Navy Building 43 | |
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| Location | Pago Pago Harbor,Fagatogo, American Samoa |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 14°16′40″S170°41′16″W / 14.2778°S 170.6878°W /-14.2778; -170.6878 |
| Area | 0.1 acres (0.040 ha) |
| Built | 1917 (1917) |
| Architectural style | Tropical architecture |
| Part of | U.S. Naval Station Tutuila Historic District (ID90000854) |
| NRHP reference No. | 72001442[1] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | March 16, 1972 |
| Designated CP | June 20, 1990 |
TheJean P. Haydon Museum is amuseum inPago Pago dedicated to the culture and history of theUnited States territory ofAmerican Samoa. It contains a collection of canoes, coconut-shell combs, pigs’ tusk armlets and nativepharmacopoeia.[2] 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 asU.S. Naval Station Tutuila Commissary, the building was home to Tutuila Island's Post Office from 1950 to 1971.[3] 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.[4]
The museum is located on the north side of Route 1 inFagatogo, American Samoa, roughly opposite the mainpost office. The building in which it is located, formerlyNavy Building 43 ofNaval Station Tutuila, is itself historically significant as one of a few surviving buildings constructed by theUnited States Navy 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.[5]
In 1923, GovernorEdwin Taylor Pollock made the first proposal for a museum in American Samoa. This was included in his 1923 report to the Secretary of the Navy.[6] However, work on the museum was not started before the arrival of First LadyJean P. Haydon in 1969.
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-governorJohn M. Haydon. It was dedicated by anthropologistMargaret Mead, who had returned to American Samoa to visitTa'ū Island, where she wroteComing of Age in Samoa.[7]
The building was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1972.[1] The museum was accredited by theAmerican Association of Museums in 1978. It established close ties with theBishop Museum ofHawai'i.[8]
In 1999,Le´ala Elisara was appointed Director of the museum by GovernorTauese Sunia. She was reappointed in 2001.[9]
It is named for the wife of GovernorJohn Morse Haydon and formerfirst lady of American Samoa,Jean P. Haydon ofSeattle.[10][11][12] She created a collection of Samoan artifacts inside the Government House on Mauga o Ali'i. She later moved this collection to its current location in 1972, when the museum was officially opened as the Jean Haydon Museum.[13]
It houses artifacts of early Samoa, including theva'a and'alia (bonito and war canoes) that inspired the old name for the Samoan Islands, theNavigator Islands. It also houses coconut-shell necklaces, seashell and whales' teeth necklaces, seed and fruit jewelry, pigs' tusk armlets,fly-whisks, bamboopanpipes, stone tools,siapo cloth, and a variety of weapons. Besides items commonly used in early island life, it has a display of nativepharmacopeia used by early Polynesians.[15]
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.[16] The museum is also home to anAmerican Samoa flag, which was brought to the Moon byApollo 11 in 1969. The flag and Moon rocks were given as a gift to American Samoa by PresidentRichard Nixon following the return of theApollo missions.[17][18]
Among its prized exhibits is theFala o Futa, an exquisite fine mat reputed to be the first of its kind in Samoa, donated by Senate President H.C. Salanoa S.P. Aumoeualogo. The museum also houses significant historical relics, including a cannon from theKaimiloa, a 171-ton steamer that was the only warship in the fleet ofKing Kalākaua ofHawai'i. The Kaimiloa was sent to the Samoan Islands in 1887 as part of an ambitious effort by the Hawaiian king to establish a united Polynesian kingdom. These cannons, originally brought to Samoa as part of the Hawaiian Kingdom's display of power, played a key role in local defense when the people ofAunuʻu Island used them to repel an invading canoe fleet fromTutuila during theSamoan Civil War.[19][20]
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