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December 13, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Ka Waʻa O Maui

The Wailuku is the longest river in Hilo (twenty-six miles.) Its course runs from the mountains to the ocean along the divide between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The Wailuku is the boundary between Hilo Palikū in the north and Hilo One on the south.

There are many vague stories as to why the Wailuku River was so named. Wailuku literally means “destroying water.” Legends connected with the Wailuku tend to confirm the belief that it was named for its violent habits.

In olden times before there were bridges and other safeguards, the river wrought considerable damage to property and during the rainy season it took its toll of human lives. (Hapai)

Waiānuenue Avenue (rainbow (seen in) water) is named for the most famous waterfall, Ka Wailele ʻO Waiānuenue, Rainbow Falls on the Wailuku River. The goddess Hina once lived in the cave beneath and behind the waterfall. Maui was her son.

The stories of Maui are common old tales and speak of a real voyager who traveled throughout the islands of the Pacific, a sailor of great renown deified for his deeds; hence, the commonality of the tale.

He raised the islands the same way sailors have always raised islands, by sailing towards it until the land rises from the sea above the horizon. The story of Maui is a tale of discovery. (Kaulukukui)

In many of the accounts Maui is a mischievous trickster, stealing the secret of fire and helping his mother to dry kapa by lassoing the sun to slow its progression across the sky. (Bishop Museum)

It is on the Wailuku River that we still see the evidence of Maui in Hilo – Ka Waʻa O Maui – the Canoe of Maui.

Far above Rainbow Falls, in the bed of the river, dwelt Kuna. The district through which that portion of the river runs bears to this day the name “Waikuna” or “Kuna’s river.” Kuna was a mo’o (lizard, reptile of any kind, dragon, serpent; water spirit.)

Kuna often tormented Hina in her rocky cave behind Rainbow Falls by sending over great torrents of water or by rolling logs and boulders down the stream. Quite often he would block the stream below the falls to dam the river and drown Hina.

But Hina was well protected. Her cave was large and the misty cloud of spray from the falling waters helped to conceal it. So in spite of the frequent floods and many threats from Kuna, Hina paid him little attention.

On many days Hina was alone, while her son, Maui, was away on one of his numerous expeditions. Even then she did not mind this, for should any danger befall her she had a peculiar cloud servant which she called ao-o-pua (a sharp pointed cloud.)

If Hina were in trouble this ao-o-pua would rise high above the falls, taking an unusual shape. When Maui saw this warning cloud he would hurry home at once to his mother’s side.

One night while Maui was away from home on the Island of Maui, where he had gone to bargain with the Sun, a storm arose. The angry waters roared about the mouth of Hina’s cave.

Kuna, aware of the situation, was quick to take advantage of the situation. Calling upon his powers he lifted an immense boulder and hurled it over the cliffs. It fitted perfectly where it fell between the walls of the gorge and blocked the rush of the hurrying torrent.

Hina slept until the cold waters entered the cave, rapidly creeping higher and higher until they reached her where she slept.

Startled, she sprang to her feet, and her cries of panic resounded against the distant hills. Again and again, her voice went out from the cave. It pierced through the storms and the clouds. It swept along the side of the great mountain. It crossed the channel between the islands of Hawaii and Maui.

Ao-o-pua rose swiftly above the falls when Hina cried for aid and then, assuming a peculiar shape, stood high above the hills that Maui might see it.

Through the darkness Maui could see the strange warning cloud, unusually large and mysterious. With his mother’s cries ringing in his ears he bounded down the mountain to his canoe. Pushing it into the sea, with two mighty strokes of his paddle, he crossed the sea to the mouth of the Wailuku river.

A long, narrow rock in the river, called Ka Waʻa O Maui (The Canoe of Maui), is still just where he ran it aground at the foot of the rapids.

Leaving his canoe, Maui seized the magic club with which he had conquered the sun after lassoing him, and rushed along the dry bed of the river to the place of danger. Swinging the club swiftly around his head, lie struck the dam holding back the water of the rapidly-rising river.

“Ah! Nothing can withstand the magic club. The bank around one end of the dam gives way. The imprisoned waters leap into the new channel. Safe is Hina the goddess.”

Hearing the crash of the club and realizing his attempt on the life of Hina had again failed, Kuna turned and fled up the river. Maui rushed up the river to punish Kuna for the trouble he had caused Hina.

Kuna fled to his different hiding places, but Maui broke up the river bed and drove the dragon out from every one, following him from place to place as he fled down the river.

At last Kuna found what seemed to be a safe hiding place in a series of deep pools, but Maui poured a lava flow into the river. He threw red-hot burning stones into the water until the pools were boiling and the steam was rising in clouds. Kuna uttered incantation after incantation, but the water scalded and burned him.

Dragon as he was, his hard, tough skin was of no avail. The pain was becoming unbearable. With cries to his gods he leaped from the pools and fled down the river. The waters of the pools are no longer scalding, but have never lost the tumbling, tossing, foaming, boiling swirl – today this area is known as ‘The Boiling Pots.’

With joy at the sight of Kuna’s body hurled over the falls, they eagerly watched the dragon as the swift waters swept him against the dam with which he had hoped to destroy Hina. Maui had saved Hina.

Across Polynesia, almost every group has its own versions of the tales of Maui, including Maui’s canoe. For instance, Maori note “Te Waka-a-Maui” (“the Canoe of Maui”) as an ancient name for the South Island of New Zealand.

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December 12, 2015 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

John Kendrick

Sea Captain John Kendrick fought in the French and Indian Wars in 1762, threw tea overboard in the Boston Tea Party in 1773, and was in charge of the Fanny, one of the United States’ first ships, during the Revolutionary War.

He survived all that, and was later killed on December 12, 1794 in a 13-canon saluting round in Fair Haven (now known as Honolulu Harbor.) (Lytle)

Let’s look back …

Kendrick was born in 1740 on a small hilly farm in East Harwich, Cape Cod, the third of seven children of Solomon Kendrick and Elizabeth Atkins.

Kendrick’s grandfather, Edward Kendrick, had arrived in Harwich around 1700 and married Elizabeth Snow, the granddaughter of Nicholas Snow, a holder of extensive lands and one of the ‘old-comers’ from Plymouth who first settled the Cape.

Kendrick’s father, Solomon, born sometime during the winter of 1705, was master of a whaling vessel who was famous in local lore. He followed his father and went to sea by the time he was fourteen. By his late-teens, he was crewing on local sailing vessels.

“John Kendrick came of age in the defiant atmosphere of the coffeehouses and taverns of Boston. Here, he was in the midst of the firestorm of opposition to the Parliament’s Stamp Act of 1765 and the hated Townshend Acts, which usurped local authority and levied an array of onerous taxes.”

“As strife increased on the waterfront, he may have been involved in the widespread boycott of British goods and the burning of Boston’s customs house, or riots over seizure and impressment of American sailors for British ships.”

“(O)n the rainy night of December 16, 1773, John Kendrick was part of the legendary band that boarded two East India Company ships at Griffin’s Wharf in Boston and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor. Thumbing his nose at the British shortly after, he is said to have been master of the brig Undutied Tea.”

He fought in the American Revolutionary War and at its outbreak, he smuggled powder and arms from the Caribbean with the sloop Fanny, whose owners were under contract with a secret committee of the Continental Congress and later captured a couple ships, which helped to precipitate the entry of France into the war.

“Shortly before the British surrendered at Yorktown in 1781, Kendrick came ashore. In his sporadic visits home he had managed to father six children, and now he buckled down to making his way in the new nation.”

“After the victorious Revolution and the euphoria of the Peace Treaty of 1783, an economic depression had settled over villages and farms. Port cities and their harbors were left reeling from the war. Inflation was rampant.”

“There was no common currency, state governments were weak, and representatives to the Congress of the Confederation bickered over fundamental issues, threatening to secede.”

“Heavy debts owed to Britain for damages in the war were due, and the prospects for international trade and revenue were bleak. In a punching move, the king had closed all British ports from Canada and the British Isles to the Caribbean to the remaining American ships.”

Without trade, without customs revenue, without taxes, it would be impossible to support a new central government and succeed in securing independence.

Shipping was the soul of early commerce; the Pacific voyages of James Cook revealed the high prices sea otter furs from the Northwest Coast would bring in China.

That took Kendrick and his crew to the Pacific, where they traded with the local population and explored the northwest of the American continent. They eventually (January 1790) went to China to trade the Northwest furs and eventually made it to Japan, arriving on May 6, 1791, probably becoming the first official Americans to meet the Japanese.

On December 3, 1794, Kendrick arrived in Fair Haven (Honolulu) Hawaiʻi aboard the Lady Washington; a war was waging between Kalanikupule and his half-brother Kaʻeokulani (Kaʻeo.)

Also in Honolulu were Captain William Brown (the first credited with entering Honolulu Harbor) in general command of the Jackall and the Prince Lee Boo, Captain Gordon.

At the death of Kahekili in 1793, Kaʻeo became ruling chief of Maui, Molokai and Lānaʻi. Kalanikupule was ruler of Oʻahu. Homesick for his friends, Kaʻeo set out to return to Kauai by way of Waialua and then to Waimea. He learned of a conspiracy to kill him. (Kamakau)

Captain Brown of the Jackall helped Kalanikupule. While Kaʻeo was successful after some initial skirmishes. A great battle was fought in the area between Kalauao and ‘Aiea in ‘Ewa. Kalanikupule’s forces surrounded Kaʻeo. (Cultural Surveys) The ship’s men successfully aided in the defense and Kaʻeo was defeated.

To celebrate the victory, on December 12, 1794, Kendrick’s brig fired a thirteen-gun salute in celebration the British ship of Captain Brown.

The tradition of rendering a salute by cannon originated in the 14th century as firearms and cannons came into use. Since these early devices contained only one projectile, discharging them rendered them harmless.

Initially, the tradition began as a custom among ships, whose captains had volleys fired upon entering a friendly port to release its arsenal, which demonstrated their peaceful intentions (by placing their weapons in a position that rendered them ineffective.)

Following Kendrick’s salute, Brown answered with a round of fire.

Unfortunately, through an oversight, one of the saluting guns on the Jackall was loaded with round and grape shot, and this shot passed through the side of the Lady Washington, killing Captain Kendrick and several of his crew. (Kuykendall) (Lots of information here is from Ridley; Daughters of the American Revolution)

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Captain John Kendrick

December 11, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Lot Kamehameha

“Use no deception.
Be always pleasant and cheerful.
Try to make your teachers
and all around you happy.
Have a place for everything
and everything in its place.”
(His New Year’s Resolution at age 12)

He died on his 42nd birthday (December 11, 1830 – December 11, 1872.) He was given the Christian name Lot and the Hawaiian name Kapuāiwa, which means ‘mysterious kapu’ (taboo) or ‘the sacred one protected by supernatural powers.’ His full name was Lot Kapuāiwa Kalanimakua Aliʻiolani Kalani Kapuapaikalaninui. (ksbe)

His mother was Kīnaʻu, a daughter of Kamehameha I (she became the Kuhina nui, in 1832.) His father was Mataio Kekūanāoʻa, a descendent of the Chiefs of the Island of Oʻahu (he was governor of Oʻahu, as well as a member of the House of Nobles and the Privy Council.)

Lot was most often called Lot Kamehameha and that is how he signed his letters and other writings. (ksbe) He had three brothers and a sister.

They were, David Kamehameha, who was three years older; Moses Kekūāiwa, who was two years older; Alexander Liholiho, the future Kamehameha IV, who was four years younger, and Victoria Kamāmalu, the youngest of the children. (David died in 1835 at the age of seven. Moses was nineteen years old when he died in 1848.) (ksbe)

Lot Kapuāiwa was hānai to Chief Hoapili of Lahaina and Princess Nahiʻenaʻena (daughter of Kamehameha I and Keōpūolani; she was sister to Liholiho and Kauikeaouli (they were later Kamehameha II and III.))

At age 9, he entered the Chiefs’ Children’s School. The aliʻi wanted their children trained in Western, as well as Hawaiian traditions and Kamehameha III asked missionaries Amos and Juliette Cooke to teach the young royals; in 1848, at age 18, he ended his schooling there to work for the government.

Lot went to work in Honolulu Hale, a government office building on Merchant Street. There he kept record books and wrote or copied documents. Because he knew both English and Hawaiian he also translated government papers. (ksbe)

From the time they were children Lot and Pauahi were expected to marry each other. This had been planned by their parents. It had traditionally been the custom for chiefs to choose suitable mates for their aliʻi children.

When Pauahi was about sixteen years old, however, she fell in love with Charles Reed Bishop. Her parents, Konia and Paki, were not happy at the thought of her marrying a foreigner. Pauahi was not happy at the thought of marrying Lot. (ksbe)

In 1849, Lot and Alexander Liholiho (his brother) began their year-long trip to the United States and Europe. They returned to Hawaiʻi in September 1850, three months after Pauahi’s marriage to Mr. Bishop. Lot never married.

The brothers’ training as leaders continued. Kamehameha III saw to it that they had suitable work in government positions. Nineteen-year-old Lot was appointed a member of the House of Nobles.

It was much like being a senator in Hawaiʻi’s legislature today. Lot was also made general of a division in the Hawaiian kingdom’s army. (ksbe)

Kamehameha III died in 1854. Alexander Liholiho, his hānai son and chosen heir to the throne, became Kamehameha IV; Lot served as the Minister of Interior.

Kamehameha IV ruled for nine years. Lot ascended to the throne as Kamehameha V on November 30, 1863, on the death of his brother.

“He was a master in the beginning, & at the middle, & to the end. The Parliament was the “figure-head,” & it never was much else in his time. … He hated Parliaments, as being a rasping & useless incumbrance upon a king, but he allowed them to exist because as an obstruction they were more ornamental than rival.” (Twain)

“He surrounded himself with an obsequious royal Cabinet of American & other foreigners, & he dictated his measures to them &, through them, to his Parliament; & the latter institution opposed them respectfully, not to say apologetically, & passed them.” (Twain)

Kamehameha V modeled his leadership after that of his grandfather, Kamehameha I, believing that it was the right and duty of the chiefs to lead the common people. He refused to support the Constitution of 1852. By supporting the controversial Constitution of 1864, he expected to regain some of the powers lost by previous kings. (ksbe)

“He was not a fool. He was a wise sovereign; he had seen something of the world; he was educated & accomplished, & he tried hard to do well for his people, & succeeded. There was no rival nonsense about him; he dressed plainly, poked about Honolulu, night or day, on his old horse, unattended; he was popular, greatly respected, & even beloved.” (Twain)

In 1865, a bill to repeal the law making it a penal offense to sell or give intoxicating liquor to native Hawaiians was brought before the legislature. Strongly supported by some, Kamehameha surprised the supporters saying, “I will never sign the death warrant of my people.” The measure was defeated in the second reading. (Alexander)

Kamehameha V founded the Royal Order of Kamehameha on April 11, 1865 in commemoration of his grandfather, Kamehameha I. The stated purpose of the order was “to cultivate and develop, among our subjects, the feelings of honour and loyalty to our dynasty and its institutions ….” (Royal Order)

Hansen’s Disease was rapidly spreading on Oʻahu. The legislature passed “An Act to Prevent the Spread of Leprosy” in 1865, which King Kamehameha V approved – it called for the isolation and seclusion of leprous persons. The first shipment of lepers landed at Kalaupapa January 6, 1866, the beginning of segregation and banishment of lepers to the leper settlement.

The Kamehameha V Post Office (built in 1871, one of the oldest remaining public buildings in Hawaiʻi, and so named because it was built at the direction of Kamehameha V) was the first post office building in Hawaiʻi. (NPS) On February 19, 1872, Kamehameha V laid the cornerstone for Aliʻiolani Hale (now home to the Hawaiʻi Supreme Court.)

December 11, Lot Kapuāiwa celebrated the first Kamehameha Day in 1871 as a day to honor his grandfather; the first celebration fell on Lot’s birthday.

Because the weather was better in the summer, the decision was made to move the Kamehameha I celebration six months from the King Kamehameha V’s birthday (so it was moved to June 11 – the date has no direct significance to Kamehameha I.) The 1896 legislature declared it a national holiday. (Kamehameha Day continues to be celebrated on June 11.)

“On the 10th (of December, 1872,) (Liliʻuokalani and her husband) were summoned to the palace to attend the dying monarch; one by one other chiefs of the Hawaiian people, with a few of their trusted retainers, also arrived to be present at the final scene;…”

“… we spent that night watching in silence near the king’s bedside. The disease was pronounced by the medical men to be dropsy on the chest (hydrothorax, accumulation of fluid in the chest.”) (Liliʻuokalani)

“Although nearing the end, the mind of the king was still clear; and his thoughts, like our own, were evidently on the selection of a future ruler for the island kingdom …”

“… turning to Mrs. Bishop, he asked her to assume the reins of government and become queen at his death.” She declined. “… he relapsed into unconsciousness, and passed away without having named his successor to the throne.” (Liliʻuokalani) (Lunalilo was shortly after elected King of Hawaiʻi.)

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Princes Alexander Iolani Liholiho Keawenu (Kamehameha IV) and Lot Kapuaiwa (Kamehameha V) with Dr. Gerrit P Judd (center)-(nih-gov)

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Merchant street looking toward Waikiki. Kamehameha V Post Office in left foreground, right rear Bishop Bank-1885

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Kamehameha Hall in Hilo, meeting house of the Royal Order of King Kamehameha

December 10, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Watershed Partnerships

I have often said these are one of Hawai‘i’s best untold stories.

Let’s look back …

Hawaiʻi’s native forests evolved over millions of years to become one of the most remarkable natural assemblages on Earth. Yet since the onset of human arrival, about 1,000-years ago, their history has largely been one of loss and destruction.

The worst damage occurred during the 19th century, when cattle and other introduced livestock were allowed to multiply and range unchecked throughout the Islands, laying waste to hundreds of thousands of acres of native forest.

The situation became so dire that the captains of government and industry realized that if the destruction continued there would be no water for growing sugarcane, the Islands’ emerging economic mainstay. (TNC)

On May 13, 1903, the Territory of Hawaiʻi, with the backing of the Hawaiʻi Sugar Planters’ Association, established the Board of Commissioners of Agriculture and Forestry. (HDOA)

That year, the Territorial Legislature created Hawaiʻi’s forest reserve system, ushering in a new era of massive public-private investment in forest restoration.

With Hawai‘i’s increase in population, expanding ranching industry, and extensive agricultural production of sugarcane and later pineapple, early territorial foresters recognized the need to protect mauka (upland) forests to provide the necessary water requirements for the lowland agriculture demands and surrounding communities. (DOFAW)

After more than a century of massive forest loss and destruction, the Territory of Hawai‘i acknowledged that preservation of the forest was vital to the future economic prosperity of the Islands.

While forest reserves were important watersheds, their boundaries were drawn “so as not to interfere with revenue-producing lands,” and such lands were not generally thought to be useful for agriculture. (hawaii-edu)

Forest reserves were useful for two primary purposes: water production for the Territory’s agricultural industries, and timber production to meet the growing demand for wood products. The forest reserve system should not lead to “the locking up from economic use of a certain forest area.” (Hosmer)

Even in critical watersheds the harvesting of old trees “is a positive advantage, in that it gives the young trees a chance to grow, while at the same time producing a profit from the forests.” (LRB)

Forest Reserves are commonly known and were critical steps forward in protecting our mauka resources. But, while they are the foundation of the focus of this summary, it is what happened 100-years later, and that continue today, that folks should also be aware of … Watershed Partnerships.

Watershed Partnerships are voluntary alliances of private and public landowners and others working collaboratively with common goals of conservation, preservation and management of Hawai‘i’s precious natural and cultural resources to protect forested watersheds for water recharge, conservation and other ecosystem services.

The first Watershed Partnership was formed in 1991 on East Maui when several public and private landowners realized the benefits of working together to ensure the conservation of a shared watershed that provided billions of gallons of fresh water to the area.

In the following years six more watershed partnerships formed including, Koʻolau Mountains Watershed Partnership, East Molokai Watershed Partnership, West Maui Mountains Watershed Partnership, Lanaʻi Forest and Watershed Partnership, The Kauai Watershed Alliance, Kohala Watershed Partnership. The success of these partnerships highlighted the need to address watershed issues statewide.

One of the first forestry-related actions I worked on while I was Chair of DLNR related to Watershed Partnerships. We worked to get the independent Watershed Partnerships into a cooperative association.

On April 24, 2003, the 100th-anniversary of Hawaiʻi’s Forest Reserve System, Governor Linda Lingle and the seven existing watershed partnerships signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) formally recognizing the State’s dedication to watershed protection and established the Hawai`i Association of Watershed Partnerships.

Four additional watershed partnerships, Leeward Haleakalā Watershed Restoration Partnership, Three Mountain Alliance, Waiʻanae Mountains Watershed Partnership and Mauna Kea Watershed Alliance have since been established. (HAWP)

Most management actions “blur” boundary lines (they are habitat, rather than ownership, based) and revolve around combating the main threats to forests: feral animals (such as goats, deer, sheep, pigs, etc) and invasive species.

Actions include fencing and animal removal, invasive species control, rare plant outplanting and native habitat restoration, and outreach and education.

These management actions make a critical difference by benefitting native forests, watersheds, coastal and coral reef areas by reducing erosion and sedimentation run-off into streams.

Together, eleven separate partnerships involve approximately 75 private landowners and public agencies that cover nearly 2-million acres of land in the state (about half the land area of the state.) There is no model like it with respect to watershed management breadth, scope and success.

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Native forest, Alakai Plateau, Kauai

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Aerial of Olokele Valley, Kauai

Iliiliula north falls with ohia lehua blossom in foreground, Kauai

Iliiliula North Falls, Kauai

Laau ridge, Alakai region, Kauai

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Native landscape,Alakai Plateau, Kauai

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December 9, 2015 by Peter T Young 4 Comments

Carlotta

In 1898, Carlotta Stewart, at eighteen years of age, came to Hawai‘i with her father (probably at his urging,) to continue her education and to begin planning her future. (Guttman)

The third child of Thomas McCants Stewart and Charlotte Pearl Harris, Carlotta was born in 1881 in Brooklyn, New York, where she attended public schools during her formative years.

Although her father had spent several years in Liberia, Africa, Carlotta had never traveled outside of the continental United States before coming to Hawai‘i.

Her father – a noted black lawyer, civil rights leader and friend of Booker T Washington – was the first African American to be admitted to practice law in Hawaiʻi (1898.) (jtb-org)

She attended Oʻahu College (Punahou,) where she played on the girls’ basketball team. After she graduated from there, she continued with basketball, playing for the YWCA and serving as timekeeper for the local games.

Her brothers McCants and Gilchrist had attended Tuskegee Institute, the Southern vocational school established by Booker T
Washington (1881,) Carlotta lived with her father following a bitter divorce from his first wife. (Broussard)

She graduated from Oʻahu College in 1902, one of eight members in the senior class. The course of study there included classes in philosophy, religion, English, Latin, Greek, French or German, history, economics, mathematics and science.

After graduation, Carlotta completed the requirements for a Normal School certificate (later known as the Teachers’ College,) which she received in 1902, and she promptly accepted a teaching position in the Practice Department of the Normal School.

She had converted to Catholicism during the early-1900s, despite the fact that her father was an ordained minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and that she visited the Priory (an Episcopal school) often as a young teacher to pray, study and dine with other females. (Broussard)

Stewart remained at the Normal School for several years, where she taught English; she is listed in the Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction to the Governor of the Territory of Hawaii between 1902 and 1924.

Her father and stepmother left the Islands in 1905; Carlotta later noted “Sometimes I get quite blue not having a single relative in the Islands. … I soon get over it, for I have such good friends. I want for nothing.”

In 1906, in addition to teaching, she was busy with classes, vacations, camping, surfing and frequent parties. “We took in two dances a week at the Seaside Hotel and played cards at home the other evenings or made up moonlight bathing parties.” (Stewart; Broussard)

In 1909, Carlota was noted as a teacher assigned to Koʻolau Elementary School (Kauai,) a later newspaper story noted that she was identified as principal there. “This school (is) situated on the government road near the north side of Moloa‘a Valley, between Anahola and Kilauea”.

Initially, total enrollment for the school was 61, average attendance 59; Japanese 31, Part Hawaiian 19, Hawaiian 7 and Portuguese 4.

“The majority of the children here come from the homes of the small tillers of the soil in the Moloa‘a Valley and thereabouts, especially the rice fields of the Japanese and the kuleanas of the Hawaiians.” (Evening Bulletin, October 14, 1909)

Her rapid advancement in the space of seven years was an impressive achievement, although many black women had established teaching careers and a handful were school administrators by 1909, it was unusual for a black woman at the age of 28 to serve as principal of a multi-racial school.

This achievement was particularly striking in a society in which few black people lived and, therefore, had no political influence to request a job of this magnitude. Her pupils reflected a true cross section of Hawaii’s school-aged population, which grew rapidly between 1900 and 1940.

Conditions were neither difficult nor racially oppressive for a black professional woman, in Hawai‘i, there was no substantial black community before World War II, and Carlotta saw few black people either in classrooms or outside.

Most of her socializing took place in groups, relieving her of the pressure to find a companion with a comparable racial and social background.

She met and married her husband, Yun Tim Lai of Chinese ancestry at Anahola. He was sales manager of the Garden Island Motors, Ltd, an automobile dealership in Lihue, when the couple wed in 1916. (The 19-year marriage ended, however, in 1935, when Lai died suddenly in Hong Kong while visiting his parents.) (Broussard)

Carlotta Stewart Lai never remarried but remained in Hawai’i for the next 17 years, serving as principal and English teacher until her retirement in 1944.

By 1951 Lai’s health grew increasingly more fragile, and, unable to provide for herself without fear of bodily injury, she entered the Manoa Convalescent Home in 1952 and died there on July 6, 1952.

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