ''
Coming of Age in Samoa
''Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation'' is a 1928 book by American anthropologist Margaret Mead based upon her research and study of youth – primarily adolescent girls – on the island of ...
''.
The building was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1972.
[ The museum was accredited by the ]American Association of Museums
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, pe ...
in 1978. It established close ties with the Bishop Museum
The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1889, it is the lar ...
of Hawai'i
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
.
Name
It is named for the wife of Governor John Morse Haydon
John Morse Haydon (January 27, 1920 – April 18, 1991) was the governor of the American Samoa from 1969 to 1974. Haydon attended the University of Washington. He served as a First Lieutenant in the United States Air Force during World War II and ...
and former first lady of American Samoa
The First Lady of American Samoa is the title attributed to the wife of the governor of American Samoa. To date, there have been no first gentlemen of American Samoa.
The current first lady is Ella Mauga, wife of Governor Lemanu Peleti Mauga, who ...
, Jean P. Haydon of Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
.
Collections
It houses artifacts of early Samoa, including the va'a
Vaʻa is a word in Samoan, Hawaiian and Tahitian which means 'boat', 'canoe' or 'ship'. A larger traditional seagoing vessel for long-distance voyages is referred to as ''vaʻa tele'' (big ship). The term ''alia'' is also used for larger vessel ...
and 'alia (bonito and war canoes) that inspired the old name for the Samoan Islands, the Navigator Islands
The Samoan Islands ( sm, Motu o Sāmoa) are an archipelago covering in the central South Pacific, forming part of Polynesia and of the wider region of Oceania. Administratively, the archipelago comprises all of the Independent State of Samoa an ...
. It also houses coconut-shell necklaces, seashell and whales' teeth necklaces, seed and fruit jewelry, pigs' tusk armlets, fly-whisk
__NOTOC__
A fly-whisk (or fly-swish) is a tool that is used to swat flies. A similar gadget is used as a hand fan in hot tropical climates, sometimes as part of regalia, and is called a ''chowrie'', ''chāmara'', or ''prakirnaka'' in South Asia an ...
s, bamboo panpipe
A pan flute (also known as panpipes or syrinx) is a musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length (and occasionally girth). Multiple varieties of pan flutes have been ...
s, stone tools, siapo cloth, and a variety of weapons. Besides items commonly used in early island life, it has a display of native pharmacopeia
A pharmacopoeia, pharmacopeia, or pharmacopoea (from the obsolete typography ''pharmacopœia'', meaning "drug-making"), in its modern technical sense, is a book containing directions for the identification of compound medicines, and published by ...
used by early Polynesians.
A portion of the museum is dedicated to the island's history with the Apollo missions. Apollo 10, 12, 13, 14, and 17 landed in the waters near Tutuila upon their return to Earth. Lunar rocks brought from the moon on Apollo missions are at display at the museum. The museum is also home to an American Samoa flag, which was brought to the moon by Apollo 11
Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...
in 1969. The flag and moon rocks were given as a gift to American Samoa by President Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
following the return of the Apollo missions
The Apollo program was a United States human spaceflight program carried out from 1961 to 1972 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which landed the first astronauts on the Moon. The program used the Saturn IB and Saturn ...
.
See also
*
References
External links
Official Site
Haydon Museum
Haydon Museum
Pago Pago
Haydon, Jean P.
Haydon Museum
1917 establishments in American Samoa
1971 establishments in American Samoa
Infrastructure completed in 1917
Haydon Museum
20th-century establishments in American Samoa
Tourist attractions in American Samoa
Historic district contributing properties in American Samoa
Museums in Oceania
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