The American Equatorial Islands Colonization Project was a plan initiated in 1935 by the
United States Department of Commerce
The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econ ...
Baker
A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery.
History
Ancient histo ...
, and
Jarvis Island
Jarvis Island (; formerly known as Bunker Island or Bunker's Shoal) is an uninhabited coral island located in the South Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and the Cook Islands. It is an Territories of the United States#Unincorporated u ...
s in the central
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...
so that
weather station
A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasting, weather forecasts and to study the weather and clima ...
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
and
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. Additionally, the U.S. government wanted to claim these remote islands to provide a check on eastern territorial expansion by the
Empire of Japan
The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...
. The colonists, who became known as , were primarily young
Native Hawaiian
Native Hawaiians (also known as Indigenous Hawaiians, Kānaka Maoli, Aboriginal Hawaiians, or simply Hawaiians; , , , and ) are the Indigenous peoples of Oceania, Indigenous Polynesians, Polynesian people of the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawaiʻi was set ...
men and other male students recruited from schools in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
. In 1937, the project was expanded to include Canton and Enderbury in the
Phoenix Islands
The Phoenix Islands, or Rawaki, are a group of eight atolls and two submerged coral reefs that lie east of the Gilbert Islands and west of the Line Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, north of Samoa. They are part of the Kiribati, Republic ...
. On December 8, coinciding with the
attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Empire of Japan on the United States Pacific Fleet at Naval Station Pearl Harbor, its naval base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu, Territory of ...
, the three islands were bombed which killed two colonists. The islands continued to be attacked and the project ended in early 1942 when the colonists were rescued from the islands at the start of the
War in the Pacific
The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...
.
History
The United States first began establishing its presence in the Equatorial Pacific during the mid-19th century through
guano
Guano (Spanish from ) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. Guano is a highly effective fertiliser due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a le ...
mining conducted by private American companies under the Guano Islands Act. After several decades, guano resources became depleted, leading to the diminishing presence of American companies on the islands; they were thus vulnerable to development and claim by other nations, especially the regional rival,
Imperial Japan
The Empire of Japan, also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was the Japanese nation state that existed from the Meiji Restoration on January 3, 1868, until the Constitution of Japan took effect on May 3, 1947. From Japan–Kor ...
. The U.S. maintained a desire for military and commercial air routes between Australia and California, routes that would be facilitated by the use of Howland,
Baker
A baker is a tradesperson who baking, bakes and sometimes Sales, sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery.
History
Ancient histo ...
, and
Jarvis Island
Jarvis Island (; formerly known as Bunker Island or Bunker's Shoal) is an uninhabited coral island located in the South Pacific Ocean, about halfway between Hawaii and the Cook Islands. It is an Territories of the United States#Unincorporated u ...
s. In 1935, the
Department of Commerce
The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business ...
developed a clandestine colonization plan with the objective of placing U.S. citizens on the remote islands in order for the U.S. to lay claim to them. The colonization program called for non-active military personnel in order to avoid conflicting with international law regarding colonization by military.
William T. Miller, Superintendent of Airways at the Department of Commerce, was appointed to lead the project. He traveled to Hawaii in February 1935, met with Albert F. Judd, Trustee of
Kamehameha Schools
Kamehameha Schools, formerly called Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate (KSBE), is a private school system in Hawaii established by the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, under the terms of the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who was a formal membe ...
and 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, Hawaii, Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1 ...
, and agreed that recent graduates and students of the Kamehameha School for Boys would make ideal colonists for the project.
Multiple federal agencies vied for the right to administer the colonization project, including the Department of Commerce, the
Department of the Interior
The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the management and conservation of most federal lands and natural resources. It also administers programs relatin ...
, and the Department of the Navy. However, jurisdiction was ultimately granted to the Department of the Interior.
During the seven years of colonization, more than 130 young men participated in the project, the majority of whom were Hawaiian. In 1940, when the issue of discontinuing the colonization project was raised, the Navy acknowledged that the islands were "probably worthless to commercial aviation" but advocated for "continued occupation" because the islands could serve as "bases from a military standpoint."
End of the program
In June 1941, the Commandant of the 14th Naval District recognized the "tension in the Western Pacific" and recommended the evacuation of the colonists, but his request was denied. On December 8, 1941,
Howland Island
Howland Island () is a coral island and strict nature reserve located just north of the equator in the central Pacific Ocean, about southwest of Honolulu. The island lies almost halfway between Hawaii and Australia and is an Territories of the ...
was attacked by a fleet of Japanese twin-engine bombers, which killed Hawaiian colonists Joseph Keliʻihananui and Richard Whaley. In the ensuing weeks, Japanese submarine and military aircraft continued to target Howland, Baker, and Jarvis Islands. The four colonists from Baker and the two remaining colonists from Howland were rescued on January 31, 1942, and the eight colonists from Jarvis and Enderbury were rescued on February 9, 1942, two months after the initial attacks on Howland Island. In July 1943, a military base was established on Baker Island and played a substantial role in the
Tarawa
Tarawa is an atoll and the capital of the Republic of Kiribati,Kiribati ''
Makin operation, a significant U.S. offensive against the Japanese fleet in the Pacific theater.
After World War II, the participants of the colonization project established an organization to preserve the fellowship of their group, naming it "" in 1956. In 1974, the islands of Howland, Baker and Jarvis were designated as National Wildlife Refuges and are now part of the Pacific Islands Heritage Marine National Monument. The islands of Canton and Enderbury became part of the Republic of Kiribati.
Image:General View of Baker Island (80-CF-79868-45).jpg, Settlements on Baker Island
Image:Government House on Baker Island (80-CF-79868-39).jpg, Baker Island Government House
Image:Hauling Water on Howland Island (80-CF-79868-1).jpg, Moving drums of water onto Howland Island
Image:Unloading Boat at Howland Island (80-CF-79868-2).jpg, Supply delivery to Howland Island
Image:Government House on Howland Island (80-CF-79868-11).jpg, Howland Island Government House
Image:Camp at Jarvis Island (80-CF-798677-7).jpg, Jarvis Island camp
Image:Balloon Run at Jarvis Island (80-CF-798677-12).jpg, Balloon run at Jarvis Island
Image:Government House on Jarvis Island (80-CF-798677-9).jpg, Jarvis Island Government House