“One hundred [forty] years ago this past May, the University of Minnesota graduated its first African American student. Andrew Hilyer was one of only 34 graduates in the class of 1882. They and some 180 others attended college on a campus that consisted of exactly two buildings.” (University of Minnesota)
“His son, Gale Hilyer, followed his father at the University of Minnesota and earned both bachelor (‘12 and law (‘15) degrees from the University.” Gale’s daughter, Helene Hilyer, born March 23, 1918, followed them and graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Education in 1938.
Helene’s activities included membership in the sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha for African American women. The remainder of her activities focused on peace activism. The Minneapolis Spokesman lists her as an activist for the integration of student housing.
Helene Hilyer earned her master’s degree in 1941, but was unable to find a job teaching in Minnesota because no one would hire African Americans.
“After graduation, and I was there for about a year. And then I got married and we went down to Georgia. My husband [William J. Hale] taught at Fort Valley, Georgia. And that lasted about a year and then we moved around from place to place. We moved to New York and moved to other places.”
“I went down to Montgomery, Alabama, which was the home of my mother. But I had no relatives down there at that time, so I didn’t know anything. But I did go down to Tuskegee Institute and gave speeches on nonviolent resistance as practiced by [Mohandas (Mahatma)] Gandhi.”
“And I often wonder whether Martin Luther King, [Jr.], might have been down there about that time. But I don’t know. We had very small turnouts for things like that. But I did it long before Martin Luther King came along with his nonviolent resistant movement.”
The family ended up in San Diego and Helene “taught at San Diego State … My daughter was about two or three years old at that time. The interesting thing about that is that talking about the race problem, my husband and I are kinda light. We can pass for anything we want to.”
“But the first time we went to San Diego, [her husband’s] uncle – who was a Black doctor and quite active in the community as the spokesman for the Black community, or Negro community, as they called it in those days – got him a job in Consolidated Vultee Corp (aircraft builder).”
“[T]hey weren’t hiring any other races in the early part of the war, so they put him – with a master’s degree from Columbia University – sweeping the runway for the test planes.”
“[M]y sister-in-law had gone to Columbia and she was a very good friend of Florence Ahn [who was from Hawai‘i], they had roomed together at Columbia University. And Florence Ahn, became – I think she became a very famous singer afterwards.”
(Florence Ahn, was awarded a scholarship to the prestigious Julliard Graduate School of Music. In 1940, Florence was the first Asian-American to sing in the [Radio-Keith-Orpheum] RKO vaudeville theater stages in New York City, Boston, Washington, DC, and Florida.)
“Anyhow, my sister went to Hawai‘i and – my sister-in-law – and my husband went to visit her. And she sort of made us interested in Hawai‘i, when we found out more about it.”
“Don Blanding came to San Diego State College, where I was teaching.” (Blanding was an American poet, sometimes described as the Poet Laureate of Hawai‘i. He was also a journalist, cartoonist, author and speaker. He published daily poems in the Star Bulletin for two years in the 1920s.)
(Reportedly, Don Blanding, writing in his book ‘Hula Moons,’ explained the origins of Lei Day: “Along in the latter part of 1927 I had an idea; not that that gave me a headache, but it seemed such a good one that I had to tell some one about it so I told the editors of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, the paper on which I worked.”)
(“They agreed that it was a good idea and that we ought to present it to the public, which we proceeded to do. It took hold at once and resulted in something decidedly beautiful.” From that it grew and more and more people began to wear lei on May 1. In 1929, Governor Farrington signed a Lei Day proclamation.)
OK, back to Helene in San Diego … She “went to this convocation where [Blanding] spoke on Hawai’i. And he told about Kona. And that seemed to be just an ideal place. So I went home and I told my husband, ‘Kona is where we want to go.’ … So we came to Hawai‘i right after World War II, in 1947. And we came as schoolteachers.”
After their arrival, they opened the Menehune Book Store. Helene “taught at Konawaena [High School], both of us did. … my husband only taught for one year and he went and tried various things. … he started a business of candy machines and some other things.”
“From 1947 to 1950, Mrs. Hale … became very well integrated into the community … Yes, we were active in the Democratic party, which in those days was real radical, you know. I mean, in the plantation communities, if you met in Na‘alehu, I remember, you had to meet in the cane fields. So we went through that period in the development of the Democratic party, too.”
“In 1954, Helene Hale ran for public office as a County Supervisor. She won her election and became the first woman to hold a government office in Hawaiʻi since Queen Lili’uokalani.”
“After representing the west side of the island for 8 years, Hale was elected Chairman and Executive Officer of Hawaiʻi County, a position that would later be known as mayor. She was the first woman and the first black person to be elected mayor in Hawaiʻi.”
“One of her significant achievements during her term in office was the establishment of the annual Merrie Monarch Festival in honor of King Kalākaua, an event celebrating traditional Hawaiian culture and hula.” (YMCA)
“In 1963 Hawaiʻi island was struggling economically, stemming from the devastation of recent tsunami and the decline of sugar plantations along the Hāmākua coast. Helene Hale, the County of Hawaiʻi Chairwoman at the time, sought to give the island an economic boost by tapping into the burgeoning tourist industry.”
“Hale sent her Administrative Assistant, Gene Wilhelm, and her Promoter of Activities, George Naʻope, to explore the Lahaina Whaling Spree on Maui to see what lessons could be learned there. They returned inspired, and the seeds for the Merrie Monarch Festival were planted.”
“A committee was formed that included Gene Wilhelm (Chairman), Koshi Miyasaki (Vice-Chairman), Clifford Bowman, Arthur Evers, Ken Griffin, Ralph Lau, George Naʻope, Carl Rohner, Floyd Swnn, Steve Thorson, Thomas Unger, and William Weber. In 1964 the work of this committee resulted in the first Merrie Monarch Festival”. (Merrie Monarch Festival)
In 1967, William and Helene divorces; she married Richard Kiyota in 1978. “In 1980, Hale was re-elected to the Hawaiʻi County Council and served one two-year term. She returned to the Council again in 1992. In 2000 at the age of 82, she successfully ran for State Representative and her victory made her the first Black woman to serve in the Hawaiʻi State Legislature and the oldest person ever elected.”
“In the State House, Hale supported civil rights legislation, and, in 2002, she introduced a resolution urging the United States not to go to war in Iraq. In 2008, Hale was presented the Honolulu Hawai‘i NAACP’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Helene Hale retired at the age of 88 and died on February 1, 2013, at the age of 94 in Hilo, Hawaiʻi.” (YWCA)
Among Hale’s legacy is the Helene Hale Scholarship administered by the University of Hawai‘i Hilo for students who have intent to pursue a career as a teacher.
“The Heléne Hilyer Hale ‘Citizen of the World’ scholarship comes with the hope and expectation that the recipients will follow in her footsteps to make a difference in their communities, bring an international perspective, work for peace and justice, and spread the spirit of aloha.” (UH Foundation)
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