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Bishop Museum

The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum is home to the world's largest collection of Polynesian artifacts.

The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawai'i 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 largest museum in Hawaiʻi and is home to the world's largest collection of Polynesian cultural and scientific artifacts. Besides the comprehensive exhibits of Hawaiiana, the Bishop Museum has an extensive entomological collection of over 13.5 million specimens, third largest collection in the United States.

Charles Reed Bishop, Hawaiʻi philanthropist and co-founder of Kamehameha Schools and First Hawaiian Bank, built the museum in memory of his late wife Bernice Pauahi Bishop. She was the last direct descendant princess of the Kamehameha Dynasty that ruled over the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi since 1810. Bishop had originally intended the museum to house family heirlooms passed down to him through the royal lineage of his wife. _{For the full article, click here.}