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Starting in the 1600s, the islands of Micronesia were colonized in succession by Spain, Germany, and Japan. After the Second World War, these islands became a United States administered United Nations strategic trusteeship. This new arrangement was named the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (TTPI). Initially under Navy control, the operation of the TTPI was transferred to the U.S. Dept. of the Interior in 1951. Administrative headquarters, originally in Honolulu, moved to Guam, and finally to Saipan. For administrative purposes, the TTPI divided the islands of Micronesia into six districts based on earlier colonial precedent: the Marshalls, Ponape (now Pohnpei), Truk (now Chuuk), Marianas, Yap and Palau, with the later addition of Kosrae.
Beginning in the 1970s the districts began voting to end the trustee relationship with the United States. In 1986 the US notified the UN that its obligations were fulfilled. The UN officially dissolved the Trust Territory in 1990. Palau, the last of the Trust Territory districts, voted to end its trustee status in 1994. Today the former Trust Territory is comprised of four separate, self-governing districts: The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas; the Federated States of Micronesia, (comprised of Kosrae, Pohnpei, Chuuk, and Yap); the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau. The Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas is a United States commonwealth and its residents are U.S. citizens. The other three countries each have Compacts of Free Association with the United States, which provide for full self-government except for defense, which the countries delegate to the U.S. Under the compacts, residents of these countries are guaranteed rights similar to those of U.S. citizens, allowing them to freely live and work in the United States.
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Once the individual island-nations within the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands had gone through processes of self-determination, the Trust was abolished. As it was winding down, a program to preserve the records of the Trust Territory Government was devised by Sam McPhetres, a member of the High Commissioner's staff. In collaboration with the University of Hawaiʻi Library, all government files held in Saipan were surveyed. The materials were microfilmed and, at the end of the project, the University of Hawaiʻi Library received complete sets of all the microfilms -- more than 2,000 reels in all. The Trust Territory Government also donated its photograph collection, a small collection of films, videotapes and audiocassettes, and a large map collection to the University of Hawaiʻi Library. The Pacific Collection librarians have created a separate online library guide that details how to access and use the Trust Territory Archives, which are a rich source of history for the region. To view that online guide, click here.
These online photo collections are digitized from prints and 35mm slides held in the Pacific Collection. They document various aspects of life through the Trust Territory region.
