General | Page 258 | Images of Old Hawaiʻi

April 20, 2015 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Future Farmers

Boys were leaving the farms.

The Smith-Hughes Vocational Education Act (1917) sought to “provide for the promotion of vocational education … in agriculture and the trades and industries”. Initially not available in Hawaiʻi, the provisions of the Act were extended to the Islands on March 10, 1924.

The law provided funding “for agricultural education that … is under public supervision or control; that the controlling purpose of such education shall be to fit for useful employment …”

“… that such education shall be of less than college grade and be designed to meet the needs of persons over fourteen years of age who have entered upon or who are preparing to enter upon the work of the farm or of the farm home”. (USDA)

Later, on the continent, Walter S Newman proposed forming an organization that offered farm boys “a greater opportunity for self-expression and for the development of leadership. In this way they will develop confidence in their own ability and pride in the fact that they are farm boys.”

In 1925, Newman and a few other Virginia Tech agricultural education teacher educators (Henry Groseclose, Harry Sanders, and Edmund Magill) spoke of forming agriculture classes for boys.

The idea was presented during an annual vocational rally in the state in April 1926, where it was met positively. The Future Farmers of Virginia was born. Two years later, the idea reached the national stage during the American Royal Livestock Show in Kansas City, Mo.

‘Manual education’ was not new in Hawaiʻi, especially agricultural training and hands on experience.

Instruction in elementary agriculture for boys and in homemaking for girls became a strong feature of public education under Richard Armstrong’s administration.

Armstrong was the second Minister of Public Instruction in Hawaiʻi (and often referred to as the father of American public education in Hawaiʻi.) His administration made very real contributions to education in agriculture in Hawaiʻi.

JE Higgins was appointed teacher of agriculture for the Honolulu schools in 1900. His work in 7 schools consisted mostly of growing vegetables, flowers, sorghum, sweet potatoes, strawberries, corn, carrots, and the beautification of the school grounds.

In 1908 an itinerant vocational instructor was appointed for each of the major island. The instruction was mainly prevocational and consisted, for the most part, of practical instruction in gardening. (History of Agricultural Education)

Back on the continent … in 1928, 33 students from 18 states gathered in Kansas City to form the Future Farmers of America.

Then, in the Islands … on December 28, 1928, delegates from seventeen island chapters met at Lahaina, Maui to draft the Territorial Constitution.

The following chapters were represented: Kona, McKinley, John M. Ross (Hakalau,) Maui, Lahainaluna, Laupāhoehoe, Haiku, Honokaa, Hilo Intermediate, Aiea, Pāhala, Makawao, James Dole (Leilehua,) Pahoa, Molokai, Kohala and Hilo High. WW Beers was the first Territorial Adviser of the Hawaiian Association Future Farmers of America.

On April 20, 1929, Charter Number 13 of the Future Farmers of America was issued to the Hawaiian Association. By winning the State association award in 1934, the Hawaiian Association became the outstanding association of the Future Farmer organization for that year.

In 1929, national blue and corn gold became the official colors of FFA. A year later, delegates adopted the official FFA Creed and by 1933 the familiar Official Dress of blue corduroy jackets was adopted.

Girls were restricted from the earliest forms of FFA membership by delegate vote at the 1930 national convention. It wasn’t until 1969 that females gained full FFA membership privileges (today, females represent more than 45 percent of FFA members and roughly half of all state leadership positions.)

Since 1928, millions of agriculture students have donned the official FFA jacket; all 50 states are currently chartered members of the national organization, representing 610,240 individual FFA members and 7,665 local chapters. It’s a testament to the power of common goals and the strong ideals of the FFA founders.

Their mission was to prepare future generations for the challenges of feeding a growing population. They taught us that agriculture is more than planting and harvesting – it’s a science, it’s a business and it’s an art. (FFA)

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April 19, 2015 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

“A Quiet Retreat from the Noise and Bustle of Honolulu”

On October 23, 1819, the Pioneer Company of missionaries from the northeast US, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Islands. There were seven couples sent by the ABCFM to convert the Hawaiians to Christianity.

These included two Ordained Preachers, Hiram Bingham and his wife Sybil and Asa Thurston and his wife Lucy; two Teachers, Mr. Samuel Whitney and his wife Mercy and Samuel Ruggles and his wife Mary; a Doctor, Thomas Holman and his wife Lucia; a Printer, Elisha Loomis and his wife Maria; a Farmer, Daniel Chamberlain, his wife and five children. (The Honolulu contingent arrived on Oʻahu on April 19, 1820.)

In 1829, Kaʻahumanu wanted to give Hiram and Sybil Bingham a gift of land and consulted Hoapili. He suggested Kapunahou (although he had already given it to Liliha).

According to AF Judd, “Not unnaturally, Liliha objected to the proposal, but Hoapili consented. And Liliha’s resentment could avail nothing against the wish of her father, her husband, and the highest chief of the land.”

At first, the Binghams lived in a grass home erected by Kaʻahumanu beside a larger structure of her own. By 1831 the Binghams moved into a more permanent adobe cottage that stood beside a clump of hau trees.

While at Punahou, the Binghams created for themselves “a quiet retreat from the noise and bustle of Honolulu.” The building had two main rooms, a porch, a storeroom and a pantry. There was a separate cookhouse. (Punahou)

“Dear Punahou cottage, once my home sweet home, where the precious mother cherished her little ones.” (Hiram Bingham II, April 19, 1905)

The land was given to the Binghams (it was considered to be a gift from Kaʻahumanu, Kuhina Nui or Queen Regent at that time,) but by missionary rules, it was really given to the mission as a whole. (NPS) The Binghams left in 1840.

“The founding of Punahou as a school for missionary children not only provided means of instruction for the children, of the Mission, but also gave a trend to the education and history of the Islands. In 1841, at Punahou the Mission established this school and built for it simple halls of adobe.”

“From this unpretentious beginning, the school has grown to its present prosperous condition.” (Report of the Superintendent of Public Education, 1900)

“The trustees of Oahu College propose to set up a memorial in memory of the late Rev. Hiram Bingham, first missionary on the Island of Oahu, and a benefactor of the college.”

“The house occupied by Rev. Mr. Bingham was situated just mauka of the site now occupied by the president’s house on the college grounds and about 20 feet from the driveway.”

“The trustees will select a large bowlder and place it in position as nearly as possible on the spot where the house originally stood. One face of the rock will be trimmed off to receive a suitable inscription.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, July 20, 1897)

“The exact site of the cottage has since then been discovered by the unearthing of the foundation of the southern corner, and now, after the lapse of five years … we are here today to dedicate this memorial, and to witness to our belief in the propriety and usefulness of the same.” (Hiram Bingham II, April 19, 1905)

Like other missionaries who had benefitted from the generosity of the Hawaiian ali‘i, Bingham managed the land together with other mission members. As explained by fellow missionary Samuel Whitney on September 24, 1850, “The land could be received and immediately appropriated, as far as it was capable, to sustaining the missionary cause.”

“It was never my privilege to be a pupil at the Punahou Mission School but I can well remember how in summer days, when the heat was great and we were wont, for a change, to dwell in the humble cottage which stood here, an older sister and myself used to start out on foot to cross the dusty and arid plain two miles to Kawaiahao to attend the little mission school held in Dr. Judd’s back yard, the germ of this college.”

“Memory goes back sixty-six years to the delights of this refreshing spot, where, after the long weary walks of the day, I was wont to meet a mother’s welcome, and to refresh myself, not in this magnificent bathing tank so near at hand, but in an artificial pond originally constructed by my father for purposes of irrigation …”

“I remember with what delight I used to paddle about in my boat, only a box, in a fresh pond close to the spring. I remember how I was wont to stroll in the cool, shady spots so romantic to me in childhood among the banana trees which grew by the side of the taro patches”.

“… how in this cottage we children eagerly listened to the reading of “the Rollo Books” when they first appeared, and how we rejoiced over the toys as one by one they were taken from the box just arrived from around Cape Horn.”

“Finally, I remember how, in a neighboring shady grove, just a few yards makai of this cottage, not long before we went forth from it (was it prophetic?), I tried to sing with my sister the anthem ‘Daughter of Zion, awake from thy sadness,’ which we had heard sung by the choir in the old Bethel on King street.”

“Those were happy days, but they are forever gone. I would not have them back. It is enough for me, full enough that I have the memory of them, that in my oId age I hear the merry voices of the rising student generations as after school hours of faithful study they gleefully roam this campus, seeking rest and recreation”

“(M)y heart will to the last, beat with joy at the remembrance of the gift of my father and the continued prosperity of Oahu College.”

“In your walks through these shady avenues, kind friends, will you not once and again linger a moment here to reread this inscription (which I now unveil) and call to mind the labors of love which my dear father put forth in this city for the redemption of Hawaiʻi, and his parting gift, Punahou?” (Hiram Bingham II, April 19, 1905)

“The memorial tablet is a simple but beautiful affair. On a grass mound in the shape of a truncated pyramid is a pedestal of lava rock on which is a great rough lava boulder hewn out from the slopes of Rocky Hill.”

“On its rough face is an oval bronze tablet bearing in simple raised letters this inscription:” (Ceremonies In Memory of the Pioneer Missionary Rev Hiram Bingham, April 19, 1905)

“On This Spot
Stood The Home Of The
Rev. Hiram Bingham
Who Gave This Broad Estate
To The Cause Of
Christian Education”

(Hiram and Sybil Bingham are my great-great-great grandparents.)

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BinghamTablet-(Punahou Archives Photo)

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April 13, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

For the Sake of Public Health

Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives presents it’s highly popular Cemetery Pupu Theatre series with a new set of historical characters.

These programs are waaay cool.

Actors are dressed in period costume, telling the life events of select individuals buried at O‘ahu Cemetery, at their respective grave sites.

Each ‘stage’ is at the respective subject’s gravesite at Oʻahu Cemetery in Nuʻuanu. There was nothing ghoulish about it; rather, it was very effective storytelling.

Cemetery Pupu Theatre takes us back to our shared history and allows us to “meet” people who have influenced Hawaiian history and hear their stories.

The scripts are researched and documented, making Cemetery Pupu Theatre a unique presentation of real history.

“For the Sake of the Public Health” presents a series of people who were intimately involved with the health, care and welfare of the people of Hawaiʻi.

Hawaiʻi faced many public health crises and had many healthcare needs during the days of the Kingdom, the Republic and the Territory.

Each person has an interesting and important story to share that sheds light on the challenges faced by doctors and victims of disease.

They are: the first licensed female physician in the islands tending to the needs of women and children; a dentist turned politician; a doctor who dedicated his life to fight against the Great White Plague of Tuberculosis; a doctor who did leprosy research at Kalihi Leper Hospital; and a victim of the 1853 smallpox epidemic.

These people who shaped health care in our islands today, help us remember those who have gone before us were public servants, and witnessed history.

Dr Archibald Sinclair (portrayed by Richard Valasek,) the founding director of Lēʻahi Hospital and an important pioneer in immunology who sought a cure for Tuberculosis.

Haliʻa is a composite character (portrayed by Karen Kualana) who was a victim of the 1853 smallpox epidemic in which 6,000 people died, 8% of the Kingdom’s population.

Dr John Mott-Smith (portrayed by Adam LeFebvre,) Hawaiʻi’s first royal dentist, who also negotiated both Reciprocity Treaties and was the Kingdom’s last ambassador to the United States.

Dr Sarah Eliza Pierce Emerson (portrayed by Karen Valasek,) Hawaiʻi’s first licensed female doctor, who was on the Board of Examiners for the Oʻahu Insane Asylum.

Dr William L. Moore (portrayed by Dezmond Gilla,) a member of the board of Health and superintendent of the Hilo Hospital, and was involved in searching for a cure for Leprosy.

Mike Smola and others at Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives researched the scripts.

William Haʻo directed “For the Sake of the Public Health.” He has performed in Hawaiian Mission Houses’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as all four Cemetery Pupu Theatre shows.

Carlyon Wolfe was the costume designer. She is currently the staff designer for Mānoa Valley Theatre. She has earned four Hawaiʻi State Theatre Council Poʻokela design awards for her efforts.

This sold out program was presented in June 2014 (with an encore in 2015.) If you weren’t one of the fortunate ones to see it live, the links will take you to the respective performances.

Click HERE for a link to the Mission Houses Calendar.

Don’t miss the Cemetery Pupu Theatre, or any of the other great programs at Mission Houses. (Lots of info here from Mission Houses.)

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Dr Archibald Sinclair (portrayed by Richard Valasek)

Haliʻa a composite character (portrayed by Karen Kualana)

Dr John Mott-Smith (portrayed by Adam LeFebvre)

Dr Sarah Eliza Pierce Emerson (portrayed by Karen Valasek)

Dr William L. Moore (portrayed by Dezmond Gilla)

April 5, 2015 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Happy Easter

February 27, 2015 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Food Forest

It’s not food for human use – it’s a forest managed to provide habitat and food for recovering endangered bird species.

The Keauhou Bird Conservation Center (KBCC) Discovery Forest is a project and part of Hawaiʻi Forest Institute’s (HFI) Mahalo ʻĀina: Give Back to the Forest Program.

HFI’s Mahalo ʻĀina: Give Back to the Forest program seeks to expand public and private partnerships to gain support for the protection and perpetuation of Hawaii’s forest resources.

The objectives of the KBCC Discovery Forest are to:
• Restore an endemic forest canopy with koa;
• Restore an endemic forest understory with fruiting trees and shrubs;
• Improve habitat quality for endemic wild birds;
• Provide hands-on experiential education for local students; and
• Provide forest materials (fruits, browse, and perching) for captive birds KBCC.

Using captive propagation and release techniques, KBCC is reestablishing self-sustaining populations of critically endangered Hawaiian birds in the wild.

The Hawai‘i Endangered Bird Conservation Program breeds endangered Hawaiian birds in captivity, for release back into the wild.

For Phase I, HFI began work with KBCC and other community partners to create the Discovery Forest with 1,200 koa and other native trees. This project is providing service learning opportunities for youth volunteers and helping to develop habitat and food for native birds.

Koa trees are an essential part of native Hawaiian forests. They improve soil quality through a chemical process called nitrogen fixation, allowing other native plants, like the fruiting trees necessary for native bird life, to grow in the nutrient-poor, lava-based soil.

In addition, koa are the dominant crown cover in some areas, providing watershed protection and playing a large part in Hawaiian culture.

Koa is important from a conservation perspective because it provides habitat for native plants and animals. Although birds do not eat koa fruit, they forage on insects on and within the tree itself, and use cavities in koa for nesting.

Once a koa forest is established, understory fruiting species that are key to the diets of rare bird species can be planted in the area. Fruiting species include hōawa, kōlea, maile, māmaki, māmane, ‘ōhelo, ‘ōlapa, pilo and ‘ie’ie. (San Diego Zoo)

Notable long-term program efforts and successes include:
• Nēnē – (the State Bird) recovering from fewer than 50 birds to nearly 2,000
• ʻAlala – captive flock that has grown to 95
• Puaiohi – recovering from only a few dozen to approximately 500 (found only on Kaua‘i)
• Palila – a new population has been established on the north slope of Mauna Kea

The trees planted school groups are the beginning of a new native tree forest that will support the native bird species in the future.

This site, at an elevation of about 4,000-feet, was once grazed by cattle and was primarily covered in non-native kikuyu grass; forest restoration helps add to the existing collection of native species.

The land is owned by Kamehameha Schools and leased to KBCC, which is part of the Hawaiʻi Endangered Bird Conservation Program, a partnership between the San Diego Zoo Global Institute for Conservation Research, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and DLNR’s Division of Forestry and Wildlife.

The project to re-establish the koa forest has been funded through the support of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation and the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority. The koa seedlings were donated by the Three Mountain Alliance.

HFI was awarded a DLNR Division of Forestry & Wildlife (DOFAW) Forest Stewardship Program grant to develop a forest stewardship plan for the approximately 200-acre Discovery Forest site. (HFI)

Click the following link for more on Mahalo ʻĀina: Give Back to the Forest Program.
http://www.mahaloaina.org

I am honored and proud to serve as a director on the Hawaiʻi Forest Institute, an organization dedicated to promote the health and productivity of Hawaiʻi’s forests, through forest restoration, educational programs, information dissemination and support for scientific research.

Among other projects The Mahalo ‘Āina: Give Back to the Forest will benefit Kaʻūpūlehu Dryland Forest, LaʻiʻŌpua Dryland Habitat Preserve, Kaloko Makai Dryland Forest Preserve, Panaʻewa Zoo Discovery Forest, ʻĀina Mauna Christmas Tree Demonstration Project and Honolulu Zoo Children’s Discovery Forest. (Lots of information and images here is from HFI.)

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