Lorrin Andrews | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

February 2, 2020 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lahainaluna High School

The missionaries who arrived in Lāhainā in 1823 explained to the Hawaiian Royalty the importance of an educational institution.

In 1823, Kalākua Kaheiheimālie (ke Aliʻi Hoapili wahine, wife of Governor Hoapili) offered the American missionaries a tract of land on the slopes surrounding Puʻu Paʻupaʻu for the creation of a high school.

Betsey Stockton from the 2nd Company of Protestant missionaries initially started a school for makaʻāinana (common people) and their wives and children on the site.

Later, on September 5, 1831, classes at the Mission Seminary at Lahainaluna (later known as Lahainaluna (Upper Lāhainā)) began in thatched huts with 25 Hawaiian young men (including David Malo, who went on to hold important positions in the kingdom, including the first Superintendent of Schools.)

When Lahainaluna High School first opened, Lāhainā was the capital of the kingdom of Hawaiʻi, and it was a bustling seaport for the Pacific whaling fleet.

Under the leadership of Reverend Lorrin Andrews, the school was established by the American Board of Commissioners of Foreign Missions “to instruct young men of piety and promising talents”. It is the oldest high school west of the Mississippi River.

In September 1836, thirty-two boys between the ages of 10 and 20 were admitted as the first boarding students, from the neighbor islands, as well as from the “other side of the island”; thus, the beginning of the boarding school at Lahainaluna.

The boarding program became coed in 1980. The two dorms are David Malo Dormitory for the boys and Hoapili Dormitory for the girls. Previously, Hoapili housed both genders. Lahainaluna is one of only a few public boarding schools in the nation.

The missionaries soon saw that the future of the Congregational Mission in Hawaii would be largely dependent upon the success of its schools. The Mission then established “feeder schools” that would transmit to their students’ fundamental reading, writing, and arithmetic skills, and religious training, before admission to the Lahainaluna.

Initially, Hawaiian was the language used in instruction; in 1877, there was a shift to English. The students engaged in a variety of studies including geography, mathematics and history to prepare them for leadership roles in the Hawaiian community.

Lahainaluna was transferred from being operated by the American missionaries to the control of the Hawaiian Monarchy in 1849. By 1864, only Lahainaluna graduates were considered qualified to hold government positions such as lawyers, teachers, district magistrates and other important posts.

A notable structure on the campus is Hale Paʻi (the house of printing,) a small coral and timber building. Starting in 1834, it served as the home of Hawaiʻi’s first printing press. Hale Paʻi is associated with a number of “firsts” in Hawaii.

The first actual publishing in Hawaiʻi was done in Honolulu in 1822. It was at Lahainaluna, however, that the first newspaper ever printed in the Hawaiian Islands was published on February 14, 1834. This paper, called Ka Lama Hawaii (The Hawaiian, Luminary) was also the first newspaper published anywhere in the United States or its territories west of the Rocky Mountains.

Also published at Hale Paʻi for the first time were many portions of the first Hawaiian translation of the Bible, the first English translation of the first Hawaiian Declaration of Rights, the first Hawaiian Constitution, the first set of Hawaiian laws on property and taxation, the first Hawaiian school laws, the first paper money engraved and printed in Hawaiʻi, the first history of Hawaiʻi printed in Hawaiian and the first history of Hawaiʻi printed in English appearing in the Islands.

In 1834, Lahainaluna students first began engraving on copper plates. The initial purpose of this engraving was to provide maps for study, not only at the Seminary, but at schools throughout the Islands.

In the 1840s commercial development in Hawaiʻi – both trade and agriculture – began to take off. As business grew, so did the need for money.

At this time, the nation had no official currency of its own, relying instead on a variety of foreign coins and bills which circulated at an agreed rate of exchange based on the U.S. dollar. As early as 1836, private Hawaiian firms began to issue paper scrip of their own redeemable by the issuing company in coins or goods.

In early 1843, apparently, Lahainaluna first printed and issued its own paper money. Its primary purpose was evidently to pay the students for their work on the campus (up to 25 cents per week,) which was then used for payment of their rent and tuition.

Later, counterfeiting of the school’s currency was discovered. Then, the faculty, in accordance with their vote of January 8, 1844, called in and destroyed all the paper money they could find. Then, authorized the addition of secret marks to all the new currency and re-issued it.

In 1903, Lahainaluna became a vocational trade school and, in 1923, a technical high school, admitting both girls and boys as day students. It continues today as Lāhainā’s public high school.

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

November 15, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Haleakala School

Asa G Thurston, son of missionary Asa Thurston, married Sarah Andrews, daughter of missionary Lorrin Andrews and Mary Wilson Andrews, in October 1853.

“Mr Thurston soon met with severe financial reverses. In his strenuous efforts to recover himself he contracted aneurism, of which he died in the early sixties, leaving his widow and three orphan children in poverty.” (Hawaiian Star, January 16, 1899)

Sarah Andrews Thurston, became a teacher for nine years in the Royal School in Nu‘uanu Valley to support her young family after her husband’s death.

In 1868 she was offered the job of matron of a new industrial school for boys in Makawao, Maui, known as the Haleakala School, nine miles from the summit of that mountain. Her brother, Robert Andrews, had been appointed principal, and Sarah moved her family – Lorrin, his older brother, Robert, and sister, Helen – to Maui. (Twigg-Smith)

“The location is a remarkably healthy one, in Makawao, on the slope of Haleakala, the great mountain of Maui, at an elevation of some 6,000 feet above the level of the sea, in the range of the trade winds, and consequently enjoys a temperature of perpetual spring, never either uncomfortably hot or cold.”

“It is also admirably secluded, ‘far from the busy haunts of men,’ and there are no temptations for the boys to roam. The property is a valuable one for grazing and tree-culture, comprising something over 1,000 acres leased from the government by the Board of Education.”

“Belonging to the establishment is a fine herd of cattle, which under the care of Mr. Harvey Rogers, supplies a large quantity of milk, part of which is used by the scholars, and much fine butter made of the rest.”

“The school numbers at present thirty-three boarders and five day scholars, and applications are now pending from others wishing to place their boys where they can be educated.”

“The studies embrace a good common school course, with religious exercises, singing, and military drill. The discipline of the school is strictly military.”

“Flogging is abolished, and the effort is being made to bring the boys to be useful men, as well in the practical work of life as in scholarship.”

“The boys are organized as a company of Infantry, and have their officers appointed from their racks on of good behavior, study and discipline.”

“The buildings are convenient, but need enlarging if many more scholars are to be admitted. There ought to be room for seventy or eighty.”

“The scholars are expected and required to assist in the work of the dairy, in agriculture, tree-planting, and in fact, in everything that is required to be done on the place.”

“They are about being uniformed, i.e., the dress suit for Sundays and holidays made of blue flannel, and as a particular pattern must be followed, arrangements have been made so that the suits can all be made at the school. Economy and uniformity is particularly required.”

“A large vegetable garden is being enclosed, and the boys are given plots of ground to cultivate. The articles thus of raised are fairly valued, and each boy is credited on his school account with what he has thus furnished.”

“The food is abundant and good in quality; kalo, as pai-ai, poi, beef, fresh and salt potatoes, rice, milk in abundance, syrup, and hard-bread are the staples.”

“The school is flourishing, and is a credit to the Principal, Mr. F. L. Clarke, to the Matron, Mrs. Thurston, and to all concerned. (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 3, 1873)

“The annual examination of this school for boys, was held on Thursday, June 8, and was largely attended by an interested audience of natives and foreigners, who, by their frequent expressions of applause, shewed that they were much pleased with the exercises.”

“The school-room was crowded at an early hour, and from the beginning to the end of the examination there was exhibited on the part of the teachers an earnest endeavor to draw out the capabilities of to the scholars; and this was satisfactorily responded to by the latter in their answers to the various questions propounded.”

“We were struck with the range of topics. ‘Arithmetic’ embraced questions of practical importance not found in the books, but of first value to the resident of these Islands; ‘Geography,’ (in which super-excellence was shown) embraced a wider range than is usually seen in its study …”

“… and the questions in Orthography evinced careful study, and a sensible idea of what is demanded of the young Hawaiian. Ease of delivery, correctness of gesture, and distinctness in elocution, made the duty of listening to the selections a pleasure.”

“One thing struck us as peculiarly happy – the majority of the pieces spoken gave prominence to our duties and obligations to God; and as all the pieces spoken were the selections of the scholars themselves, we are lead to the inference that ‘out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.’” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 17, 1876)

As noted, son of the school Matron, Lorrin Thurston, was a student at the school, as were other notables, including his classmates Robert Wilcox and Eben Low.

The school facilities were later used by Maunaolu Seminary (following a fire at their facilities in 1898).

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Haleakala School-Reg0603-1872-sites noted

Haleakala School-Reg0603-1872-school site noted

October 26, 2018 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Armstrong Appointment

“The Missionaries have been the fathers, the builders and the supporters of education in these Islands, and (William Lee) thought it proper that their wishes in reference to the appointment of a person to superintend Education should in some degree be consulted”. (William Lee)

“Mr Richards the Minister of Public Instruction is sick and has been given up to die, though he still lives. The Minister of the Interior has been appointed to act for him provisionally”. (Gerrit Judd)

“Mr. Wyllie rose and said a sense of duty to the King induced him to state that the appointment of a Minister of Public Instruction, in the peculiar circumstances of the Islands, was the most important under the Crown.”

“On public instruction was based the Security of His M’s Crown, and the progress of His subjects in civilization and christianity. That, therefore, an appointment so momentous for good or evil, ought not to be precipitately made.” (Two names were discussed, Lorrin Andrews and Richard Armstrong.)

“That the man of greatest talent, most moral worth, most devoted to the King and to His Subjects and best acquainted with the language should be selected and he believed that man to be Mr Armstrong.”

“He gave this opinion as if speaking in presence of his Maker and having to answer for it, at the great day of Judgement. But he
hoped that whoever might be appointed, the appointment should be considered provisional, so as to meet the case of the possible recovery of Mr Richards.” (Richard Wyllie)

Lee “Said it was his mind that this matter is the most important one that can come before the Privy Council. With the Minister of Public Instruction rested the weighty responsibility of moulding the mind and character of this Nation for generations to come.”

“How necessary then, that we select the best man the Kingdom affords. He had looked around him to see who this man was, and his mind and heart were fixed upon Richard Armstrong.”

“He was his first choice, and in his humble opinion the Man of all men best adopted to discharge the high duties of this Post. He gave his preference to Mr Armstrong because he was a good Man, a wise Man and an industrious Man.”

“He would say nothing in disparagement of Mr Andrews of Molokai, for he knew little or nothing about him. But he did know Mr Armstrong, and thought he should certainly have the first offer.”

“He was a tried and devoted to this Nation and one whom we could not mistake – A question of such vast importance required our most sober deliberations, and he trusted that in whatever we did, we might not move with precipitation.”

“He most heartily concurred with Mr Wyllie in his remarks, and would end as he began, in stating it as his firm conviction, that Richard Armstrong was the Man.” (Lee)

“Mr (John Papa) Ii spoke very eloquently in favor of both candidates – said that either of them do well, but that Mr Armstrong was a good fisher of Men and that his loss would be severely felt in the Church.” (Ii)

Richards died – “the oldest, the most devoted, faithful and tried servant of His Majesty. He had given all the best energies of his body, mind & soul to this Nation, and what was more, he had died in poverty”. (William Lee)

“Kekuanaoa states that in his opinion Mr Armstrong be appointed and so notified. In his opinion, Mr Armstrong was the best Man and that he ought to be appointed at once.” (Kekuanaoa)

“Mr Wyllie stated that notwithstanding all that had been said, he could not without violence to his conscience, do otherwise than support the views of Governor Kekuanaoa and John Ii. Their views were r that Mr Armstrong should be appointed subject to the approval of the Missionaries at their next General Meeting.”

“He (Mr Wyllie) supported those views, both because he considered Mr Armstrong the best man, & because the whole Missionary body thought him to be the best Man. …” (Wyllie)

“It was, therefore, due, no less in gratitude than in policy, for the Government, to act so as to cultivate the good opinion & continue the sympathy of the American Board of F. Missions in the U. S. and the good will of the Missionaries here.”

“Nothing would do that more effectually than the appointment of M. Armstrong, whom all the Missionaries considered the fittest Man for the Post, although from the value they attach to him, they did not like to part with him.”

“He believed and Mr Armstrong also believed that by waiting till the next General Meeting, the Missionaries would so far consent to his separation, as to enable him to take office with their approval.” (Wyllie)

“Mr Wyllie moved the following Resolution ‘Resolved that the Reverend Mr Armstrong’s offer to assist the Minister of the Interior until the next General Meeting of his brethren, be accepted; and that if he can then obtain the approval of his brethren, he be appointed to the Office of Minister of Public Instruction.’” (Wyllie)

“The Rev. Mr. Armstrong, having by letter to Judge Lee, dated May 1848, accepted the office of the Minister of Public Instruction, tendered him by Resolution of the 2nd of December 1847 – took the Oath of Allegiance.” (All from Privy Council Minutes)

Armstrong left the mission and became Minister of Public Instruction on June 7, 1848. Armstrong was to serve the government for the remainder of his life. He was a member of the Privy Council and the House of Nobles and acted as the royal chaplain.

He set up the Board of Education under the kingdom in 1855 and was its president until his death. Armstrong is known as the “the father of American education in Hawaiʻi.”

The government-sponsored education system in Hawaiʻi is the longest running public school system west of the Mississippi River. To this day, Hawaiʻi is the only state to have a completely-centralized State public school system.

Armstrong helped bring better textbooks, qualified teachers and better school buildings. Students were taught in Hawaiian how to read, write, math, geography, singing and to be “God-fearing” citizens. (By 1863, three years after Armstrong’s death, the missionaries stopped being a part of Hawaiʻi’s education system.)

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Richard_Armstrong,_c._1858

November 13, 2017 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Missionaries to Government Service

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863 – the “Missionary Period”), about 180-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) in the Hawaiian Islands.

A few of the missionaries left the mission and ultimately worked for the Hawaiian Government; for the most part, they left the mission because the King asked for their assistance working directly for the Kingdom. These included William Richards, Gerritt P Judd, Lorrin Andrews and Richard Armstrong.

William Richards

On October 30, 1822, William Richards married Clarissa, daughter of Levi Lyman, of Northampton, Massachusetts. On November 19, he, with his wife, joined the Second Company of American Protestant missionaries to Hawai‘i. After five months at sea they reached Honolulu on Sunday, April 27, 1823.

In May 1823, Richards and others escorted Keōpūolani (wife of Kamehameha I and mother of King Kamehameha II & III) and her husband Hoapili to Lahaina and set up the Lahaina Mission Station there.

In 1837, after fourteen years of labor, he made a visit to the US, accompanied by his wife and the six oldest children. The health of himself and his wife made such a change desirable, and he wished to provide for the education of his children there. On his return to his post in the spring of 1838, the king and chiefs, asked Richards to work directly with them.

Richards translated Dr Francis Wayland’s ‘Elements of Political Economy’ into Hawaiian and organized discussions with the Chiefs on constitutional governance. Richards was instrumental in helping to transform Hawai‘i into a modern constitutional state with a bill of rights (1839) and a constitution (1840.)

In 1842 he went abroad with Timoteo Haʻalilio as a diplomat seeking British, French and US acknowledgment of Hawaiian independence. William Richards later became the Minister of Public Instruction in 1846, an office which gave him a seat in the King’s Privy Council. and worked with the legislature to make education a legal mandate.

As a member of the Cabinet, he had a larger influence with the young king, probably, than any other persons. In addition to the discharge of the ordinary duties of a Cabinet officer, he preached regularly at the palace on Sunday evening.

On July 18, 1847, while he was at the palace he was suddenly attacked by illness which was brought on by overwork and which led to his of death (November 7, 1847 – at the age of 54.) “Perhaps no man has ever shared more largely in the affections of the Hawaiian people than did Mr. Richards.”

Gerritt P Judd

Judd was a medical missionary, part of the Third Company of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Mission (ABCFM.) Dr. Judd was sent to replace Dr. Abraham Blatchely, who, because of poor health, had left Hawaiʻi the previous year.

Judd had originally come to the islands to serve as the missionary physician, intending to treat native Hawaiians for the growing number of diseases introduced by foreigners. He immersed himself in the Hawaiian community, becoming a fluent speaker of Hawaiian.

By letter dated May 15, 1842, Kamehameha III and Kekauluohi stated, “Salutations to you, GP Judd. You have been appointed Translator and Recorder for the Government, and for your support and that of your family, we consent that you be paid out of the Government money seven hundred and sixty dollars per annum, to commence from this day.”

As chairman of the treasury board Judd not only organized a system, he also helped to pay off a large public indebtedness and placed the government on a firm financial footing. In November 1843, Judd was appointed secretary of state for foreign affairs, with the full responsibility of dealing with the foreign representatives. He was succeeded by Mr. RC Wyllie, in March 1845, and was then appointed minister of the interior.

In 1846, Judd was transferred from the post of minister of the interior to that of minister of finance (which he held until 1853, when by resignation, he terminated his service with the government.)

In 1852, Judd served with Chief Justice Lee and Judge John Ii on a commission to draft a new constitution. He wrote the first medical book in the Hawaiian language. Later, Judd formed the first Medical School in the Islands (the school had a Hawaiians-only admissions policy.) Judd participated in a pivotal role in Medicine, Finance, Law, Sovereignty, Land Tenure and Governance in the Islands. Gerrit P Judd died in Honolulu on July 12, 1873.

Lorrin Andrews

In November of 1827, Andrews and his wife of three months, Mary Ann, set sail for the Sandwich Islands in the Third Company of missionaries sent to Hawaii by the ABCFM; after a long and unpleasant journey, the party arrived in Maui in March of 1828. Lorrin Andrews became the assistant to Rev. William Richards at Lāhainā and began teaching.

In 1831, the General Meeting of the ABCFM recognized the need for an institution of higher education to train native teachers and other workers to assist in their missionary efforts, resulting in the establishment of the Lahainaluna Seminary.

The seminary was literally built from the ground up by its founding group of twenty-five scholars and Lorrin Andrews became its first principal. In 1834, Andrews had established a printing operation onsite at Lahainaluna. Ultimately, printing was done in Hale Pa‘i (which still stands today.) Lorrin Andrews is credited as the man most responsible for the development of engraving done at Lahianaluna.

Andrews wrote ‘A Vocabulary of Words in the Hawaiian Language.’ “At a general meeting of the Mission in June, 1834, it was voted, ‘That Mr. Andrews prepare a Vocabulary of the Hawaiian Language.

Andrews left the mission in 1842. He left the mission as a matter of conscience because the board in New England had accepted funds from slave owners. Also, in part, it was due to his concern for education of his children.

“On September 19, 1845, Governor Kekūanāo’a appointed former missionary Lorrin Andrews to be judge of foreign cases. Andrews had taught at the mission school at Lahainaluna and was an accomplished scholar of the Hawaiian language. He was not trained in law but was a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary.”

“His role in the courts was to initiate internal procedural uniformity. He began by issuing a “Lex Forti” containing twenty-one rules of practice. Although there were only three lawyers at this time practicing besides Attorney General John Ricord, who undoubtedly drafted the rules, this was the beginning of the internal regulation of the courts. Andrews handled his duties carefully and quietly and did not become notorious or a subject of diplomatic correspondence.”

Richard Armstrong

Richard Armstrong was with the Fifth Company of missionaries; they arrived on May 17, 1832. Armstrong was stationed for a year at the mission in Marquesas Islands; he then replaced the Reverend Green as pastor of Kaʻahumanu Church (Wailuku) in 1836, supervised the construction of two stone meeting houses one at Haiku, and the other at Wailuku. Reverend Green returned to replace Armstrong in 1840.

Between 1836 and 1842, Kawaiahaʻo Church was constructed. Revered as the Protestant “mother church” and often called “the Westminster Abbey of Hawai‘i” this structure is an outgrowth of the original Mission Church founded in Boston and is the first foreign church on O‘ahu (1820.)

Kawaiahaʻo Church was designed and founded by its first pastor, Hiram Bingham. Bingham left the islands on August 3, 1840 and never saw the completed church. Reverend Richard Armstrong replaced Bingham as pastor of Kawaiahaʻo.

Armstrong was pastor of Kawaiahaʻo Church from 1840 to 1848. In 1848 Armstrong left the mission and became Minister of Public Instruction on June 7, 1848, following the death of William Richards. Armstrong was to serve the government for the remainder of his life. He was a member of the Privy Council and the House of Nobles and acted as the royal chaplain.

He set up the Board of Education under the kingdom in 1855 and was its president until his death. Armstrong is known as the “the father of American education in Hawaiʻi.” The government-sponsored education system in Hawaiʻi is the longest running public school system west of the Mississippi River. To this day, Hawaiʻi is the only state to have a completely-centralized State public school system.

Above text is a summary – Click HERE for more information

Follow Peter T Young on Facebook

Follow Peter T Young on Google+

Follow Peter T Young on LinkedIn

Follow Peter T Young on Blogger

Richards-Judd-Andrews-Armstrong

November 25, 2012 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Education in Hawaiʻi

Before the foreigners arrived, Hawaiians had a vocational learning system, where everyone was taught a certain skill by the kahuna. Skills taught included canoe builder, medicine men, genealogists, navigators, farmers, house builders and priests.

The arrival of the first company of American missionaries in Hawaiʻi in 1820 marked the beginning of Hawaiʻiʻi’s phenomenal rise to literacy. The chiefs became proponents for education and edicts were enacted by the King and the council of chiefs to stimulate the people to reading and writing.

By 1831, in just eleven years from the first arrival of the missionaries, Hawaiians had built 1,103 schoolhouses. This covered every district throughout the eight major islands and serviced an estimated 52,882 students. (Laimana)

The proliferation of schoolhouses was augmented by the printing of 140,000 copies of the pīʻāpā (elementary Hawaiian spelling book) by 1829 and the staffing of the schools with 1,000-plus Hawaiian teachers. (Laimana)

The word pīʻāpā is said to have been derived from the method of teaching Hawaiians to begin the alphabet “b, a, ba.” The Hawaiians pronounced “b” like “p” and said “pī ʻā pā.” (Pukui)

In 1831, Lahainaluna Seminary, started by missionary Lorrin Andrews, was created in Maui to be a school for teachers and preachers so that they could teach on the islands. The islands’ first newspaper, Ka Lama Hawaii, was printed at this school.

Hilo Boarding School opened in 1836, built by missionary David Lyman, a missionary. Eight boys lived there the first year. This school was so successful a girls’ boarding school was created in 1838.

Oʻahu’s first school was called the Chiefs’ Children’s School (Royal School.) The cornerstone of the original school was laid on June 28, 1839 in the area of the old barracks of ʻIolani Palace (at about the site of the present State Capitol of Hawaiʻi.)

The school was created by King Kamehameha III, and at his request was run by missionaries Mr. and Mrs. Amos S. Cooke; the main goal of this school was to groom the next generation of the highest ranking chief’s children of the realm and secure their positions for Hawaiʻi’s Kingdom.

The Chiefs’ Children’s School was unique because for the first time Aliʻi children were brought together in a group to be taught, ostensibly, about the ways of governance. The School also acted as another important unifying force among the ruling elite, instilling in their children common principles, attitudes and values, as well as a shared vision.

Kamehameha III called for a highly-organized educational system; the Constitution of 1840 helped Hawaiʻi public schools become reorganized.

William Richards, a missionary, help start the reorganization, and was later replaced by missionary Richard Armstrong. Richard Armstrong is known as the “the father of American education in Hawaiʻi.”

“Statute for the Regulation of Schools” passed by the King and chiefs on October 15, 1840. Its preamble stated, “The basis on which the Kingdom rests is wisdom and knowledge. Peace and prosperity cannot prevail in the land, unless the people are taught in letters and in that which constitutes prosperity. If the children are not taught, ignorance must be perpetual, and children of the chiefs cannot prosper, nor any other children”.

The creation of the Common Schools (where the 3 Rs were taught) marks the beginning of the government’s involvement in education in Hawaiʻi. At first, the schools were no more than grass huts.

The 1840 educational law mandated compulsory attendance for children ages four to fourteen. Any village that had fifteen or more school-age children was required to provide a school for their students.

Oʻahu College, later named Punahou School, was founded in 1841 on land given to missionary Hiram Bingham by Boki (at the request of Kaʻahumanu.) Bingham gave the land to the mission for the school.

By 1832, the literacy rate of Hawaiians (at the time was 78 percent) had surpassed that of Americans on the continent. The literacy rate of the adult Hawaiian population skyrocketed from near zero in 1820 to a conservative estimate of 91 percent – and perhaps as high as 95 percent – by 1834. (Laimana)

From 1820 to 1832, in which Hawaiian literacy grew by 91 percent, the literacy rate on the US continent grew by only 6 percent and did not exceed the 90 percent level until 1902 – three hundred years after the first settlers landed in Jamestown. By way of comparison, it is significant that overall European literacy rates in 1850 had not risen much above 50 percent. (Laimana)

http://www.facebook.com/peter.t.young.hawaii