JM Long Foundation Announces Major Gift to Bishop Museum Vestibule Gallery to be renamed in honor of Joseph M. Long
The JM Long Foundation has announceda major gift towards the renovation of Hawaiian Hall at Bishop Museum , according to Bishop Museum Interim President Michael Chinaka. The gift was recognized during a dedication ceremony April 23, 2007 in the Museum’s Vestibule Gallery when the gallery was renamed the Joseph M. Long Gallery in his honor.
Recognized by the Harvard Business School as one of the Great American Business Leaders of the 20 th Century, Joseph M. Long was an American entrepreneur and a co-founder of Longs Drugs Stores. He created the JM Long Foundation in 1966 as a way of giving back to others from whom he received during his lifetime. The JM Long Foundation is a non-profit, public benefit corporation and a private foundation that is governed by its own Board of Trustees.
Joe Long’s life story is a testament to good old-fashioned hard work and American ingenuity. One of nine children, Joe was born in 1912 in Covelo, a small agricultural town in Northern California . He picked hops, worked for his father in a general store, and listened to his mother who preached a work ethic. After high school, he and his brother, Tom, hitched a ride on a milk truck to leave Covelo and to attend the University of California at Berkeley , where they worked their way through college.
In 1938, they founded Longs Drug Stores in Oakland , California . Their success and the company’s growth enabled Joe to work 6 months in Honolulu opening the first Hawaii Longs Drug Store at Hotel and Bishop Street in 1954. In 1959 he returned again for the opening of the second Longs at Ala Moana Center and again worked along side of the employees to help to stock the store.
In 1988 as Chairman of the Board of Longs Drug Stores, he noted, “In everything we have done, I have never forgotten my mother’s admonitions about caring for people; caring for those who work with us, caring for those we work for, caring for our fellow man. We go through this life but once. If there is anything we can do, or help that we can give, let us do it now, because we may not pass this way again.”
“The magnitude of the JM Long Foundation’s gift is truly extraordinary and will contribute significantly to the restoration of one of Hawai‘i’s oldest cultural icons to its former prominence and glory,” said Chinaka. “Hawaiian Hall is one of the premiere examples of late Victorian-era architectural museum design in America . This monumental restoration is the first major upgrade since the Museum opened in 1903.”
The newly named Joseph M. Long Gallery serves as the entry foyer into Hawaiian Hall. In recent years, the gallery has served as the premiere venue for the presentation of contemporary art by native Hawaiians and other indigenous peoples of America and Polynesia , such as the upcoming exhibition, MAMo Awards 2007: Celebrating Our Masters.
“We are indeed honored to name this gallery in celebration of Joseph’s life-long commitment of giving to his community and to his country through his Foundation’s many philanthropic endeavors,” said Chinaka. “The measure of any successful man is not how much he earns, but how much he gives back---and Joseph’s gifts to Bishop Museum and many other worthy causes and organizations are a credit to both his mother’s teachings and his own commitment to the truly American values of generosity and giving to others.”
For more information about Hawaiian Hall Renovation Project or the Joseph M. Long Gallery, call (808) 847-3511 or visit www.bishopmuseum.org.
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