Dr. Anne Perez Hattori Publications

Guampedia Advisor and Author

Anne Perez Hattori earned a PhD in Pacific history in 1999 and an MA in Pacific Islands studies in 1995 from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. She also holds a BBA in international business also from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa, which was awarded in 1987.

Anne Perez Hattori (Familian Titang) is the eldest of nine children born to Fermina LG Perez Hattori and Paul M. Hattori.

She is currently a professor of Pacific history in the University of Guam’s Humanities Division, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, teaching courses and advising students in the history program, as well as in the CHamoru Studies program and the graduate program in Micronesian studies.

Her doctoral research was published in 2004 (and republished in 2024) by the University of Hawai’i Press. Entitled, Colonial Dis-Ease: US Naval Health Policies and the Chamorros of Guam, 1898-1941, it examines some of the intersections of race, class, and gender in American colonial policies regarding leprosy, midwifery, hospitals, hookworm, and public health in pre-war Guam. She is also the co-editor of a two-volume 64-chapter project, The Cambridge History of the Pacific Ocean, which was published by Cambridge University Press in 2023.  

A graduate of Academy of Our Lady of Guam High School (class of 1982) and Santa Barbara School in Dededo, Hattori and her husband now reside in the village of Tamuning.

Guampedia entries

• Folktale: Puntan and Fu’una: Gods of Creation
• Perspective: Women in Guam History: A Critical Reflection

e-Publications

In this section, Guampedia is proud to feature previously published essays on Guam culture and history topics by Dr. Anne Perez Hattori. Guampedia aims to serve our readers as a digital repository and archive, and we hope that these e-publications from Dr. Hattori will reach local scholars, students, and community members seeking to gain more in-depth knowledge on the islands and people of the Marianas.

Betel Nut: Cultural and Social Aspects

Betel nut, known to Chamorros as pugua, can be viewed as a rich marker of cultural and social practice that has played a key role in Chamorro cultural dynamics and family relationships. Its treatment since colonization has revealed tensions of cultural identity, and pugua can thus serve as a lens through which we can understand a variety of Chamorro cultural and social issues.

Read the entry here: Betel Nut: Cultural and Social Aspects.

The 1918 Influenza Pandemic in Guam

The 1918 Influenza Pandemic was a significant historical event that impacted much of the world, and created catastrophic circumstances in Guam —  although it receives little attention in our history books. In 1918, more than 900 people died in Guam, approximately 70 percent of them due to influenza.

Read the entry here: The 1918 Influenza Pandemic in Guam.

Gender and Race in Guam History Textbooks

The importance of women through Chamorro history is well documented, although history books don’t often reflect this reality. In this essay, Dr. Hattori examines representations of women in Guam history textbooks, and argues that in order to come to a deeper understanding of our history, researchers and writers must avoid either ignoring or exaggerating the roles of both men and women.

Read the entry here: Gender and Race in Guam History Textbooks.

Uncle S(p)am: The Expensive Cost of Us Colonialism in Guam

In this essay, Dr. Hattori charts the history of US colonialism in Guam, from the Spanish-American War to the contemporary US military build-up. The essay uses Spam as metaphor for “US generosity and valor, albeit at the cost of Chamorro land and bodies,” and looks closely at the costs of US liberation and how post-World War II factors pushed CHamorus into Americanization as they struggled with land and language loss. The essay also looks at current CHamoru efforts to resist ongoing US militarism in Guam.

The Long Way Home: Voyages of Discovery Through Pacific History

In this autobiographical essay, Dr. Hattori reflects on her journey to becoming scholar of Pacific and CHamoru history, and the social and cultural currents that have shaped her life’s work.

Guardians of Our Soil: Indigenous Responses to Post-World War II Military Land Appropriation in Guam

In this paper, Dr. Hattori traces CHamoru resistance to US military land takings in the era immediately after World War II. By examining these histories, the author challenges common narratives that CHamorus felt so indebted to US military after liberation from the Japanese that they did not oppose land condemnation at all. The paper looks at how CHamorus were granted the ability to participate in local government for the first time when the Guam Congress was created, although it initially existed solely as an advisory body. The paper also analyzes the passage of the Organic Act, and further examines how contemporary land issues have played out in the court system, and the creation of the Chamorro Land Trust Act and the Landowners Association.