Timeline in Hawaiian History...1950 - 1975

1950 – In an effort to obtain statehood, a Hawai‘i Constitutional Convention convenes; the resulting constitution is later ratified by voters.
• The U.S. House Committee on Un-American Activities convenes in ‘Iolani Palace to conduct hearings on Communist influence in Hawai‘i's labor organizations.

1952 – The first regular television programming in Hawai‘i begins on KGMB-TV.

1953 – Samuel Wilder King (1886-1959) is named governor of the Territory of Hawai'i; he is the first part-Hawaiian governor of the Islands.

1954 – Japan Airlines inaugurates service between Tokyo and Honolulu.
• Joseph R. Farrington (1897 – 1954), 56, Hawai‘i delegate to Congress and leader of the statehood movement, dies in Washington, D.C.

1957 – Color television is first seen in Hawai‘i.
• The Nu‘uanu Pali bridge and tunnel opens to traffic.
• Tūtū Mary Kawena Puku‘i co-authors the Hawaiian-English Dictionary (1957) with Samuel H. Elbert.

1958 – James Drummond Dole (1877–1958), 80, founder of Hawai‘i's pineapple industry, dies.
• Tūtū Mary Kawena Puku‘i co-authors The Polynesian family system in Ka‘u, Hawai‘i (1958) with Dr. E. S. Handy.

1959 – Alaska is officially proclaimed the Forty-ninth State on January 3.
• Statehood for Hawai‘i is approved by the U.S. Senate on March 11 and by the House on March 12. An act signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower designating Hawai‘i the fiftieth state becomes law on March 18.
• Ground is broken for a new $24 million Honolulu airport.
• March 24 – Samuel Wilder King (1886-1959), 72, former governor of Hawai‘i and delegate to Congress, dies.
• The first general election after statehood takes place on July 28, and William F. Quinn, a Republican, becomes Hawai‘i's first state governor. The third Friday in August is designated Admission Day.

1960 – The fiftieth star is added to the U.S. flag on July 4.

1961 – Haleakalā National Park is dedicated.
• The Pali tunnel officially open to two-way traffic.

1962 – John A. Burns (1909 – 1975) is elected the state's second governor in the November elections. He serves as the second Governor of Hawai'i from 1962 to 1974.

1965 – Bus service begins between Honolulu and Kailua.
• Camilla “Cami” Grace Fusae Ka ‘iuhono ‘onalani Wengler Vignoe is the second daughter born to Harry and Charlotte Wengler.

1966 – William Shaw Richardson (1919 – 2010) becomes the first part-Hawaiian chief justice of the state Supreme Court.
• Tūtū Mary Kawena Puku‘i co-authors Place Names of Hawai‘i (1966) with Samuel H. Elbert and Esther Mo‘okini.

1967 – The State Statuary Hall Commission chooses Marisol Escobar's seven-foot bronze statue of Father Damien for National Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C.
• Hawai‘i attracts one million tourists in a single year.

1968 – Duke Kahanamoku (1890 – 1968), 77, dies.
• Hawaii Five-0 has its world premiere; it becomes a CBS series for the 1968-1969 television season.
• Neighbor Island counties elect their first mayors.
• Frank F. Fasi (1920 – 2010) is elected mayor of Honolulu; Fasi serves six terms – 22 years – as mayor of Honolulu.

1969 – The new Fort Street Mall is dedicated in downtown Honolulu.
• The first astronauts to visit the moon return to earth and are picked up at sea along with their Apollo 11 craft, by the U.S.S. Hornet, which arrives at Pearl Harbor, July 26. The men are taken to Hickam Air Force Base and flown to the mainland.

1971 – The $62 million Sheraton Waikiki opens.

1972 – The Hawai‘i Legislature ratifies the Equal Rights Amendment within 45 minutes of its passage in Congress. Hawai‘i was the first state to ratify.
• The state of Hawai‘i attracts two million tourists.
• Tūtū Mary Kawena Puku‘i authors Nānā i ke Kumu: Look to the source volumes I and II (1972).

1973 – Tūtū Mary Kawena Puku‘i works with Alfons L. Korn to translate and edit The echo of our song: Chants and poems of the Hawaiians (1973).

1974 – George Ariyoshi, the country's first governor of Japanese ancestry, is elected.