Paradise Paradigms
Desoto Brown and Kiersten Faulkner will take an in-depth look at the ways in which Hawaii was portrayed by the media during the 1950s as a modern Paradise of the Pacific, an exotic tropical island chain with all the amenities of home, and the ramifications of the success of this marketing on today’s historic preservation efforts.
Desoto Brown
DeSoto Brown is a historian, author, and longtime gatekeeper of the archives at the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, where he first began as a volunteer before becoming a full-time archivist in 1987. In this role, Brown helps information seekers unearth all manner of treasures from its vast collection of Hawaiian history. He has also written numerous books on historical pop culture in Hawai'i, including Hawaii at Play: Images of a Bygone Era and Aloha Waikiki: 100 Years of Pictures.
Kiersten Faulkner
Kiersten Faulkner is the chief executive of Historic Hawai‘i Foundation and oversees all aspects of its preservation programs, strategic planning, business lines and operational matters. She holds a Master of Arts in Urban and Environmental Policy from Tufts University and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP). Faulkner’s community service has included terms on the boards of Honolulu Firefighters Foundation, Foundation of the Rotary Club of Honolulu, Hawai‘i Ecotourism Association, Malama Manoa, Honolulu Culture and Arts District, the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa’s Design Advisory Panel, the Hawai‘i State Department of Transportation’s Scenic Byways Advisory Group, and the Honouliuli Confinement Site Advisory Group.