Ali’i / Chiefs / Governance | Page 128

June 14, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Kapiʻolani Maternity Home

“The Hui Hoʻolulu a Ho‘ola Lahui of Kalākaua I was organized at Kawaiahaʻo, Her Royal Highness Princess Kapili Likelike being President. … A large number of members joined the Society on this day, some 51. The amount of money collected was $17.00, the dues being ten cents per month.” (Report of the Executive Committee, February 19, 1874)

“His Majesty Kalākaua designed and established an organization for benevolent work amongst his people; it was called the Ho‘oululahui. The first meeting of the society having been appointed at Kawaiahaʻo Church, there was a good attendance of the first ladies of the city, not only those of Hawaiian families, but also of foreign birth.”

“It was my brother’s intention that the society should have as its head Her Majesty Kapiʻolani, his queen … Like many other enterprises of charity, the original intentions of the founders have been improved upon; and the society is merged in other good works, or its purposes diverted to slightly different ends. The organization is now consolidated in the Maternity Home …” (Liliʻuokalani)

Attending Queen Victoria’s Jubilee celebration, 1887, in London, Kapiʻolani made many visits to hospitals and foundling homes and returned to Hawaiʻi with much enthusiasm and exciting plans for her hospital. She wanted to establish a hospital for underprivileged Hawaiian women to have the best care for mothers and babies.

“The Kapiʻolani Maternity Home, corner of Beretania and Makiki Sts, was opened to the public on Saturday afternoon (June 14, 1890) their Majesties the King and Queen drove up to the home punctually at 3 o’clock”.

“Quite a large number of ladies were out to inspect the Home, the lady board of managers taking particular pains to shew them round. It is to be hoped that this beautiful new home will be largely availed of by Hawaiians.”

“There are five bedrooms, one furnished by Mrs TR Foster, one each by the Widemann and Robinson families, one by Mrs Canavarro and Mrs JI Dowsett, and one by Mrs S Parker, Mrs TW Everett and Mrs EP Low.”

“They all looked cosy and neat. In the dining room are hung pictures of the King and Queen. There is also a matron’s room and a kitchen with range. Mrs. Johnson has been placed in the home as matron.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 16, 1890)

“The Ho‘oulu and Ho‘ola Lahui Society, that instituted the Home and appointed a Board of Managers for it, has acquired an endowment fund of $8,000, only the interest of which is available for the Home.”

“Her Majesty gives the house free for the first year, which will expire in four and a half months from date. Dr. Trousseau’s generous tender of free professional services was also for the first year.” (Daily Bulletin, January 22, 1891)

It started in the former residence of Princess Kekaulike, then moved into an adjacent building (former home of August Dreier,) a more spacious 2-story structure. Services included child birthing, as well as simple neo-natal and maternal care. If complications arose, physicians from Queen’s would assist.

“The Home was unique in many regards. First, it represented one prong of the Kalākaua’s’ attempt to deal with the declining population of the native Hawaiians in the kingdom.”

“Second, the Home was established and dominated in its early management by women, And third, in comparison to the other crown-based health entities (Queen’s Hospital, Lunalilo Home and Lili‘uokalani Children’s Center,) the Kapiʻolani Home was least endowed by the mechanism of royal philanthropy.” (Kamakahi)

Fundraising was on going … “The charity luau given on Saturday under the direction of Queen Dowager Kapiʻolani, for the benefit of the Kapiʻolani Maternity Home was an unqualified success in every particular.”

“During the day the ice cream booth was also a small mint, as no young man who possessed fifty cents was allowed to depart without first spending it. … The coffee stand was … assisted by a bevy of young ladies. They all did their share towards the substantial result of the day. … The luau reflects great credit on everybody concerned, and should return a handsome sum for the Kapiʻolani Home. (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, March 7, 1892)

Luau fundraising continued as the facility was expanded, “The trustees of the Kapiʻolani Maternity Home have found it necessary to build an additional wing to the main building to meet the pressing demands and it is intended to hold a luau and fair on the grounds of the Home in the early part of the month of October coming for the purpose of raising additional fund to the already existing building fund of $4,500.” The Independent, August 26, 1903)

By the early-1920s, the Home’s sights were set on the creation of a medical facility with physicians on staff. Rather than compete with other medical institutions (Queen’s, Kuakini, Tripler, St Francis, etc,) in general care, it moved its location, again, and from Home to Hospital status, and changed its name to Kapiʻolani Maternity and Gynecological Hospital in 1931. (Kamakahi)

Across town, Albert and Emma Wilcox purchased land and built a hospital; in 1909, the Kauikeōlani Children’s Hospital opened on Kuakini Street and was named in Emma’s honor. (The deaths of five of her siblings at early ages greatly influenced Emma’s concern for the welfare of all native Hawaiians.)

In 1978, the Kapiʻolani Hospital and the Kauikeolani Children’s Hospital merged to become Kapiolani Medical Center for Women & Children. (KMC)

Renovation and expansion began with construction of a new 17-floor parking structure that opened in 2013. A new five-story, 200,000 square-foot building is currently under construction and scheduled for completion in 2016. It will house an expanded Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

The new building will also provide new space for the Rehabilitation Services Department and teaching space to train Hawaii’s future health care professionals in obstetrics and gynecology, pediatric and other specialty areas of care. It will include an auditorium and education and conference rooms. (KMC)

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Kapiolani Maternity Home – formerly the home of A Drier – on Makiki and Beretania St-PP-40-7-017

A_Woman_with_a_Baby_at_the_Kapiolani_Maternity_Home-1912

Kapiolani Hospital-PP-40-7-015-00001-1934

Kapiolani Hospital-PP-40-7-016-1934

Kapiolani Maternity Hospital

Kapiolani_Neonatal_ICU

Kapiolani Medical Center

kapiolani-hospital-prior to remodel

new-kapiolani-exterior-rendering

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Kapiolani Medical Center

Queen Kapiolani Statue

June 12, 2016 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Loyalty to Locality

Using stratigraphic archaeology and refinements in radiocarbon dating, studies suggest it was about 900-1000 AD that “Polynesian explorers first made their remarkable voyage from central Eastern Polynesia Islands, across the doldrums and into the North Pacific, to discover Hawai‘i.” (Kirch)

The motivations of the voyagers varied. Some left to explore the world or to seek adventure. Others departed to find new land or new resources because of growing populations or prolonged droughts and other ecological disasters in their homelands. (PVS)

Early settlement patterns in the Islands put people on the windward sides of the islands, typically along the shoreline. Settlement patterns tended to be dispersed and without major population centers.

Most of the makaʻāinana (common people) were farmers, a few were fishermen. Tenants cultivated smaller crops for family consumption, to supply the needs of chiefs and provide tributes.

Fishermen and their families living around the bays and the beaches, or at isolated localities along the coast where fishing was practicable, led a life that was materially simpler than that of planters who dwelt on the plains.

There was no term for village. The typical homestead or kauhale consisted of the sleeping or common house, the men’s house, women’s eating house, and storehouse, and generally stood in relative isolation in dispersed communities.

The terrain and the subsistence economy naturally created the dispersed community of scattered homesteads. It was only when topography or the physical character of an area required close proximity of homes that villages existed.

Where conglomerations of homesteads existed, they were not communities held together either by bonds of kinship or economic interdependence.

A spring (or springs) was sometimes the reason for a village-like conglomeration of homesteads. “But it is along and in the streams which rush through the bottoms of these narrow gorges that the Hawaiian is most at home.”

“Go into any of these valleys, and you will see a surprising sight : along the whole narrow bottom, and climbing often in terraces the steep hillsides, you will see the little taro patches, skillfully laid so as to catch the water, either directly from the main stream, or from canals taking water out above.” (Nordhoff, 1874)

The true community in which sundry homesteads were integrated by socio-religious and economic ties was the dispersed community of ʻohana. This word signifies relatives by blood, marriage, and adoption.

In the course of native settlement, as the early Hawaiians spread from fishing sites on the shore to inland areas and fanned out over the plains and hills from original centers of settlement, households with ties of relationship became scattered.

Some located on upland slopes (ko kula uka,) some on the plains toward the sea (ko kula kai,) and some along the shore (ko kaha kai.) Neighborly interdependence, the sharing of goods and services, naturally resulted in the settling of contiguous lands by a given ʻohana rather than in a scattering over an entire district.

In this way there came to be an association of particular ʻohana with the land units later designated as ahupua‘a. Within a given ahupua‘a the heads of the respective ʻohana were responsible for seeing that their people met the tax levy prescribed by the konohiki, the ali‘i’s land supervisor.

The heads of the ʻohana groups were called haku or haku ‘āina. So far as is known there was no formal procedure involved in the choice of a haku for an ʻohana.

He came by his responsibility through seniority and competence. His authority was a matter of common consent rather than formal sanction; he was not appointed, he was not elected.

There was a high degree of stability or permanence of tenure despite the general turnover of authority and titles to the land whenever a new aliʻi came into power, owing to the fact that particular ʻohana enjoyed the rights of occupancy and use and faithfully fulfilled their obligations.

In many cases their ancestors had pioneered the area and cultivated it since the earliest era of Hawaiian settlement. Actually it was to the advantage of an aliʻi to maintain the occupancy of diligent cultivators of the land.

Thus the kauhale, the homesites of established ʻohana, were permanent features of the landscape, and the vested interest of any given family was equivalent to a title of ownership, so long as the landsman labored diligently to sustain his claim and was loyal to his aliʻi.

People identify themselves not just with the chiefdom (moku,) but with the ahupua‘a which was their homeland. This was true throughout the Hawaiian Islands.

This loyalty to locality, the identification of persons with family or ʻohana and with the ‘āina that nourished the ʻohana is an attitude that was ingrained. (The information here is from Handy & Handy with Pukui.)

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Kauhale-Hale Pili-DMY

Pre-contact Footprint-Hawaiian Islands-GoogleEarth-OHA-TNC

Pre-contact Footprint-Kauai-Niihau-GoogleEarth-OHA-TNC

Pre-contact Footprint-Oahu-GoogleEarth-OHA-TNC

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Pre-contact Footprint-Hawaii Island-GoogleEarth-OHA-TNC

June 11, 2016 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

La Ho‘o-mana‘o O Kamehameha I

Kamehameha Day was first proclaimed by Kamehameha V as a day to honor his grandfather, Kamehameha I, and was first celebrated on December 11, 1871 (Kamehameha V’s birthday.) It later changed to June 11.

“The celebration of Kamehameha Day on June 11 came about in the following way.”

“On December 11, 1871, the birthday of Kamehameha V who was at that time ruling king, a public celebration was held with horse-riding and other sports.”

“It was agreed to make this celebration an annual event, but because of the uncertain weather in December to change the date to June.”

“Kamehameha V died soon after, and the holiday remained as a ‘Day in Commemoration of Kamehameha I,’ (La Ho‘o-mana‘o o Kamehameha I.)” (Kamakau)

So, while linked to Kamehameha V’s birth date, it boils down to having a celebration when the weather is better (6-months from King Kamehameha V’s birthday.) The date does not have any direct connection to Kamehameha I.

The 1896 legislature of the Republic of Hawaiʻi declared it a national holiday.

“Kamehameha Day was generally observed by the people. Elaborate preparations were made for the celebration of the day, with sumptuous feasts and sports, and every effort was brought to bear in order to insure the success of the occasion.”

“It might well be said that, in the language of the poet, its observance was usually attended with:
‘The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beaut’, all that wealth e’er gave.’”

“The celebration itself was characterized by a cheerful spirit and good-fellowshlp. ‘Aloha,’ the watchword that opened every heart and brightened every soul, was greeted on every side, and hospitality, unalloyed and unbounded, was displayed at every door. There was no distinction in race, color or creed.” (John C Lane, Mayor, 1916)

In 1939, Hawaiʻi Revised Statutes under the Territorial Legislature of Hawai‘i created the King Kamehameha Celebration Commission – that law remains in effect, today.

State law notes: §8-5 King Kamehameha celebration commission … “The commission shall have charge of all arrangements for the celebration each year generally observed throughout Hawai‘i Nei on June 11, to commemorate the memory of the great Polynesian Hawaiian warrior and statesman King Kamehameha I, who united the Hawaiian Islands into the Kingdom of Hawai‘i”. In 1978 the legislature renamed this holiday King Kamehameha I Day.

Almost from its first observance this day was celebrated chiefly by horse races in Kapi‘olani Park; but the races eventually gave way to today’s parades of floats and pāʻū riders.

On February 14, 1883, the Kamehameha statue was unveiled at Aliʻiōlani Hale during the coronation ceremonies for King Kalākaua.

The stance of the statue, with spear in left hand and right outstretched with open palm, showed the “successful warrior inviting the people … to accept the peace and order he had secured.”

At the request of the monument committee, statue designer Thomas R Gould modified the features to make the king seem about 45-years old. The intent was a bronze statue of ‘heroic size’ (about eight-and-a-half-feet tall.)

‘Boston Evening Transcript’ of September 28, 1878, noted “It has been thought fitting that Boston, which first sent Christian teachers and ships of commerce to the Islands, should have the honor of furnishing this commemorative monument.”

While Gould was a Bostonian, he was studying in Italy, where he designed the statue; ultimately, the statue was cast in bronze in Paris.

It was shipped on August 21, 1880, by the bark ‘GF Haendel,’ and was expected about mid-December. On February 22, 1881, came word that the Haendel had gone down November 15, 1880, off the Falkland Islands. All the cargo had been lost.

About the time it was lost, King Kalākaua was on a royal tour of the island of Hawai‘i. He made a speech in front of the Kohala Post Office.

There, the King was reminded the Kamehameha Statue was destined for Honolulu, yet Kohala, the birthplace of Kamehameha, was overlooked as a place for his statue. Kohala residents then raised funds and a replica was ordered.

It turns out, however, that the original statue had been recovered and was in fair condition. The right hand was broken off near the wrist, the spear was broken and the feather cape had a hole in it. It was taken to a shed at Aliʻiolani Hale to be repaired.

Meanwhile, on January 31, 1883, the replica ordered by Kohala arrived. On February 14, 1883, the replica statue was unveiled at Aliʻiolani Hale during the coronation ceremonies for King Kalākaua.

As for the original statue (which had been repaired,) it was dedicated on May 8, 1883 (the anniversary of Kamehameha’s death) and is in Kapaʻau, North Kohala outside Kohala’s community/senior center.

There are now four different statues of similar design of Kamehameha:
• The first replica stands prominently in front of Aliʻiolani Hale in Honolulu
• The original (repaired) casting of the statue is at Kapaʻau, North Kohala
• Another replica is in US Capitol’s visitor center in Washington DC
• Another statue is at the Wailoa River State Recreation Area in Hilo

The customary draping of the Kamehameha Statue with lei dates back to 1901. As far as the parade goes, in 1903, the Territory of Hawaiʻi, Chamber of Commerce and Merchants’ Association created the Hawaiʻi Promotion Committee (forerunner to the Hawaiʻi Visitors and Convention Bureau.) Supported by a legislative appropriation, it was mandated to provide better publicity to encourage tourism to Hawaiʻi.

The early years of the Territorial era saw the creation of a series of public celebrations. Beginning with the Mid-Pacific Carnival in 1904, a series of multiethnic public celebrations and parades were created to attract tourists and showcase Hawaiʻi’s multi-ethnic culture.

The Mid-Pacific Carnival, held in February as a celebration in honor of Washington’s birthday, had spectacular and historic pageants and military parades featured. During the winter season, the Mid-Pacific Carnival was at ʻAʻala Park in downtown Honolulu. Circus acts, sideshows and hula dancers entertained the public.

The carnival had an annual Floral Parade. By the early-1900s, the automobile made its appearance and soon reduced the need and use of horses. Then, a group of women made a society to keep the culture going and Pāʻū clubs were formed.

The Hawaiian Star, February 22, 1906, headlined the “Floral Parade a Great Success.” “It was a great day for Honolulu. The Promotion Committee’s inauguration of what is intended to be an annual event in celebration of Washington’s birthday, could have asked no better day, no greater success …”

“… no more wide spread interest in all classes of the population, no greater enthusiasm among those who participated In the parade, and no more unique, striking, or picturesque a feature to individualize the celebration in Honolulu, and make it separate, and apart from the pageant of other places than the Pa-u riders.”

“The Pa-u riders, of course, were the magnet and center of attraction. This revival of an old custom, picturesque and under the conditions that gave rise to it, strikingly useful, was a happy thought of the Promotion Committee.”

“It appealed to dormant but when aroused, pleasing associations, among the older residents, especially the Hawaiians. It appealed to the love of oddity and the striking costume in the younger generation.” (The Hawaiian Star, February 22, 1906)

In 1916, Mid-Pacific Carnival merged into the Kamehameha Day Parade.

Next time you are at the original or replicas of the Kamehameha Statue, look closely at Kamehameha’s sash; there is an error in the arrangement of the sash. Traditionally, a sash is worn by first draping the sash over the left shoulder to where it falls between the knees.

Then the remaining length is wrapped around the waist and over the front flap of the sash to around the back, fed behind the part over the shoulder, and the remaining hangs down in the back (at knee length.) (San Nicolas) After that, you put the cape on over it all.

“In the statue the cordon passes from the pendent end up behind the portion used as a waist-band, over the left shoulder, outside the cloak, instead of returning down the back to form the belt as it should have done with the end tucked in to tighten the band, it leaves this belt as an independent member and passes down over the cloak to trail on the ground!” (Brigham)

“The final arrangement must be based on esthetic rather than historical grounds. In fact, the decorated end of the sash drags on the ground behind the figure. The other end has had to be supplemented with a fictitious terminal band to be presentable in front.”

“If you look closely, the final arrangement is impossible without two sashes: a long one from malo front over the shoulder and down to the ground, and a short, separate belt.” (Later noted by Charlot.)

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Kamehameha-Statue-(HTA)

The original statue of King Kamehameha I, in Kapaʻau

Kamehameha_Statue-1900

Kamehameha_statue_Kapaau_1908

King Kamehameha I statue and Aliiolani Hale building, in downtown Honolulu

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The original statue of King Kamehameha I, in Kapaʻau, North Kohala. Sculptor-Thomas Ridgeway Gould

Kamehameha_Statue-Kapaau_front_and_back

Statue of Kamehameha I, located in the Wailoa River recreation area of Hilo

Kamehameha statue on display in the US Capitol Visitors Center, Washington DC

Mid-Pacific Carnival-1910

Mid-Pacific Carnival-auto-1908

Mid-Pacific Carnival-Pau_Riders-1914

Mid-Pacific Carnival-Band_on_Horseback

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Pau_Princess_of_Kauai-(barryfackler)

Pau_Princess_of_Oahu-(jndx)

Pau_Princess_of_Molokai-(barryfackler)

Pau_Princess_of_Lanai-(enolarama)

Pau_Princess_of_Maui-(enolarama)

Pau_Princess_of_Hawaii-(enolarama)

June 5, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Mahiole

The love of personal decoration appears very early in the history of the human race. (Brigham)

Hawaiian featherwork consists first of lei or strings of feathers worn in the hair, or in later times the neck; Kāhili used as royal insignia; ahuʻula cloaks or capes worn by chiefs; mahiole helmets; images of the god Kūkaʻilimoku, the war-god of Kamehameha; and a few other items. Brigham)

The Hawaiians were a close observer of nature. The hunters know the haunts of birds they sought and the season when the plumage was at its best.

The rare birds were never killed, but captured alive and released, after the feathers desired were plucked.

When the British ships Resolution and Discovery entered Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii, in January 1779, they were greeted by thousands of people in canoes.

They had arrived during the Makahiki festival, dedicated to the god of peace and productivity, Lono. Presentations of cloaks and helmets were made to Captain Cook. (British Museum)

In contrast to the feathered cloak, which was also found in Tahiti and New Zealand, the feathered helmet is peculiar to Hawai‘i. Together with the feathered cloak, the crested helmet belonged to the insignia of the high chiefs, or later the king. (National Museum of Australia)

In the Hawaiian Islands, feathered cloaks, capes and helmets were worn by male chiefs to signify their status. These were worn during ceremonial occasions, which often took place at heiau (temple areas,) as well as during makahiki.

All of a chief’s garments were considered kapu, having a divine or sacred power, and would not be worn by anyone else.

It was a custom to cut the hair close at the sides of the head leaving a ridge of still, erect hair, like a mane on the top of the scalp, and this mane-like ridge was called mahiole, the same name given to the helmet. (Brigham)

Mahiole were constructed of the aerial roots of the ʻieʻie vine, woven into a basketry frame. They were perfectly fitted to an individual, and protected the most sacred part of the body, the head.

A net of olona fibers was laid over the framework, and feathers attached in bundles in the same way as for the cloaks. The featherwork starts from the bottom, so each new row conceals the quills of the feathers below. (Museum of New Zealand)

Small feathers of a uniform size were attached. Red feathers were gathered by specialist bird-catchers from the ‘i‘iwi bird, a honeycreeper, and the black and yellow feathers from honeyeaters. Garments made of these feathers were reserved for particularly high-ranking chiefs.

The shape of the crest echoes the crescent designs found on cloaks, and in men’s hairstyles and tattoo designs. The Hawaiian word for crescent, hoaka, means to ‘frighten away’, but also indicates brightness, splendor and glory.

The mahiole represented the political status of male chiefs who had various authority.

There are many different kinds of mahiole that can be seen today found in museums around the world from the mahiole haka (short crested helmet,) mahiole pōheoheo (knobbed helmet,) mahiole haka kahakaha (striped short crest helmet,) spoked crescent helmet and others.

On the island of Hawaii, helmets with a high crest were favored. Other helmets, which had mushroom-like ornaments on top, or which were decorated with human hair, were worn by warriors or lesser chiefs. (National Museum of Australia)

Kaumuali‘i’s mahiole is consists of red ‘i‘iwi, yellow and black feathers and knotted a million times into a lacy filigree. The mahiole was a gift from Kamehameha I in 1810 after Kaumuali‘i stepped down as high chief of Kauai. It is the only feathered mahiole whose owner can be confirmed. (Bishop Museum)

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Mahiole-British Museum

Gorro de príncipe hawaiano (M. América, Madrid) 01

Arago_–_Guerrier_des_Iles_Sandwich-1819

Kaiana_(PP-96-7-001)-1787

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Mahiole_of_Kaumualii,_1899

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Mahiole-ieie_vine-Vancouver-1791-1795

‘Man_Wearing_Feather_Cloak_and_Helmit’,_attributed_to_Rembrandt_Peale-c. 1805-1810

Aniheneho._L’un_des_Premiers_Officiers_de_Tahmahamah-Jacques_Arago,_1819

‘A_Man_of_the_Sandwich_Islands_with_His_Helmet’_c._1800

Portrait_of_Kaneena,_a_chief_of_the_Sandwich_Islands_in_the_North_Pacific-between 1778 and 1779

John_Webber’s_oil_painting_’A_Chief_of_the_Sandwich_Islands’,_1787

Tianna_a_Prince_of_Atooi,_c._1787

May 26, 2016 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Robin’s Egg Blue Chamber

‘Iolani Palace (Io is the Hawaiian hawk, a bird that flies higher than all the rest, and ‘lani’ denotes heavenly, royal or exalted) was the official residence of both King Kalākaua and Queen Lili‘uokalani.

Construction was completed in 1882; in December of that year King Kalākaua and Queen Kapi‘olani took up residence in their new home. The second floor had their private suites.

After the overthrow of the monarchy, ‘Iolani Palace became the government headquarters (Executive Building) for the Provisional Government, Republic, and then the Territory of Hawai‘i. The private apartment of Kalākaua, and later Liliʻuokalani, was used as the Governor’s office.

In 1904, after the appointment of Mr. Carter as Territorial governor, the office of the Governor was redecorated.

“The Governor’s office is being renovated so as to restore some of the old royal splendor. There is to be a touch of robin’s egg blue on the walls and the little crowns on the ceiling are to have their red insertions painted brighter.”

“It is even proposed to bring up the gilded chairs of state from the old throne room and set them around. Unhappily the throne itself has gone to the museum but it may be brought back for special occasions. When finished, the executive chamber of Hawaii will make that of the United States look like thirty cents.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 8, 1904)

“Ernest Parker, the talented young Hawaiian artist, has taken the supervision of the work of renovating the Governor’s office in the Capitol.”

“Already the walls and ceiling have received the first coat of tinting in robin’s egg blue, with the stucco work of the ceiling relieved in gold. The crowns with crimson velvet insertions in the ceiling have also been retouched and look gorgeous.”

“Acting Governor Atkinson is earnestly studying the question of furniture for the renovated executive chamber. It is his idea to make that the show room of the Capitol and, as part of the scheme, to transfer the gilded chairs from the old throne room, now the hall of the House of Representatives, to the Governor’s official apartment.”

“(M)ostly every visitor to Honolulu of any consequence calls on the Governor, and in Mr. Atkinson’s opinion the executive chamber ought to be the most impressive, in artistic appearance and elegant comfort, of any apartment in the building.”

“One of the last things Governor Carter spoke about, on leaving the Capitol before sailing for the mainland, was the proposed renovation of his office quarters.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 8, 1904)

Originally, the walls were described as being untinted. The Governor’s office, apparently, became quite famous as the Robin’s Egg Blue Chamber, and remained with this décor into the administration of Governor Frear.

“The ‘robin’s egg blue’ room at the Capitol which is the private room of Governor Carter has been surveyed by many a critical art eye relative to the hanging of oil paintings upon the walls, and yesterday results were apparent.”

“Lying on the floor were the big life-size portraits in oils of King Kaiakaua and Queen Liliuokalanl. These are to be hung on the mauka wall, one on other side of the entrance leading from the secretary’s chamber.”

“The other portraits to adorn the walls will be that of King Kamehameha I, which will hang just over the Governor’s desk. Another will be the fine portrait of Kamehameha IV. A portrait of Princess Kaiulani will also have a place in the chamber. The room may be called ‘the blue room.’” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 27, 1904)

“Although Carter no longer holds down the lid in the Robin’s Egg Blue Chamber, he is still very much in evidence around the Executive offices. Indeed, he is there most of the time.”

“With his coat off and attired in a shirt which was probably bought during his reign to match the color of the walls of the famous Robin’s Egg Blue, he spends nearly all day at the long table in the Secretary’s office working on his final report to the President.” (Evening Bulletin, February 26, 1907)

In 1910 the following account appears in a newspaper under the heading – “Historical Tint of Executive Mansion Vanishes into the Dim Past.”

“The famous robin’s-egg-blue chamber has faded into the past. The chamber is still there – but the robin’s-egg-blue is gone…..”

“That famous tint disappeared yesterday under the vigorous efforts of a gang of workmen who invaded the royal chamber and washed the color from the wall.”

“It had to go for when the Governor, immediately upon his return from his eastern trip, moved into the quarters heretofore occupied by the secretary of the Territory, and took with him the immense portraits of kings and queens of a bygone regime, a hideous fact was made apparent.”

“It was literally hideous.”

“The removal of the great portraits disclosed the shocking fact that only a part of the room was robin’s egg blue. The rest, that part hidden behind the canvases, was green and just imagine the combination of grass green and robin’s egg blue!”

“It actually hurt the eyes of Secretary Mott-Smith when he entered the chamber to take up his official abode. Mott-Smith shrieked in agony and called for men, workmen to relieve the hateful contrast. “

“They arrived in squads – and the colors began to fade. Now the room is white, the virgin color of the untinted plaster. But it is not to remain white. Mott-Smith is considering what tint shall be applied. …” (Hawaiian Gazette, January 10, 1910)

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