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December 31, 2025 by Peter T Young 3 Comments

North Pacific Missionary Institute

On October 1, 1872, the Hawaiian Evangelical Association Theological School opened its doors for men interested in a life of Christian ministry.

In its infancy, Rev John D Paris became the head of the institution, accompanied by Rev Dwight Baldwin and Rev Benjamin W Parker as instructors.

Recruitment of Native Hawaiian students was an ongoing problem. A year after the school opened Rev. Paris wrote, “Aka, auhea la ka nani o ke aupuni kanaka ole?! Auhea hoi ka pono o ke Kula Kahuna haumana ole?” (But where is the glory of the Kingdom without men? Where indeed is the value of the ministers’ school without students?) (Williams)

Beginning with 13 students, the school endeavored to graduate these men as ministers in order to send them on to more missionary work around the world, paying special attention to the Pacific.

The school’s three-year program curriculum included Bible History, Sacred Geography, Church History, Natural Theology, Evidences of Christianity, Christian Theology, Composition and Delivery of Sermons, and Pastoral Theology.

The Theological School took up residence within an older structure, previously used as a Marine Hospital, owned and operated by Dr. Gerrit P. Judd. It was located at the corner of what is today Punchbowl and South Beretania Streets in Honolulu (presently, where the Kalanimōku Building (DLNR & DAGS) is situated.) (In 1874, Paris retired and moved back to Kona.)

In 1877, Rev. Charles McEwen Hyde was sent to Hawaiʻi from Massachusetts to reorganize the school as the North Pacific Missionary Institute.

Hyde was former valedictorian at Williams College and graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary; he envisioned “a grand opportunity to do important service for Christ and for the world.” (Williams)

He quickly picked up the Hawaiian language in order to converse with the indigenous population, and began delivering his sermons in Hawaiian.

“With great skill and patience and energy he has conducted its affairs, and the Institute has been one of the most effective agencies for the support of Christian institutions at the Islands.”

“But Dr. Hyde’s energies were by no means confronted to this one seminary. He sought in every way to upbuild the native Hawaiian churches, and to promote the work of education in schools of all grades.”

“’From this institution has gone forth, under the training of Dr. Hyde, the whole circle of younger men who today fill the pastorate of the Hawaiian churches.’ And after referring to several of these pastors by name, it is well added: ‘These men are the best of witnesses to the faithful and painstaking service of this most indefatigable of teachers.’” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, December 13, 1899)

Hyde served as Principal until 1883, until resigning his position to the temporary care of Rev. Henry H. Parker.

In 1889, it was decided by the Hawaiian Board that a new building was to be erected that would accommodate the seminary’s students with better living and learning quarters. A wooden structure was built in 1890.

The building had 16-dormitories and several large lecture rooms for instruction. During construction, the students attended classes at Kawaiahaʻo Church.

“Eleven students had been under instruction, three of these having entered this year. Instruction is now given in the afternoons as well as the mornings. Friday afternoon and Saturday are the only times available for such work as may be available as a means of self-support.”

“It has been necessary therefor to supplement the meagre weekly cash allowance, granted by the Hawaiian Board, by the distribution of weekly rations of rice, bread, salmon and kerosene to each student. The students are not pampered children of ease by any means, but learn from the very first to endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 7, 1895)

“In the training which it furnishes to these leaders of the churches, the theological school affects the moral and religious life of the country. It holds the same relation to the ministerial profession that the law school does to the legal profession, or the medical college to the practice of medicine.”

“A well trained ministry is peculiarly necessary at the present time for the Hawaiian Islands. Everything is in a transition state, and a strong ministry is needed, which can hold to the good which has been achieved in the past and make it effective in the new order of things which is to come.” (Hawaiian Gazette, November 6, 1896)

“The work of the Institute in training Hawaiians for pastoral and missionary service has been carried on as heretofore. It has also been enlarged in its scope, so as to furnish more instruction through the use of the English language.”

“Rev. John Leadingham, formerly instructor in the Slavic department of the Oberlin Theological Seminary, has been appointed by the ABCFM Associate Instructor in the NPM Institute and began his work in November, 1894.” (Board of Education Report, 1896)

“Professor Leadingham’s lessons in English have not been confined to the students, but he has kindly consented to teach English to a class of young Hawaiian lawyers. Two Portuguese young men also, who wish to enter the gospel ministry, have been under instruction for the last three months.” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 7, 1895)

“The privileges of the Institute are now opened to other nationalities, and in addition to the 8 Hawaiian students, one Portuguese and one Chinese are taking the prescribed course of study. This extends over three years. In some instances, a fourth year is added for special study.”

“Of the thirty-six pastors now serving the fifty-five Hawaiian Evangelical churches, twenty-five are graduates of the NPM Institute. Besides these there are six graduates engaged in foreign missionary work in the Gilbert Islands.” (Board of Education Report, 1896)

In 1900, Leadingham became the Principal (he left the islands in 1904.) The Hawaiian Board later redirected its efforts into the consolidation of Kawaiahaʻo Seminary, Mills Institute and the Japanese Boarding School into the Mid-Pacific Institute.

The “first great step in the development of its higher educational work by purchasing between thirty-six and thirty-seven acres of land in Mānoa Valley – the Kidwell estate. Upon this it is proposed to locate the Mid-Pacific Institute”.

“In making this purchase the Board has parted with the premises of the North Pacific Missionary Institute on Punchbowl street to the Methodist church” (and, in between, the Korean School.) (Hawaiian Star, May 18, 1907) (Lots of information here is from Williams and Mission Houses.)

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Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Schools Tagged With: Missionaries, John Davis Paris, North Pacific Missionary Institute, Charles McEwen Hyde, John Leadingham, Hawaii, Oahu

December 5, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hawaiians Study Abroad

In 1880, the Legislative Assembly appropriated $15,000 for the “Education of Hawaiian Youths in Foreign Countries, to be expended in the actual education of the youths, and not traveling and sight seeing”. (Session Laws, 1880)

Subsequently, a Board consisting of the Board of Education and the Minister of Foreign Affairs was proposed to “have the management of the education of Hawaiian youths in foreign countries.” (Proceedings, 1880 Legislative Assembly)

This was a program designed and implemented by King Kalākaua.

From 1880 to 1887, 18 young Hawaiians attended schools in six countries where they studied engineering, law, foreign language, medicine, military science, engraving, sculpture and music.
A ‘studies abroad program,’ as it would be called today, was designed to ensure a pool of gifted and highly schooled Hawaiians who would enable the government to fill important positions in the foreign ministry and other governmental branches.

Seventeen promising young men and one young woman were sent on government funds to the four corners of the world: five to Italy, four to the U.S., three to England, three to Scotland, two to Japan and one to China. Several other students went abroad on funds of their own. (Schweizer)

Kalākaua personally selected the participants in his education program and probably planned to groom these young Hawaiians to become future leaders in his monarchy. Several of the youths were descended from Hawaiian aliʻi (nobility.) Several were the offspring of leaders in Kalākaua’s government.

As members of Hawai’i’s leading social families, some of the students had mingled with visiting dignitaries and intellectuals. Most of Kalākaua’s protégé’s had attended Honolulu’s best private schools where they had studied Latin and the Classics.

They were young Hawaiians with a heritage and background to indicate that they would benefit from an education abroad.

Kalākaua selected Robert William Wilcox, Robert Napuʻuako Boyd and James Kanaholo Booth as the first students in his program. They sailed from Hawaiʻi to San Francisco on August 30, 1880.

Once in Italy, Wilcox was enrolled in the Royal Academy of Civil and Military Engineers in Turin, Boyd in the Royal Naval Academy at Leghorn and Booth in the Royal Military Academy in Naples. (Late in 1884, Booth died from cholera in Naples.)

Early in 1887, two more Hawaiian youths traveled to Italy to study, accompanied by Colonel Sam Nowlein, an officer in Kalākaua’s Royal Guards. August Hering wanted to learn sculpture and Maile Nowlein, Colonel Nowlein’s daughter, and the only female participant in the Hawaiian studies abroad program, would study art and music.

In the summer of 1882, Colonel Charles Judd escorted Henry Kapena, Hugo Kawelo, Joseph Kamauʻoha, John Lovell, Mathew Makalua, Abraham Piʻianaiʻa and Thomas Spencer to the US and Great Britain.

Spencer was enrolled in St Matthew’s School in San Mateo, California (“one of the best schools for boys in California, and acknowledged to be the best military-discipline school in the state.” (Thrum, 1885))

In 1885, two more Hawaiians, Prince David Kawananakoa and Thomas P Cummins, also enrolled at St Matthew’s. Both young men had previously attended Punahou School. Kawananakoa later studied at Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, England.

Piʻianaiʻa and Makalua were enrolled at St Chad’s, a preparatory school in Denstone, England. Kamauʻoha was admitted to King’s College in London (he died there in 1886.)

In November of 1882, Judd entered John Lovell, Hugo Kawelo, and Henry Kapena as apprentices at the Scotland Street Iron Works in Glasgow.

Also in 1882, James Kapaʻa, James Hakuʻole and Isaac Harbottle sailed for the Orient. That year, Hawaiʻi negotiated to bring Japanese to the Islands to work on the sugar plantations.

Hakuʻole and Harbottle, brothers aged 10 and 11 years old respectively, disembarked in Japan; Kapaʻa went to China. The government planned that the Hawaiian youths would be trained in the Asian languages and culture and then use their knowledge to aid in the government’s immigration plans.

Henry Grube Marchant was the last participant to be appointed in Kalākaua’s program; he trained in Boston in the art of engraving. He also sought “to learn the art of photographing upon the wooden block and such other branches of business that would enable him to become a good wood engraver in all branches of his work.”

Then, in 1887, following the ‘Bayonet Constitution’ and the curtailing of Kalākaua’s power, the “Reform Cabinet” cut the expenditures for Kalākaua’s education program and called most of the students home. (lots of information here is from Quigg.

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Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Schools, Economy, General Tagged With: James Kapaa, Henry Kapena, James Hakuole, Hugo Kawelo, Isaac Harbottle, Hawaii, Joseph Kamauoha, Henry Marchant, Punahou, John Lovell, August Hering, Robert Wilcox, Mathew Makalau, Maile Nowlein, Charles Judd, Abraham Piianaia, Sam Nowlein, Nowlein, Thomas Spencer, David Kawananakoa, Hawaiian Studies Abroad, Thomas Cummins, Robert Boyd, St Matthew's School, James Booth

November 16, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Hilo Teachers School

The arrival of the first company of American missionaries in Hawai­ʻi in 1820 marked the beginning of Hawaiʻi’s phenomenal rise to literacy. The missionaries were the teachers and the chiefs became proponents for education and edicts were enacted by the King and the council of chiefs to stimulate the people to reading and writing.

Reverend David Belden Lyman and his wife, Sarah Joiner Lyman arrived in Hawai‘i in 1832, members of the fifth company of missionaries sent to the Islands by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions.

When the arrived in Hilo … “there were no foreign residents, save the Missionaries who proceeded us. There was but one frame building in this region, that built by Mr. [Joseph] Goodrich.”

“There were no roads, only footpaths, no fences and the Wailuku River was crossed on a plank … I might add that there were no trees except the breadfruit, which were abundant and flourishing. Coconut trees fringed the beach. The people were numerous and had a healthy look … very friendly.”

“A few schooners, owned by the chiefs, came here occasionally, not to bring blessings to the natives, but to levy contributions of tapa, nuts, dried fish, pigs, etc …” (Sarah Joiner Lyman; Lothian)

The missionaries soon saw that the future of the Congregational Mission in Hawaii would be largely dependent upon the success of its schools. 

The proliferation of schoolhouses was augmented by the printing of 140,000 copies of the pī­ʻāpā (elementary Hawaiian spelling book) by 1829 and the staffing of the schools with 1,000-plus Hawaiian teachers.  (Laimana)

In 1830 “Mr. [Lorrin] Andrews left Lahaina to go to the aid of the Hilo Station and he started a school for the improvement of the teachers.” (Lothian)

In 1831, Lahainaluna Seminary, was created in Maui to be a school for teachers and preachers so that they could teach on the islands. The Mission then established “feeder schools” that would transmit to their students’ fundamental reading, writing, and arithmetic skills, and religious training, before admission to the Lahainaluna.

By 1831, in just eleven years from the first arrival of the missionaries, Hawaiians had built 1,103 schoolhouses. This covered every district throughout the eight major islands and serviced an estimated 52,882 students.  (Laimana)

In 1832, “The school system was admirable for the times; there being school buildings through the two districts at convenient distances for all to attend, and they did pretty generally attend. And all whose eyes were not dim with age learned to read.”

“Each school had two sets of teachers, and whilst one was teaching, the other was here attending the teachers school, which was taught by the missionaries.” (Sarah Joiner Lyman; Lothian)

On January 6, 1835, “our children’s (Station) school commenced, eighty children present, sixty knew their letters. A number of the more forward (ie. advanced) children are employed as monitors to assist the less forward.”

In 1836, “For several years the forming of a boy’s boarding school had been discussed at the Annual Meetings and while they were all in favor of said venture they were not sure of its success; no one had offered to start a school.”

“At the 1836 meeting it was decided that the school should be in Hilo ….. ‘leaving it for the brothern to decide as to who should develop the much desired thing. The great object in view was to train more intelligent teachers for the common schools. So we were given carte blanche for the Island of Hawaii.’” (Sarah Joiner Lyman Journal; Lothian)

“Mr. Abner Wilcox, who had arrived with the recent Company that spring [1836], was assigned to Hilo to take charge of the teachers school and the educational department of the boarding school [Hilo Boarding School].”

In October 1836, two thatch houses were constructed near Lyman’s house and on October 3 the school opened with eight boarders, but the number soon increased to twelve.

The school was operated to an extent on a manual labor program and the boys cultivated the land to produce their own food. (The boys’ ages ranged from seven to fourteen.)

“Mr. Lyman who was brought up on a farm had an abiding faith in the value of manual labor; and his work in Hilo had convinced him that such activity in both primitive and introduced vocation was as necessary as book learning during the period of transition from one culture to another.”  (Lothian)

Hilo Boarding School, under the leadership of the Lymans, was an immediate success. In 1837, six graduates were sent to Lahainaluna Seminary.

At first, greater emphasis was placed upon producing teachers and preachers than upon molding farmers or craftsmen.  However, with the loss of Lahainaluna to the government, the Hilo school became reoriented to stress vocational training.

Hilo Boarding School was never a purely vocational institution, however, its founder’s focus of educating the head, heart and hand carried throughout its history (rigorous academic drills (Head), religious/moral (Heart) and manual/vocational (Hand) training).

In 1839, the old thatch buildings were torn down and Lyman purchased the entire first shipment of lumber to arrive in Hilo to build a new school building, as well as a cookhouse and infirmary which would accommodate sixty to seventy boys.

The new school building lodged fifty-five pupils in its first year, most of them coming from outside Hilo.  In 1840, sugar cultivation commenced on adjacent mission land, and was worked entirely by the boys of the school along with a “monthly concert” of labor by all members of the parish. The cane was probably ground in a Chinese-owned mill in Hilo.

Lahainaluna was transferred from being operated by the American missionaries to the control of the Hawaiian Monarchy in 1849.  (By 1864, only Lahainaluna graduates were considered qualified to hold government positions such as lawyers, teachers, district magistrates and other important posts.)

“The fact that Lahainaluna became a Government and the public schools starting high schools started the Hilo Boarding school moving into a new era. The Boarding School began as an academic institution whose purpose was to teach boys and young men and prepare them so they could attend Lahainaluna School and … come out as teachers and ministers”. (Lothian)

More than one-third of the boys who had attended Hilo Boarding School eventually became teachers in the common schools of the kingdom. In 1850 the Minister of Public Instruction, Richard Armstrong, reported that Hilo Boys School “is one of our most important schools. It is the very life and soul of our common school on that large island.”

Common schools (where the 3 Rs were taught) sprang up in villages all over the islands.  In these common schools, classes and attendance were quite irregular, but nevertheless basic reading and writing skills (in Hawaiian) and fundamental Christian doctrine were taught to large numbers of people.  (Canevali)

The Hilo Boarding School closed in 1925, although its facilities were used for several years thereafter.  It first became a community center.

Then, in 1947, it was the first home of the Hilo Branch of the University of Hawaiʻi a center of the University Extension Division.  UH programs expanded there with a permanent summer school in 1948 – then, in 1949, the institution changed its name to University of Hawaiʻi, Hilo center (which later moved to its present site on Lanikāula Street, in 1955.)

All of the Hilo Boarding School buildings are gone; in 1980 the Hilo Center affiliated with the Boy’s Clubs of America – Hilo Boys and Girls Club now occupies the site.

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Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Schools Tagged With: Lorrin Andrews, Hilo Boarding School, Abner Wilcox, Hilo Teachers School, Hawaii, Hilo, Lahainaluna, David Lyman

October 17, 2025 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Ida May Pope

“Kamehameha Girls School Last Night – The first commencement of the Girls’ School took place in Kaumakapili Church last night before an audience of something like 2,000 people, the largest number ever gathered together in the native place of worship.”

“This very generous attendance showed the interest that the people of Honolulu have in the work that is being done by Miss Pope and her corps of worthy assistants.”

“Miss Pope’s work with the girls cannot be too highly praised, and she and her assistants may feel justly proud that they have sent forth into the world Hawaiian girls who are eminently capable to take their places as trainers of the young Hawaiians.” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 6, 1897)

“These are the young ladies of the school who graduated this year: Lydia Aholo, Julia Akana, Kalei Ewaliko, Miriama Hale, Lewa Iokia, Helen Kahaleahu, Elizabeth Kahanu, Malie Kapali, Hattie Kekalohe, Elizabeth Kaliinoi, Keluia Kiwaha, Julia Lovell, Jessie Mahoahoa, Elizabeth Waiamau, and Aoe Wong Kong.” (Kuokoa, July 2, 1897)

Ida May Pope was born in Crestline, Ohio July 30, 1862 to Dr William and Cornelia Waring Pope. She was the third child among seven.

Though her father was a doctor, he also co-patented the Franz-Pope device “to provide an improved mechanism for taking up the slack of the yarn, which occurs in knitting the heels and toes of stockings.” (Franz and Pope)

Ms Pope “was a graduate of Oberlin University and for many months held a responsible position in one of the educational institutions at Columbus supported by the State of Ohio.”

Then, “in August 1890, Miss Ida M Pope left for Honolulu to accept a position in the Kawaiahaʻo seminary. This talented young lady is one of the most efficient teachers ever raised in this community.”

“Miss Pope remained a teacher in the seminary one year. The gentlemen in charge of the seminary appreciated her faithful efforts and appointed her principal of the institution.”

In 1893, Miss Pope was granted a vacation to visit some of the best industrial schools on the continent and was given authority to employ seven young ladies to assist in Kawaiahaʻo Seminary. The education work made rapid progress and the seminary was so successful that it was determined to increase the corps of teachers and add an industrial department to the work.

“Among the seven teachers employed are three well known to the citizens of this community, who left yesterday afternoon with Miss Pope. These are Miss Bertha Sears, Mrs Ida Sturgeon and Miss Jennie Denzer. … They will sail from San Francisco on August 17 and reach Honolulu August 24.” (Bucyrus (Ohio) Journal; Hawaiian Gazette, August 29, 1893)

Then, on December 19 1894, the second stage of establishing the Kamehameha Schools was accomplished when the Kamehameha School for Girls was begun. The site was on the makai of King Street opposite the campus of the then school for boys (across from what is now Farrington High School.)

The first principal of the school was Ida May Pope; she was a strong-minded, energetic Midwesterner who picked her own teachers; the first, like her, were all single women from the mainland.

“Pope set a tone to discipline the Hawaiianness of her girls. ‘Constant and consistent restraint is the way to control the careless, joyous, happy-go-lucky nature of the Hawaiian.’” (Broken Trust)

“The object of the school is to furnish a carefully arranged, practical education to Hawaiian girls of thirteen years of age and over, qualifying them for service at home, for wage-earning in some handicraft, or as teachers in the government schools. The number of pupils is limited to eighty.” (Pope; The Friend)

The school has offered two courses—an English and a Normal course. The schoolroom work includes drill in the common branches, algebra, Hawaiian and general history, literature, elementary science, embracing physiology, botany, zoology, chemistry and physics.

We hope to see a fruit orchard, where the mango, orange, lime, papaya, and pear will flourish, and a garden that will supply vegetables for the table and flowers in abundance.”

“We cannot make farmers of Hawaiian girls, but we can train them to beautify their homes and supply their tables with flowers, fruit, and vegetables raised by their labor; and we can give them an insight into the keeping and caring for well-ordered homes and grounds.”

“The general housework of the school – cooking, laundering, and the care of public and private rooms – is done by the pupils. Games—tennis, croquet, basket and tower ball, afford ample relaxation and recreation. Mondays are holidays. Saturday evenings the pupils gather in the assembly hall or gymnasium for literary or social entertainments.” (Pope; The Friend)

Pope was referred to by the girls as Mother Pope or Mama Pope. During the last few years of her life, she also took on personal responsibility for a young child. The girl, Gladys, was the only daughter in a household with five older sons. Pope took Gladys as her hānai daughter (we knew her as Gladys Brandt (1906-2003.))

Miss Ida May Pope died on July 14, 1914, while on a teacher recruiting trip. “The death of Miss Pope is an irretrievable loss to the Kamehameha Schools and to the Hawaiian race.” (Albert F Judd)

“She gave herself to the cause of mothering Hawaiian girls, so many of whom had no real mothers. In this service she never spared herself and to it she sacrificed her life.” (LC Hudson)

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Ida-Pope
First Graduating Class of the Kamehameha School for Girls-(KSBE)-1897
Kamehameha_School_for_Girls-makai-Diamond Head corner of King and Kalihi Streets.(KSBE)
KSG-Front-Entrance-at-Kawiula
KSG sewing-KSBE
KSG nursing class-KSBE
KSG ironing-KSBE
KSG Founder’s Day at Mauna ‘Ala 1902-KSBE
KSG cooking class c1900-KSBE

Filed Under: Prominent People, Schools Tagged With: Hawaii, Kamehameha Schools, Ida May Pope

September 11, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Normal School

One of the first ‘Normal’ schools, the École Normale Supérieure (“Normal Superior School,”) was established in Paris in 1794. Based on various German exemplars, the school was intended to serve as a model for other teacher-training schools. Later it became affiliated with the University of Paris. (Britannica)

On July 3, 1839, three young women reported to Lexington, Massachusetts, with hopes of attending the first state funded school specifically established for public teacher education (what were then referred to as ‘normal’ schools.)

A normal school is a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose is to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name. Most such schools are now called teachers’ colleges.

In Hawaiʻi, as early as 1845, a Department of Education was organized with its own Minister. Two years later, the position of Inspector General of Schools was established.

In 1895, it was decided that the work of instructing the teachers already in the employ of the Department should be undertaken by the Summer School and the preparation of those wishing to enter the service, by a special Normal class in the High School.

This class has developed into the Normal and Training School, the only Normal School in the Territory (1895,) it trained elementary school teachers; it was first housed at Honolulu High School (former Hale Keōua, home of Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani – the site of the present Central Middle School.)

James L Dumas was hired by the Department of Public Instruction to head the government’s normal school (he had been teaching teachers at Lahainaluna.) In his initial year, he had 29-students, ten of whom were only 16-years of age and with an eighth-grade education.

At his request, the Board of Education agreed to build a ‘practice school’ for his teacher students; two classrooms were added to the site as a training school for the normal school. A later disagreement with the Board led to Dumas’ resignation. (Logan)

In 1899, the Normal and Training School moved to the old Fort Street School. This change of location made possible a much needed enlargement of the training department as well as a considerable development of the other departments.

The course was changed from a two years’ course to a four years’ course for graduates of the grammar school and a one year course for graduates of a regular four years’ course in a High School. Certificates were granted to those completing three years of the four years’ course. (TN&TS, 1910)

In 1900, when Hawaiʻi became a territory of the US, the position of Minister of Education became that of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Although changes in the school system have taken place from time to time, the large administrative unit as a whole, has remained. (Wist, 1922)

Honolulu Normal and Training School relocated to Lunalilo and Quarry streets in 1905 and was given a new name, Territorial Normal and Training School. (TGI)

The purpose of the school was (a) to aid the student in acquiring the art of teaching by practice under intelligent direction, and to instruct him in the science of education; (b) to teach the subject-matter of the elementary and High School courses, and such subject-matter of collegiate rank as will give background for the work of teaching and supervision. (TN&TS)

The Normal and Training School occupied two buildings; the main building was 100 by 70 feet and had three stories and a basement. It is of Flemish bond brick with terra cotta trimmings.

On the first floor are six class rooms, an office, a supply room, a library, and a cloak room. On the second floor are eight class rooms, and on the third two class rooms and an assembly hall.

The Manual Training building, near the main building, had two rooms. One room was devoted to woodwork and the other to domestic science. There are benches for about twenty pupils per period in the woodworking room, and accommodations for the same number in the room devoted to domestic science. (TN&TS, 1910)

Although the program had grown steadily, it had not been able to furnish enough teachers to keep pace with the rapidly increasing population. The Department appointed approximately 200-new teachers yearly; about half of these were trained locally in the Normal School, the other half being imported from the mainland US. (Wist)

Since the Normal School trains elementary teachers only, the University  opened a department of education for the training of high-school teachers, all of whom had previously been imported. (Wist, 1922)

“During the past year (1924,) the Territorial Normal School was placed on the list of accredited teachers’ colleges of the United States. It is rapidly becoming an institution that will rank with the best mainland normal schools.”

“High-school graduation is the entrance requirement for all students. The two-year Course is equivalent to two years of college work. (Report of the Governor, 1924)

“In 1929, the Territorial Normal School, which had outgrown its buildings on the side of Punchbowl, acquired land at the corner of University Avenue and Metcalf Street, and a building plus an annex were erected.”

“A large campus with several buildings was planned for the site. However, in 1931, the legislature merged the TNS with the University (of Hawaiʻi,) creating the Teachers College (TC) … (in 1951) the Regents named the TC Building Wist Hall.” (UCLA)

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Filed Under: Schools Tagged With: Hawaii, School, Territorial Normal School

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