Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Spring Forward

In Hawaiʻi’s prior subsistence society, the family farming scale was far different from today’s commercial-purpose agriculture. In ancient time, when families farmed for themselves they observed and adapted; products were produced based on need and season.

Hawaiians divided the year into two seasons – Kau (Summer – when it was dry and hot; beginning in May when Makaliʻi (Pleiades) set at sunrise;) and Hoʻoilo (Winter season when it was rainy and chilly; beginning in October.)

Months were measured not by the number of days, but were based on the phases of the moon – each beginning with the appearance of a new moon and lasting until the appearance of the next new moon.

When the stars fade away and disappear it is ao, daylight, and when the sun rises day has come, it is called la; and when the sun becomes warm, morning is past. When the sun is directly overhead it is awakea, noon; and when the sun inclines to the west in the afternoon the expression is ua aui ka la.

After that comes evening, called ahi-ahi (ahi is fire) and then sunset, napoʻo ka lā, and then comes pō, the night, and the stars shine out. (Malo)

“The days are divided … not into hours but into parts: sunrise, noon, sunset; the time between sunrise and noon is split into two, as is the time between noon and sunset.” (Lisiansky; Schmitt)

It wasn’t until the Westerners arrived that clocks and watches were used to measure passage of time during the day.

However, shortly after contact, there wasn’t always agreement about what time or date it actually was … time-keeping practices varied in the 18th century, depending on circumstances.

Noon marked the beginning of the day in astronomical reckoning, the middle of the day in civil reckoning, and the end of the day in nautical reckoning. Logs were kept on ship’s time but on entering a harbor reverted to civil time.

In addition, determining dates was not always consistent … folks travelling across the Pacific west to east may have differing dates that those travelling east to west. The International Date Line (generally on the 180th meridian) marks changes in days – but some early travelers didn’t make the adjustment.

To further confuse the issue, “The date line as originally drawn had a kink to the westward of the Hawaiian Islands to include Morrell and Byers islands which appeared on nineteenth-century charts at the western end of the Hawaiian chain. It was then proved that they did not exist, so the date line was straightened out.” (Howse)

In the 1880s, changes were being made in timekeeping practices. Several large nations still recognized prime meridians other than the one through Greenwich, and some continued to differ on the definition of a “day.”

In 1883, the US railroad industry divided the continental US into five (later four) time zones, establishing official time zones with a set standard time within each zone. (National Geographic)

The civil population nevertheless adopted ‘Railroad Time’ almost spontaneously; 85% of US towns of over ten-thousand inhabitants had done so by October 1884. However, it was not until 1918 that an Act of Congress set standard time all over the US. (Howse)

Hawaiʻi did not adopt standard time until 1896, with various notices published in the papers: “Hawaiian standard time will be ten and one-half hours slow of Greenwich. The half hour is chosen for the reason that the Hawaiian group, while limited in area, is almost centrally on the line between the ten-hour and eleven-hour belt, and the inconvenience of a wide difference between standard and local time is thus avoided.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 9, 1896)

“The meridian adopted, 157 deg 30 min, is not far from central to the group. The Kauai people will be expected to set their local time ahead 8-minutes and Niihau 10-minutes; the Maui people will set back local time on an average four minutes. The Hilo people, if they fall into line, will set back ten minutes, and Kona from 7 to 8 minutes.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, January 9, 1896)

The 1918 act of Congress also provided for nationwide daylight saving time from March through October.

It hit the islands, as well, “Daylight saving plan was again agitated for these islands the early part of this year, and, in April, on official orders from Washington, the navy department here set their clocks forward an hour, but it did not last long. Cutting a foot off the end of Pat’s blanket to add to its head was found to give no greater length or warmth.” (Thrum)

In 1933, the Hawaiʻi Legislature decreed daylight saving for the period between the last Sunday of each April and last Sunday of each September, but less than a month later repealed the act.

WWII brought daylight saving back to the Islands. Year-round daylight saving time, one hour ahead of Hawaiian Standard Time, was established in the Territory during World War II by General Order No. 66 of the military governor, taking effect on February 9, 1942. The new time became known as “Hawaiian War Time.”

In 1947, the Territorial Legislature permanently returned to the pre-war standard time – however, they also advanced Hawaiian Standard Time by 30 minutes, making it 10 (instead of 10-1/2) hours slower than Greenwich Mean Time, and thus two hours (not 2½) behind Pacific Standard Time. This change became effective the second Sunday of June, 1947. (Schmitt & Cox)

Later, the federal Uniform Time Act of 1966 was enacted (April 13, 1966) “to promote the adoption and observance of uniform time within the standard time zones” (called for in the 1819 law.) It sought to simplify the official pattern of where and when daylight saving time is applied across US. States/territories could opt out; the 1967 Hawaiʻi Legislature voted to exempt the Islands.

In 2005, Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005, effective starting in 2007, that declared daylight saving time starts on the second Sunday in March (‘spring forward’) and ends on the first Sunday in November (‘fall back’,) with the time changes taking place at 2 am local time.

So, today daylight saving time begins in most of the continental US; Hawaiʻi, Arizona (except for the Navajo Nation, which does observe daylight saving time,) Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and the US Virgin Islands do not observe daylight saving time.

Since Hawaii does not, we will have the new time differences with most of the continent:
• 3-hours for Pacific
• 4-hours for Mountain
• 5-hours for Central
• 6-hours for Eastern

The image shows Ohio Clock in the US Capitol being turned forward for the country’s first daylight saving time in 1918.

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by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Hawaiʻi Preparatory Academy

Marines and Sailors trained for what has been referred to as the toughest marine offensive of WWII. 1,300 miles northeast of Guadalcanal, the Japanese had constructed a centralized stronghold force in a 20-island group called Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands.

The Marines would reconstitute at Camp Tarawa at Waimea, on the Island of Hawaiʻi.  Originally an Army camp named Camp Waimea, when the population in town was about 400, it became the largest Marine training facility in the Pacific following the battle of Tarawa.

Huge tent cities were built on Parker Ranch land; the public school and the hotel across the road from it were turned into a 400-bed hospital. At first the school children attended classes in garages and on lanais, but by fall of 1944, Waimea School was housed in new buildings built by Seabees on the property behind St. James’ church.

Over 50,000-servicemen trained there between 1942 and 1945; it closed in November 1945. The new roads, reservoirs and buildings were left to the town. The public school children returned to Waimea School, and the buildings behind St. James’ stood empty … but not for long.

At the end of World War II, the Right Reverend Harry S Kennedy arrived. He was a builder of congregations and of schools, and when he saw the empty buildings at St. James’, he immediately saw possibilities.

March 12, 1949, Bishop Kennedy and a group of local businessmen turned the buildings into a church-sponsored boarding school for boys, Hawaiʻi Episcopal Academy.  The Episcopal priest was both headmaster of the school and vicar of St. James’ Mission.

The early school struggled with facilities and financing. A turning point came in 1954, when James Monroe Taylor left Choate School in Connecticut to become HPA headmaster.

Three years later, substantial financial pledges came in and the church surrendered its direction to a new governing board. The school was then independently incorporated and the name changed to Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy.

In January 1958, the board of governors purchased 55-acres of land in the foothills mauka of the Kawaihae-Kohala junction and announced plans to build a campus there. Within a year, two dorms opened on the new campus and another was cut and moved from the town campus.

Old Air Force buses driven by faculty members made daily runs between the new campus, where boarders ate and slept, and the old campus, where classes were held. The last class to graduate on the town campus was the Class of 1959.

Honolulu architect Vladimir N Ossipoff was retained to design the campus buildings – five classroom buildings, two residence halls, a chapel, a library, an administration building and a dining commons.

In 1976, HPA acquired the buildings of the former Waimea Village Inn in town. Growing out of the “Little School” founded in 1958 by Mrs T to accommodate children of HPA faculty in the lower grades, the Village Campus today houses HPA’s Lower and Middle Schools, encompassing kindergarten through eighth grade.

In the 1980s, 30-acres of Parker Ranch land were added to the Upper Campus. Besides the Village Campus, the school added the Institute for English Studies and a campus in Kailua-Kona for grades K-5. (The Kona campus became the independent Hualālai Academy, but it closed effective May 30, 2014.)

Building projects expanding the HPA facilities included Atherton House, the headmaster’s residence, Gates Performing Arts Center, Dowsett Pool, Gerry Clark Art Center, Davenport Music Center, Kō Kākou Student Union, faculty housing and the Energy Lab.

Starting with five boarding students in a World War II building, today, there are 600 students (approximate annual enrollment) – 200 in Lower and Middle Schools (100% day students) – 400 in Upper School (50% day, 50% boarding) ; Boarding students: 60% U.S., 40% international.

HPA is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and is a member of 12 educational organizations including the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, College Entrance Examination Board, Council for Spiritual and Ethical Education, Cum Laude Society, National Association of College Admission Counselors, Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, and National Association of Independent Schools.  (Information here from HPA and St James.)

I am one of the fortunate boys-turned-to-young-men under the leadership and guidance of headmaster Jim Taylor.

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by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Kauikeōlani

A person, a place, a hospital … it’s all about a family.

Emma Kauikeōlani Napoleon was the eldest of the fifteen children born to Pamahoa and Temanihi Napoleon; she was of Hawaiian, Corsican and Tahitian descent.

They lived in downtown Honolulu, on Queen Street near Kawaiahaʻo Church; she was a teacher at Kawaiahaʻo Seminary.

Emma lived during the time of transition in Hawaiʻi’s history when the Americanization of Hawaiʻi had replaced the Hawaiʻi of high chiefs.  Growing up during the early part of this period, Emma was one of many exemplary women of her time who strove to bridge the gap between the old and the new.

While protecting her heritage, she followed her convictions to improve the quality of life for all people in Hawaiʻi.  (Notable Women of Hawaii)

On June 2, 1882, Emma married Samuel Mahelona.  Born July 7, 1861, Samuel passed away on May 24, 1892 at age of thirty-one.  As noted in ‘The Friend,’ June, 1892, “The very sudden death of Mr. Samuel Mahelona has removed the head of a beloved Hawaiian household. Mr. M. had for some years been a book-keeper with Allen & Robinson, and was a gentleman of the highest character, and a consistent member, with his wife, of Kawaiahaʻo Church.”

“Mrs. Mahelona, prior to their marriage nine years since, had been greatly valued as an assistant teacher in Kawaiahaʻo Female Seminary, as Miss Emma Napoleon. The example of this refined Christian home of their own people has been one of most important service and encouragement to Hawaiians, and makes the death of this young father a public as well as private loss.”

Their four children were Samuel Hooker Kaleoʻokalani Mahelona (1884 – October 20, 1912;) Ethel Kulamanu Mahelona (February 2, 1887 – September 19, 1954;) Sunbeam Cushman Nehenuiokalani Mahelona (April 14, 1888 – August 16, 1889) and Allen Clesson Kauluheimalama Mahelona (1891 – unknown.)  

On June 7, 1898, Emma married Albert Spencer Wilcox (May 24, 1844-July 7, 1919.) (Albert adopted Emma’s children.)  Albert is the son Abner Wilcox (1808-1869) and Lucy Eliza (Hart) Wilcox (1814-1869;) they were in the eighth company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi for the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.)

Albert was born in Hilo on Hawai‘i Island and grew up at Waiʻoli in Hanalei, Kaua‘i.  He worked with his brother George Norton Wilcox (1839-1933) in a sugarcane business in Hanalei, before working as the manager of Hanamāʻulu Plantation; for many years (1877-1898) he managed that section of Līhuʻe plantation.

In 1892, Albert purchased an interest in the Princeville Plantation, and by 1899 had complete ownership; he sold the Princeville lands in June of 1916.

Albert served as president of C Brewer and sat as a director on the boards of Kekaha Sugar Company, Waiʻanae Sugar Company, the Home Insurance Company and the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company. In addition, he served as a member of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi’s House of Representatives for two years (1891-1892.)

In 1899, they built their home on Hanalei Bay.  Albert and Emma named their Hanalei home after Emma’s namesake, Kauikeōlani, which means “place in the skies (of) heaven.”  (The house is also referenced as the Albert Spencer Wilcox Beach House – it’s on the State and National Register of Historic Places.)

It is the earliest known beach house to be constructed on Hanalei Bay.  In the early twentieth century, other substantial beach houses were constructed by Mabel Wilcox, Dr. Harl, the Baldwins, Fayes, Sloggetts and Sanborns.

Kauikeōlani sits on a large landscaped lawn of land on the mauka (mountain) side of Weke Road; it has two inland fish ponds.

The deaths of five of her siblings at early ages greatly influenced Emma’s concern for the welfare of all native Hawaiians.  Albert and Emma Wilcox purchased land and built a hospital in Honolulu; in 1909, the Kauikeōlani Children’s Hospital opened on Kuakini Street and was named in Emma’s honor (one of the few hospitals in the world at that time that was dedicated to treating children.)

“Nearly every child In Kauikeōlani hospital today is a charity ward. It is essentially a charity hospital. No babe in distress is turned from its door. If the parents can afford it, they must pay, but lack of fund keeps no baby away.”

“So good are the environments, the care and the treatment given, that many wealthy parents send their ailing children to private wards in this hospital. … Although all nationalities are welcome at Kauikeōlani … the Hawaiian and part-Hawaiian children predominate.”  (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, May 30, 1916)

In 1978, Kauikeōlani Children’s Hospital merged with Kapiʻolani Hospital and relocated to become Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children.  (Queen Kapiʻolani founded the Kapiʻolani Maternity Home in 1890.)

(The Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific (which first started as a department of the Kauikeolani Children’s Hospital) is now on the grounds of the former Kauikeolani Children’s Hospital.)

Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women & Children is Hawai‘i’s only maternity, newborn and pediatric specialty hospital; it’s in a $30-million fundraising program for its first phase to renovate and expand its facility.

This was not the only medical facility the Wilcox family founded.  Son Samuel Mahelona died of tuberculosis at a young age.  As a memorial to his son, in 1917, Wilcox (with others from the Wilcox family) provided land and funds for the Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital at Kapaʻa, Kauaʻi, for the treatment of tuberculosis (one of the first hospitals on Kauaʻi.)

Over the years, the hospital was enlarged to accommodate increasing numbers of patients and services.  When antibiotics established the cure of tuberculosis, in the early-1950s and 60s, the facility began focusing on long term care needs and began admitting patients with acute mental illness.  It provides 24-hour Emergency Services, Imaging (Digital Xray), Rehabilitation Therapies (Occupational, Physical, Respiratory and Recreational,) Skilled Nursing, Intermediate, Long Term and Acute Care.

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

“Build me a house like that”

Princess Ruth wrote to Lot Kamehameha and asked that he “fence the lot at Kaakopua with boards and to put up a gate large enough for carriages to enter”, as well as “furnish lumber for a house”.  (Zambucka)

“The two storied wooden frame residence of Emma St. of Princess Ruth was destroyed by fire during the absence in Hawaiʻi.  A valuable wardrobe, mementos of chief families, jewelry etc. was lost.”  (Honolulu Advertiser, October 18, 1873; Zambucka)

Having lost her house, Princess Ruth Luka Keanolani Kauanahoahoa Keʻelikōlani sought to rebuild.  The area where the home was located was known as Kaʻakopua.

“It is said … that in looking over various plans for the construction of a mansion on Emma Street, she was particularly struck with those of a normal school building in the States.”  (Hawaiian Gazette, October 1, 1895)

“Drawing those plans from among many others she said in her imperious manner to the architect standing nearby, ‘Build me a house like that.’”    (Hawaiian Gazette, October 1, 1895)  Thus began the construction of a home; she named it Keōua Hale.

The main architect behind new structure was Charles J. Hardy, an American from Chicago, employed at the Enterprise Planing Mill in Honolulu. The gaslit interior of the mansion was celebrated for its ornate plaster work and frescoes.  It was the most expansive residence of the time; it was larger than ʻIolani Palace.

The house was completed in 1883; however, Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani never lived in the palace. She became ill immediately after the house warming and birthday luau.

She returned to Huliheʻe, her Kailua-Kona residence, where they believed she would more quickly regain her health.  On May 24, 1883, Keʻelikōlani died at the age of fifty-seven, in her traditional grass home in Kailua-Kona.

At her death, Keʻelikōlani’s will stated that she “give and bequeath forever to my beloved younger sister (cousin), Bernice Pauahi Bishop, all of my property, the real property and personal property from Hawaiʻi to Kauaʻi, all of said property to be hers.” (about 353,000 acres, which established the land-base endowment for Pauahi’s subsequent formation of Kamehameha Schools.)

The palace was inherited by Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop; she and her husband, Charles Reed Bishop lived in house.  Pauahi passed away in the house a year later (October 16, 1884.) “(F)rom the hour of her death until the morning of her funeral, it rained continuously, until, at the appointed time the heavens cleared, and the sun shone brightly”.  (KSBE)

In her will, Pauahi initially intended to devise Kaʻakopua to Queen Emma.  However, in her later codicils (amendments,) Pauahi devised “the Ili of “Kaʻakopua”, extending from Emma to Fort Street and also all kuleanas in the same, and everything appurtenant to said premises” to her husband, “to hold for his life, remainder to my trustees.”  (KSBE)

On April 9 1885, the first meeting of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Trust Board of Trustees was held at Keōua Hale 21 Emma Street with Bishop chosen chairman for the evening.  (KSBE)

But the house was not destined to be the home for Kamehameha Schools.  Rather, it had the honor of serving as the campus of the first public high school in Honolulu.

“The Board of Education used every means in its power to obtain the building” (Hawaiian Gazette, October 1, 1895)  “(D)uring talks to make the house into a school, there soon were people approving and praise this conversion into a high school. The Board of Education immediately sought to obtain the house, and were fortunate to get it at a fair price ($600,000.)”  (Kuokoa, October 12, 1895)

However, the idea of the purchase was not without its detractors.

“The stupidity of the Board of Education has been made clear. The Legislature has not approved the money to purchase Kaʻakopua and Keōua Hale. This is a huge sum of money, and it is better if they purchased some other land and built buildings for the high school, and not that beautiful house which will cost a lot to clean it up, as a place for a few people to live haughtily and snobbily off the money of the Government. It is true!”  (Makaʻāinana, 8/12/1895)

The DOE purchased the property from the Bishop Estate on June 27, 1895.  (DOE, Star Advertiser)  “(E)verything (moved) forward, expeditious preparations (were) made to begin school soon, when regular school starts. The nation is proud to obtain this schoolhouse to enroll and teach children in higher learning than that taught at the other schools which teach general knowledge.”  (Kuokoa, October 12, 1895)

So began Kula Kiekie o Honolulu (Honolulu High School.)

“The instructors of this school are, Prof. M. M. Scott, principal; J. Lightfoot, teacher of Mathematics and Latin; Miss Brewer and Miss Needham, grammar teachers; Miss Beckwith, art teacher; and Miss Tucker, a teacher of singing.”  (Kuokoa, October 12, 1895)

“This institution has been developing satisfactorily during the period under review. It is not accredited at any of the universities of America, and in my opinion it is not desirable that it be so accredited. The plan of leaving each of our graduates to enter college or fail to do so on his own merits, as recent experience indicates, will produce results creditable to all concerned.”

“Besides, the preparation of candidates for college entrance examinations is but a small part of the work of a high school in Honolulu. The course of study should be such as will fit for life, and the matter of fitting for college should be relegated to its own subordinate place.”

“The Honolulu High School is especially adapted to the needs of those who speak the English language as a mother tongue and to no others. It accommodates but passably a few of the exceptionally bright pupils of the much larger class who have the language to learn after entering school. Taking into account the number of English speaking persons in Honolulu, it will be observed that the high school is of very creditable size.”  (Report of the Minister of Public Instruction, 1899)

In 1907, Honolulu High School moved out of Keōua Hale to the corner of Beretania and Victoria Streets. The school’s name was then changed to President William McKinley High School, after President William McKinley, whose influence brought about the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands to the United States.

The educational needs of Honolulu exceeded the space of Princess Ruth’s palace for several reasons. In 1920, a report was published on the survey of schools conducted by the Bureau of Education of the Federal Department of the Interior.

The report noted that typical middle class families in America were sending their children to public secondary schools, but in Hawaii, public schools were so few and geographically isolated, that many had to go to private schools or were forced to drop out.

Therefore, the commission recommended the establishment of secondary or junior high schools which should offer more academic and vocational choices to feed various high schools. And Hawaii, at this time, tried very hard to be American. (NPS)

Later, at Kaʻakopua, new school buildings replaced Keōua Hale.  Upon its official opening in 1927, the Advertiser news article described the layout which has remained relatively intact:

“Entering the main portal of the new plant, the visitor finds the principal’s office at the left and teachers’ room at the right. … Four large classrooms flank the main corridor and behind them are the kitchen and the dining pavilions. …”

“There are 11 classrooms in the old wing and in the new wing there are six classrooms on the main floor and seven on the second story. … The 31 classroom building had room for 1,500 pupils.”  (NPS)

Though called Central Middle School, as you drive down South Kukui Street (between Queen Emma Street and Nuʻuanu Pali Highway) the name “Keʻelikōlani School” is noted on the building.

DOE suggests the school there was never called that.  (Unfortunately, DOE records were lost in a fire.)  However, a July 2, 1917 Star Bulletin article notes Pedro Augusta as the Keʻelikōlani School janitor (no other school was named Keʻelikōlani.)

In October of 1994 the buildings of Central Intermediate were placed on the Hawaiʻi Register of Historic Places. The school continues to honor Princess Ruth’s generosity in providing a location for their school by celebrating her birthday February 9 of each year.  (Central Middle School)

In September 2021, the Hawaiʻi State Board of Education (BOE) approved the restoration of Central Middle School to its former name honoring Princess Ruth Keanolani Kanāhoahoa Keʻelikōlani. The change was effective immediately. Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani Middle School currently serves 336 students in grades six through eight.

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by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Crew

The canoe was a principal means of travel in ancient Hawaiʻi.  Canoes were used for inter-village coastal and interisland travel, while trails within the ahupuaʻa provided access between the uplands and the coast.

The ancient Hawaiians also participated in canoe racing. When they wished to indulge this passion (including betting on the races,) people selected a strong crew of men to pull their racing canoes.

If the canoe was of the kind called the kioloa (a sharp and narrow canoe, made expressly for racing) there might be only one man to paddle it, but if it was a large canoe, there might be two, three or a large number of paddlers, according to the size of the canoe.

“The racing canoes paddled far out to sea – some, however, stayed close to the land (to act as judges, or merely perhaps as spectators), and then they pulled for the land, and if they touched the beach at the same time it was a dead heat; but if a canoe reached the shore first it was the victor, and great would be the exultation of the men who won, and the sorrow of those who lost their property.” (Malo)

Today, canoe racing continues.  “Canoe paddling is one of the things that our ancestors did, and a lot of people look at it as something they can do that is truly Hawaiian,” says Oʻahu Hawaiian Canoe Racing Association president Luana Froiseth.

During races, canoes are manned by six paddlers at a time, each with a specific duty. Practices are designed for the novice paddler to understand the fundamentals of paddle form and stroke cadence.  Races seasons include sprint and long distance. (Honolulu)

But this story is not about paddling; this is about rowing.

Here, a handful of Hawaiʻi high schoolers had hopes of representing Hawaiʻi and the US in the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

Their boat (called a ‘shell’) was long, narrow and broadly semi-circular in cross-section in order to reduce drag to a minimum. In the rear is the coxswain (cox,) and ahead of him are four sweep rowers (different races have different numbers in the crew.)

The sweep rower sits facing toward the stern; each rower has one oar fixed in an oarlock, held with both hands (as opposed to sculling where each rower has two oars (or sculls,) one in each hand.)

In sweep or sweep-oar rowing, each rower is referred to either as port or starboard, depending on which side of the boat the rower’s oar extends to; sometimes the port side is referred to as stroke side and the starboard side as bow side.

Back in the 1960s, four Hawaiʻi high schools — ʻIolani, Punahou, Kaimuki and McKinley — had crew teams. The expense of the shell, lack of coaches and other obstacles deterred most schools from rowing. (Today, no Hawaii high school offers crew as a competitive sport.)  (ʻIolani)

The ʻIolani Red Raiders (today it’s just Raiders) captured the ILH rowing crown in both heavy- and lightweight divisions for four consecutive years (1962 to 1965.)

Once, ʻIolani practiced with a visiting team from New Zealand, which had stopped in Hawaiʻi on its way to the Royal Henley Regatta in England. The New Zealanders were humbled after ʻIolani beat them soundly in some practice races.

New Zealand was so shaken by their defeat they considered abandoning Henley and returning home. But they journeyed on to England and won the four-oared event, spreading the word about those boys in Hawaii. (ʻIolani)

Then, the fateful day …

ʻIolani received an official invitation to compete in the 1964 Olympic Trials and was encouraged to participate.  The event was held at Orchard Beach Lagoon, adjacent to the New York Athletic Club boathouse.

Their shell was badly handled during shipping and arrived in poor shape. In addition, the crew also arrived with problems.

Several contracted upper respiratory infections immediately upon arrival.  They had to slack off on their training to give the crew a chance to recover and the boat repairs a chance to set. (It is hard to row and bail!) Things were not looking good.  (Rizzuto)

“To reach the finals, we had to win a trial race (known in rowing as a “repechage.”) To do that, we had to beat the New York Athletic Club and the Penn Athletic Club. Those were all former college oarsmen and several had competed in the Olympics in the past. One of the boats was stroked by a former Olympic gold medalist.” (Rizzuto)

“Needless to say, we made it to the finals after a very hard-fought race.”  (Rizzuto)

Rowing for ʻIolani and representing Hawaiʻi were: Bow Oar – Ric Vogelsang ’64; Number 2 Oar – David Mather; Number 3 Oar – Donald MacKay ’64; Stroke – Charles Frazer ’64; Coxswain Ronald Reynolds ’64 and Alternates Bruce Facer ’64 and John Leeper ’65.  (ʻIolani)

“We stayed competitive in the finals for the first mile. With a quarter mile to go, all of the outside crews ran into eddies and back currents and it was like hitting a wall. Lanes three and four jumped way out in front and the rest of us were left to battle for respect.”  (Rizzuto)

Their coach was Jim Rizzuto, member of the varsity crew at Rutgers University from 1957 to 1960. (He later taught at Hawaiʻi Preparatory Academy and was one of my Math teachers, there.)

ʻIolani became the first high school crew to reach the finals in US Olympic Rowing competition. ʻIolani failed to win the Olympic berth, finishing sixth with a time of 6:55.4 in the Trials finals, which were won by Harvard, perennial powerhouse in crew, in 6:30.5.  (ʻIolani)

Here’s a link to the 1964 Olympic Eights Trials (not ʻIolani and not their crew size – but a race in the same place at the same time:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpdOP-k6PUU

In 1986 the State of Hawaiʻi designated outrigger canoe paddling as the State’s official team sport.  Outrigger canoe paddling became a State-sanctioned high school sport in 2002.

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