This April 9, 2008 Time Magazine story is specific as to the marriage date:
"On Feb. 2, 1961, several months after they met, Obama's parents got married in Maui, according to divorce records. It was a Thursday. At that point, Ann was three months pregnant with Barack Obama II. Friends did not learn of the wedding until afterward. "Nobody was invited," says Abercrombie. The motivations behind the marriage remain a mystery, even to Obama. "I never probed my mother about the details. Did they decide to get married because she was already pregnant? Or did he propose to her in the traditional, formal way?" Obama wonders. 'I suppose, had she not passed away, I would have asked more.'"
Note that the wedding date is taken from the divorce record; I've read elsewhere (but don't have the specific link) that the marriage certificate can't be found.
About the divorce:
"Ann filed for divorce in Honolulu in January 1964, citing "grievous mental suffering"—the reason given in most divorces at the time. Obama Sr. signed for the papers in Cambridge, Mass., and did not contest the divorce."
Thanks for the cites of these 2 relevent facts:
1) “On Feb. 2, 1961, several months after they met, Obama’s parents got married in Maui, according to divorce records. It was a Thursday. At that point, Ann was three months pregnant with Barack Obama II. Friends did not learn of the wedding until afterward. “Nobody was invited,” says Abercrombie.
2) About the divorce: “Ann filed for divorce in Honolulu in January 1964, citing “grievous mental suffering”—the reason given in most divorces at the time. Obama Sr. signed for the papers in Cambridge, Mass., and did not contest the divorce.”
"On Feb. 2, 1961, several months after they met, Obama's parents got married in Maui, according to divorce records. It was a Thursday. At that point, Ann was three months pregnant with Barack Obama II. Friends did not learn of the wedding until afterward. "Nobody was invited," says Abercrombie. The motivations behind the marriage remain a mystery, even to Obama. "I never probed my mother about the details. Did they decide to get married because she was already pregnant? Or did he propose to her in the traditional, formal way?" Obama wonders. 'I suppose, had she not passed away, I would have asked more.'"
Note that the wedding date is taken from the divorce record; I've read elsewhere (but don't have the specific link) that the marriage certificate can't be found.
About the divorce:
"Ann filed for divorce in Honolulu in January 1964, citing "grievous mental suffering"—the reason given in most divorces at the time. Obama Sr. signed for the papers in Cambridge, Mass., and did not contest the divorce."
What a great group of people. I know everyone else has a lot to do--I'm in a high-pressure business; if I wasn't having a good time, I would do something else. But I appreciate the help a lot.
I too have read elsewhere that the wedding certificate cannot be found; I haven't read the married in Maui point. I wonder where newspaper Vital Statistics for Maui are to be found.
If you found it in a Vital Statistics column, you would be tempted to believe it even if you didn't find the certificate. I don't know what the law in Hawaii is; in the states in which I am admitted, filing the certificate is mandatory on the person who performs the marriage.
I'm locked into my view that they got married in Kenya--it's a mistake to approach the facts that way because if you keep looking for the real facts the entire story ultimately comes out.
Here, counsel in the divorce proceeding pleaded Maui which is probably what his client told him; failure to find the filing is probably pretty good evidence that it didn't happen there unless you find Vital Statistics showing that it did.
We are still looking in Kenya.