On May 5, 1866, the village of Waterloo, New York was decorated with flags at half mast, draped with evergreens and mourning black, and flowers were placed on the graves of those killed in the Civil War. It was later declared as ‘Decoration Day.’
It was not until after World War I, however, that the day was expanded to honor those who have died in all American wars. In 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday by an act of Congress, though it is still often called Decoration Day.
Hawaiian Missions Houses Historic Site and Archives recently produced another Cemetery Pupu Theatre event at Oʻahu Cemetery – Footprints on the Land (directed by William Haʻo.) This production focuses on the scientists, observers and those who impacted the landscape in 19th- and early 20th-century Hawai‘i.
Standing at five different headstones, actors perform a monologue of the lives of the people buried at Oʻahu Cemetery: Annie Alexander (Portrayed by Alicia Rice;) Charles Sheldon Judd (Portrayed by Adam LeFebvre;) Dr. Joseph Rock (Portrayed by Zach Thomas Woods;) John Adams Kuakini Cummins (Portrayed by Moses Goods;) and Cherilla Lillian Lowrey (Portrayed by Karen Valasek.)
Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives presents it’s highly popular Cemetery Pupu Theatre series with a new set of historical characters. These programs are waaay cool. Actors are dressed in period costume, telling the life events of select individuals buried at O‘ahu Cemetery, at their respective grave sites. Each ‘stage’ is at the respective […]
The inscription on a headstone in Oʻahu Cemetery made me curious about her story: “Died in Cheyenne City, Wyoming USA, June 19, 1890.” How did the daughter of a teacher to Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia, niece of the founder of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, wife of a prominent preacher in Honolulu and mother […]
Captain William Sumner was born in 1786 in Northampton, England; he boarded a British vessel as a steward of the captain, and came to Hawaiʻi in 1807. When the ship arrived on Kaua‘i, William Sumner jumped-ship and lived amongst the Hawaiians there. Kaumuali‘i was the king of Kaua‘i at the time, and when he saw […]
