Did you learn to swim at the Natatorium? Spend weekends there with your best buddies? Cannonball off the old high dive? 
Did your kupuna tell you Natatorium tales of Duke Kahanamoku, or Keo Nakama, Halo Hirose and the ditch boys?
Did you grow up with sagas of Johnny Weissmuller or Esther Williams?
Then come talk story with us!
Natatorium Oral History Project
This Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday – May 20-22 – we’re videotaping the stories of people who spent the better part of their lives swimming at the War Memorial Natatorium. People who grew up there. And people who never had a chance to swim there but have always wanted to.
Friends of the Natatorium volunteers will be on hand to tape your stories from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day in the Kainalu Room at Elks Lodge 616 (2933 Kalakaua Ave., right up the street from the Natatorium.)
“This is a wonderful opportunity to talk story about the Natatorium and why it’s so important to preserve it,” Friends president Mo Radke says. The oral histories we collect will be uploaded to a YouTube channel hosted by the Friends, a local nonprofit committed to the preservation and restoration of the Natatorium.
Make an Appointment
To contribute memories to the oral history project, email Mo Radke at moradke@gmail.com. He’ll answer your questions and schedule an appointment for you. Mahalo for your memories!
