Early members included historians Nathaniel Bright Emerson and Ralph Simpson Kuykendall.
[3] This annual publication is the longest published peer-reviewed journal focusing on the history of both pre- and post-contact Hawaiʻi.
The Society's Library, located at the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, contains a collection of photos, newspapers, magazines, journals, books, pamphlets, and manuscripts made available to scholars and the public.
For example, in 1974, the journal published a retrospective on the 1874 election of King Kalākaua and the ensuing Honolulu Courthouse riot including letters with eyewitness accounts.
[4] As a leading organization studying the history of Hawai'i, the Society presents free public lectures on a regular basis.