Aloha, Hawaii!


Makena Field, Maui President William McKinley signed the resolution annexing Hawaii on this day in 1898.

Previously, in 1893, U.S. businessmen overthrew the Hawaiian monarch, Queen Liliuokalani. By 1900, Hawaii formally became a U.S. territory, and in 1959 it was granted statehood.

Today the annexation of Hawaii is controversial, and some native Hawaiians are working toward sovereignty and self-determination. In 1993, the U.S. government issued a formal apology for deposing the Hawaiian ruler.

Frank Di Perna captured Hawaii's wild beauty in this photograph of Makena Field on Maui, the second-largest island of the Hawaiian chain.

Pictured: Frank Di Perna, born 1947, Makena Field, Maui, 1988, Ektacolor print on paper, 17 3/8 x 21 7/16 in., Smithsonian American Art Museum,Gift of the Consolidated Natural Gas Company Foundation.