Central Union Church

January 5, 2025 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Progress Block

“A few years ago even the most progressive citizens of the Paradise of the Pacific would state that there was ‘nothing in real estate’ in Honolulu, and every man with money was chasing after sugar stock or doubling his coin in the business which justly, if not politely, must be described as usury.”

” New blood and fresh ideas were wanted to shake up the community from the lethargy in which every body apparently had fallen.” (The Independent, April 25, 1898)

“One day CS Desky arrived on the scene, and it didn’t take him very long before he had realized the wonderful opportunities which the islands offered …. Desky treated the public to surprise after surprise. … The new Progress Block erected by him … deserves a special mention being the best finished and up-to-date building ever seen in Honolulu.” (The Independent, April 25, 1898)

But, wait – that is getting ahead of the story. Let’s look back; in doing so, we’ll see some history related to some familiar Honolulu institutions.

With a growing maritime industry in the Islands, in 1833, the Seamen’s Friend Society sent Rev John Diell to establish a chapel in Honolulu; the Bethel Chapel and the seamen’s chaplaincy were dedicated on November 28, 1833, in a service attended by “the king, Kīnaʻu, and the principal chiefs … together with a respectable number of residents, masters of vessels and seamen.”

As the population of the town continued to grow, it became evident there was a need to form a separate and self-supporting church; so, in 1852, the Second Foreign Church in Honolulu came into existence. In 1856, they built a permanent house of worship at the corner of Fort and Beretania streets and the name of the organization was changed to the Fort Street Church of Honolulu.

The Fort Street English Day School was officially established in 1865; it met in the basement of the Fort Street Church. The Fort Street School was split in 1895 into Kaʻiulani Elementary School and Honolulu High School (the high school moved into Keōua Hale – former residence of Princess Ruth Keʻelikōlani (now the site of the Central Intermediate School.)) (Later (1907,) the Honolulu High School moved again; that year it changed its name to McKinley High School (Oʻahu’s oldest public high school.))

In April 1887, Fort Street Church prepared a proposal to reunite the Bethel and itself into a new organization, and from that time until the formal union, the two churches worshipped together. Selection of the new church’s name was settled by vote; the final result was Central Union 28, Church of the Redeemer 18, and Bethel Union 1.

Thus, Central Union Church began its existence. The original congregation numbered 337 members – 250 from the Fort Street Church, 72 from Bethel Union, 13 from other churches and 2 on confession of faith at the first service. By 1888, increased church membership made it apparent that the Central Union congregation was outgrowing the Fort Street building.

All of these activities (with the Church and School using, then leaving the property) eventually freed up the site at the corner of Fort and Beretania Street (the former home of what are now Central Union Church and McKinley High School.) This is across the Fort Street Mall from the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.

Several newspaper articles help explain what happened next. The July 27, 1897 issue of the Hawaiian Gazette starts it off with a front page headline reading, “Progress Block.”

“Plans have just been completed at the offices of Ripley & Dickey (Clinton Briggs Ripley and Charles William “CW” Dickey,) architects, for the Progress building, to be erected at the corner of Fort and Beretania streets, according to the orders of CS Desky, proprietor.”

“The Progress building is to be built out of the native rock that is now being so much used in the construction of the latest improved business blocks that have recently been put up in the city, and, taken all in all, it is to be the most beautiful business block in the city, with the very best and most convenient of situations.” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 27, 1897)

Stores fronting on Fort street are on the first floor; the second floor will have 11 suites of offices (with first-class lavatories and two broad corridors) and the third floor will be the “crowning feature” of the whole building (amusement hall and ball room.) (Hawaiian Gazette, July 27, 1897)

“The floor of the hall will be polished and waxed for dancing, and a canvas covering will be on hand at all times, to be used during concerts and entertainments. The whole building will be most elegantly finished, and the furnishings will be of the very best.” (Hawaiian Gazette, July 27, 1897)

“Ground will be broken on the old church property at Fort and Beretania streets next Monday for a three-story stone store and office building that is to contain the finest amusement hall west of San Francisco … to be known as the Progress block.” (Hawaiian Star, June 25, 1897)

“When Mr CS Desky’s Progress Block, corner of Fort and Beretania, is completed, which will be in about three months, Honolulu will have practically a second up-town theater. The hall on the third floor of the Progress building will be a regular little bijou of a music-hall. There will be a stage of good size and the main auditorium will seat 800 people.” (Hawaiian Gazette, February 1, 1898)

“Mr Dusky bought the large tract of land known as the Irwin homestead with frontages on Chaplain Lane, Fort street and Beretania street … he has erected the magnificent Progress building which is an ornament to the city and a credit to the owner to the architect and the builder.”

“In a few weeks the building will be delivered by the contractor to the owner and the public will have a chance to inspect and admire the structure which certainly is entitled to the name ‘Progress.’” (The Independent, April 25, 1898)

The building was completed in May 1898; by July, newspaper reports note that “every store and room in the building was rented.”

It is still here; however, what we see today is not a single building.

“Bruce Cartwright will now identify himself with the development of upper Fort street, yesterday he closed a deal with CS Desky for the purchase of the property just makai of the Progress block, and within ten days he will, it is slated, break ground for a three story stone and brick building, similar in construction and appearance to the Progress block. In fact the plans already prepared by Mr. Desky for an extension of his building will be used, with a few changes.” (Hawaiian Star, April 26, 1898)

“The makai wall of the present Progress Block will serve as the mauka wall of the new building. Arches will be made in this point wall and for the upper floors of the two blocks there will be used the same electric elevator.” (Hawaiian Gazette, May 6, 1898) Construction of Cartwright’s building started on May 4, 1898.

Some of the former users of the property returned; there are several references to Honolulu High School holding commencement exercises in Progress Hall. Others used the facilities, as well – including some ‘firsts’ in Hawaiʻi.

Progress Hall (“about the only available place at that time where meetings could be held”) ushered in the Elks (with 90 charter members, first initiation and installation took place April 15, 1901.) Likewise, the First Hebrew Congregation of Honolulu was formally organized at a meeting of some thirty of the Jewish residents of the city in Progress Hall Sunday afternoon, October 27, 1901.

In 1981, both buildings were completely gutted and a new interior designed of steel beams and heavy timber. Elevators, a new roof, central air conditioning, sprinkler systems, safety systems, new window designs and an entrance canopy were added. Some references say a fourth floor was added. (Burlingame)

Today, Hawaiʻi Pacific University occupies the Model Progress Building (it is not clear when the “Model” moniker was added to the building name;) uses include, Center for Student Life and First-Year Programs, Commuter Services, Dean of Students Office, ELS Language Center, faculty offices and spaces/uses for various departments and programs.

August 18, 2024 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Although Central Union Church does not owe its existence directly to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM,) its connection with that organization has always been so intimate that the two have worked hand in hand in the islands.

The history of Central Union Church dates back to the days of the Seaman’s Bethel Church.

In 1828, churchmen in Boston had founded the American Seamen’s Friend Society to supply Bibles and religious messages to the whaling and trading ships leaving for foreign waters.

In 1833, practically the only commercial interest in these islands centered around the fleet of whalers which each season filled Honolulu Harbor or anchored off-shore. That year, the Seamen’s Friend Society sent Rev. John Diell to establish a chapel in Honolulu.

The Bethel Chapel and the seamen’s chaplaincy were dedicated on November 28, 1833, in a service attended by “the king, Kinau, and the principal chiefs … together with a respectable number of residents, masters of vessels and seamen.”

The growing population of the town led some to believe that it was time to leave the fold of the Seamen’s Friend Society and form a separate and self-supporting church, and by their efforts, in 1852, the Second Foreign Church in Honolulu came into existence.

Worshiping for four years in the old Court House, for many years known as the store of H. Hackfeld & Co., in 1856, they built a permanent house of worship at the corner of Fort and Beretania streets and the name of the organization was changed to the Fort Street Church of Honolulu.

In April 1887, Fort Street Church extended a formal proposal to unite in a new organization, and from that time until the formal union, two churches worshipped together. Selection of the new church’s name was settled by vote; the final result was Central Union 28, Church of the Redeemer 18, and Bethel Union 1.

Thus, Central Union Church began its existence. The original congregation numbered 337 members—250 from the Fort Street Church, 72 from Bethel Union, 13 from other churches and 2 on confession of faith at the first service.

By 1888, increased church membership made it apparent that the Central Union congregation was outgrowing the Fort Street building.

Central Union owned a lot on the makai-Diamond Head corner of the intersection directly across Beretania from Washington Place, home of the heir-apparent to the throne of Hawaiʻi, Mrs. John Dominis, later Queen Liliʻuokalani.

Plans for the new church were discussed repeatedly over the ensuing several years, as wishes for a “commodious and substantial church edifice” outgrew the site.

But the lot was too small for a new stone structure and enough room for churchgoers’ horse-drawn carriages; so they negotiated with Punahou Preparatory School located across Beretania Street between Washington Place and the present St. Andrew’s Cathedral, to allow churchgoers to hitch their horses in the back of the school grounds (but not in the front yard.)

Plans were completed and work begun. A special service on June 3, 1891, marked the laying of the cornerstone, placed by the oldest member of the church, Samuel Northrup Castle, and the youngest, Sophie B. Judd.

Central Union’s growth in membership and consequent increase in attendance created a real problem of overcrowding at the Richards Street location. Increased traffic noise on Beretania Street and congestion in downtown increased frustration in the congregation and they decided to move, again.

There was much searching for the “perfect” site for a new church building. Members even took to the air and flew over Honolulu in an airplane to survey possibilities. The site committee reported on May 26, 1920; it judged one location outstanding in all respects.

This 8.3-acre parcel was part of the Dillingham estate (known as Woodlawn) at the corner of Beretania and Punahou streets, “well away from the center of town” but within easy reach of the new residential areas.

The senior Dillinghams had both been members of the Bethel Union congregation before their marriage in 1869 and therefore were early members of Central Union.

To design a building that would express the church’s New England heritage, the congregation retained the Boston architectural firm of Cram and Ferguson. EE Black, Ltd. was the general contractor. Seating was planned for 750 on the main floor and 250 in the balcony.

The cornerstone was laid in 1922 following retrieval and opening of the cornerstone from the Richards Street church. Stone from the old church were transferred to the new one and were placed in the foundation of the new Central Union. The 1891 cornerstone itself was embedded high in the wall of the entrance.

“Open Air Services” were held on the new church grounds as early as June 1922, so that the congregation could watch the construction progress and enjoy the new property.

By the end of March 1924, the new building was essentially complete, and during the week of May 18, Central Union Church, also known as the “Church in a Garden”, moved to its present location on Beretania Street.

The idea of a Children’s Chapel arose, “to accommodate extensions of all the services of Central Union Church, including use by all age groups for any church function which would be better served in a small, intimate setting.” The cornerstone of the Atherton Memorial Chapel was finally laid in November 1949 (Information and images here came from ‘Central Union Church 1887-1988’.)

May 31, 2023 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Symbolism of Central Union Church

“We have built this building so that everyone who looks upon it will say, not: ‘Is that a library, or a club house, or a school, or city hall?’ but, promptly and without question, ‘That is a church!’”

“And we have built it after the colonial style of architecture so that all might say with equal assurance, ‘And it is a church with a New England background!’- for we wanted this church to be a fitting tribute to the missionaries who came to these Islands from New England over a century ago bringing Christian civilization with them.”

“We were greatly pleased when Ralph Adams Cram, our artist-architect, assured us that the colonial style was fitting for our climate because its essential elements had grown up in the semi-tropic lands around the Mediterranean and it had been used successfully in the extreme South as well as in New England.”

“We have put this building not on some noisy dusty corner but in a beautiful eight acre garden. One comes back from Japan deeply impressed by the beautiful setting of the temples of that beautiful land.”

“Why not, in Hawaii also where things grow so wonderfully, why not a Christian Church surrounded by the beauty of nature? And so the garden around the church is a symbol of natural religion. We come to worship through the beauty of nature and we say with the poet, as we approach the sanctuary,

‘A garden is a lovesome thing, God wot!
Rose plot, fringed pool,
Ferned grot! The veriest school
Of peace. And yet the fool
Contends that God is not—
Not God? In gardens? When the eve is cool?
Nay, but I have a sign
‘Tis very sure God walks in mind!’

“For a long time we were uncertain as to whether or not we could afford a spire. Now that it is built we all realize how incomplete would have been the picture without the spire like ‘a sacrament of hope,’ as Dr. Ross called it, pointing above the trees of the garden. How wonderfully Mrs. Frear has caught the symbolism of it in her poem!

‘Lo here among the palm-trees
Our isle has flung a spire—
A slender bud of beauty
Pointing higher, higher—
A lifted torch awaiting light
From Heaven’s altar fire.”

“At the entrance to the church is a broad and simple porch of welcome – yet only one door, with a cross above the grille work. That door stands open every day and is the symbol of Christ who says, ‘I am the door, by me if any man shall enter in, he shall be saved; and shall go in and out, and shall find pasture!’”

“But the approach to the door is through four columns and lighted by three great lanterns. The columns are the four gospels through which we come to know the character of Christ and hear his voice and, as to the three lanterns, they may symbolize the mystery of the Trinity – one God, one light, yet revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, or …”

“… if you are practically minded rather than theological, let them stand for the three Christian graces of faith and hope and love which, seen from afar and shining upon the church, shall draw men unto the door.”

“High in the lantern of the spire is another light shining out over land and sea as though One said, ‘I am the Light of the world – he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness.’ “And above the spire flies the dove as a weather-vane – the dove of peace and symbol of the Holy Spirit.”

“Once inside, each man can make his own interpretation for this is a church of freedom in the quest of truth, but, if you are interested, I will give you mine. I find a symbolism of world fellowship in the different countries represented in the wonderfully beautiful interior.”

“The general design is clearly English, yet the chaste white beauty of it all reminds me of churches in Holland. The basilica form and vaulted ceiling are Roman but the columns speak of Greece and, back of that, of Egypt. Corinthian are the capitals, yet the details are copied not from the acanthus but from the pineapples and coconut palm fronds of Hawaii.”

“New England contributed the small paned, round topped windows but the redwood pews and chancel are from California and the lighting fixtures are old Italian sanctuary lamps, slightly modified to burn electricity in place of oil.”

“‘What a mixture!’ one might say who reads this in cold type. But look about you – all is harmonious, all fits together as a symbol of the unity of all men and races in Christ Jesus.”

“To continue the symbolism may I suggest that the twelve great columns shall stand here as long as the church shall last calling to mind the twelve apostles and that the thirteen lamps represent thirteen churches – the lamp has ever been a symbol of the church.”

“You can make up your thirteen any way you choose. Take the seven churches of Asia and add those others which figure so largely in Paul’s letters – Philippi, Berea, Thessalonica, Athens, Corinth, Rome. Think of their light shining down upon us through the centuries!”

“Or take thirteen churches of today – the Baptists, Congregationalists, Methodists, Quakers, Presbyterians, Disciples, Lutherans, Unitarians, Christian Scientists, Episcopalians, Dutch Reformed, Greek Orthodox, and Roman Catholic. Let them all shine with the light of a common love of Jesus Christ.”

“Even though we may not follow them in all details of liturgy or doctrine we will welcome their light upon the world – ‘Many are the lamps, but the light is one.’”

“There are four plain panels at the rear of the church. It might be perilous to paint pictures on them in reality but let us paint them there in our imagination. On one will be Buddha, meditating on the sorrows of life beneath the sacred Bo tree, on another Confucius writing down the wisdom of China, on a third Moses coming down from Sinai and on another Mohammed kneeling in prayer. All to remind us that there is a kinship and a common aspiration in all religions.”

“You may notice that there are ten glass doors opening directly out into the garden – five on either side. They are the ten commandments – we look out into life through the clear and transparent doors of the moral law.

“‘Oh,’ someone says, ‘But here is another door at the mauka end of the aisle upon the right.’ Yes and over that door the eyes of faith see written: ‘A new commandment I give you, that ye love one another even as I have loved you!’”

“Above the doors are fourteen windows through whose clear glass we look up to the blue sky and flying clouds of heaven. They are for the saints and heroes of the faith who served their day and generation and are now delivered from the labors and struggles of this life. Let us put them there, not in colored glass, but in the fairer colors of our imagination.”

“Here above the choir is St. Paul and around the corner, still to the left of the pulpit, St. Augustine. Looking directly down into the pulpit, to remind the preacher of all humility and tenderness, is St. Francis of Assisi and just beyond, to make him brave and fearless, come Joan of Arc, Savonarola, Wyclif and John Huss.”

“On the other side of the church stand Luther, John Robinson, the pastor of the Pilgrims, David Livingstone, the representative of all missionaries, Florence Nightingale and General Booth.”

“Above the gallery is a triple window reserved for the saints of our own land. Just now we will place in the center panel Abraham

Lincoln and on either side Booker Washington and Alice Freeman Palmer.”

“But these are not all the windows. High in the clerestory are twelve more. We will put no names upon them. They are reserved for the future! New saints and heroes must arise in the new days that lie ahead.”

“We reserve one for some American Pasteur who shall win the battle against cancer and tuberculosis. One for some prison reformer who shall make our jails true hospitals for moral disease. One for some social leader who shall solve the conflict of capital and labor and bring justice and good-will to industry.”

“Another shall yet be dedicated to some President or Senator who shall lead America out into fellowship with an organized world. Another is reserved for some Saint who shall so reveal the awfulness of the city slums that the conscience of the people shall be aroused to abolish them, and yet another window awaits the great prophet who shall burn into the souls of his generation the folly and impiety of race-prejudice and make humanity to be a real brotherhood at last.“

“Do not forget, young men and women of the future, these unnamed windows high above you. They set the goal for

tasks yet unaccomplished and challenge you with unattained ideals.”

“As one approaches the chancel in this beautiful church home of ours the symbolism deepens. Here is the lectern with the Bible on it, reminding us of what we owe to the inspiration of the past. Here is the pulpit – for the prophetic message looking toward the future. And here in the center and focus of it all is the Communion Table ever reminding us of the mystic presence of the Christ who says, ‘Lo, I am with you alway.’”

“High above all is the cross, the supreme symbol of our holy religion – a symbol of suffering, yet a symbol of hope. It is not a crucifix with a dead Christ upon it. Our cross is empty.”

“Our Christ is not holden of death- He is risen and triumphant. Our cross has trefoil ends that touch it with a beauty that was not present at Calvary because for us the cross is not a symbol of defeat but of victory – Even as the text says, high above it, we hold the sublime faith that, even though crucified, ‘Love never faileth.’”

“One word more! It says in Acts, ‘God dwelleth not in temples made by hands’ and again in First Corinthians, ‘Ye are a temple of God.’”

“It is not the buildings that make the city but the people in it and no church can serve apart from the men and women who gather beneath its over-arching roof. Not only the church must stand in friendly welcome in its garden in the midst of the city – its members must have the friendly heart as well.”

“It is not enough to write ‘Love never faileth’ upon its walls – we who worship here must believe it and practice it. Even the uplifted cross may be mute to men who do not find its power changing the lives of those who look upon it.”

“‘Ah, friend, we never choose the better part

Until we set the cross up in the heart.’”

“How long will this church endure and speak its magic unto men? Only so long as the people who use it are themselves first of all temples of the living God!” (All here is, in part from a sermon preached by Albert W. Palmer, D.D., LL.D., Litt.D. Central Union Church, Honolulu, Hawaii, June 1, 1924.)

November 17, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Seamen’s Bethel Chapel

The American Seamen’s Friend Society (ASFS) of New York, organized in May 1828 (though not officially incorporated 1833;) in 1832 sent the Rev. John Diell to Hawai’i as its first chaplain to the port of Honolulu.

He constructed a two story chapel for the Seamen’s Bethel on a lot given by Kamehameha III – on what we now call Bethel Street. The site was the approximate location of “The Friend” Building (926 Bethel Street – West side of street between Merchant and King.)

Situated on what was then the waterfront, it was started by the American Seamen’s Friend Society to minister to English-speaking sailors from whaling and trading ships.

The worship services attracted a number of English-speaking townspeople who in 1837 organized themselves as Oʻahu Bethel Church – the earliest regular church services in English in the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Poor health forced Diell to leave Hawai’i, and he died at sea in 1841. Rev. Samuel C. Damon was selected as his replacement.

Damon had been preparing to go to India as a missionary and was studying the Tamil language for that purpose, when an urgent call came for a seaman’s chaplain at the port of Honolulu in the Hawaiian Islands.

He was ordained to the Congregational ministry on September 15, 1841 and he decided to accept the position at Honolulu; he arrived in late-1842.

Throughout the 1840s there averaged over 400 ships in port each whaling season, with a record high of over 600 in 1846. Damon’s report from Honolulu in 1851 recorded the visits of 558 whale ships and barks, 27 brigs and 35 schooners, bringing approximately 15,000 men into the port during the year.

Reverend Damon also founded the English-language paper “The Friend” in 1843 and ran the paper from the Seamen’s Bethel Church until his death in 1885.

The Friend described itself as the “Oldest Newspaper West of the Rockies” in the early 1900s; it was a monthly newspaper for seamen which included news from both American and English newspapers as well as announcements of upcoming events, reprints of sermons, poetry, local news, editorials, ship arrivals and departures and a listing of marriages and deaths.

Between 1840 and 1870, an annual 6,000 seamen visited Honolulu, many worshiping at first Reverend Diell’s and then Reverend Damon’s church.

As Oʻahu Bethel’s numbers grew, and ship calls increased, need for a separate church became evident. In 1852 some Oʻahu Bethel members left to form what was to become Fort Street Church. Oʻahu Bethel continued to conduct services, later renaming itself Bethel Union Church.

In 1886 a raging waterfront fire destroyed the Seamen’s Bethel, which was still Bethel Union’s home. The idea surfaced of combining Bethel Union, now without a home, with the well-established Fort Street Church (at what is now the ʻEwa Makai corner of Fort Street and Beretania at the top of the Fort Street Mall.)

In 1887 a formal merger of Bethel Union and Fort Street Church created Central Union Church, with 337 members.

In 1892 Central Union Church moved into a new “blue-stone” (volcanic basalt) building across from Washington Place, Queen Liliuokalani’s residence. Within 15 years, however, rapid growth plus noise and ventilation problems created pressures to move.

In 1920, Central Union’s then-pastor, Dr. Albert Palmer, chose a desirable 8.3-acre site at Punahou and Beretania streets. The site was “Woodlawn,” for years the residence and dairy farm of prominent businessman BF Dillingham and his family.

Mrs. Emma Louise Dillingham, by then a widow, agreed to sell – she had been a member since Bethel Union days. In 1922, the cornerstone was laid, and the present sanctuary, designed in traditional New England style, was completed in 1924.

In 1924, Central Union Church, also known as the “Church in a Garden”, moved to its present location on Beretania Street.

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Bethel's Church, Honolulu, Hawaii, founded in 1833 as Seamen's Bethel Church

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The_Friend_Building-approximate_location_of_Bethel_Chapel-926_Bethel_Street

Chinese Christian Church in Honolulu. Also known as the 'Fort Street Church'-1898

Downtown Honolulu MapHawaiian_Historical_Society-OP20-1843

July 17, 2019 by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Pālama Settlement

Central Union Church dates back to the days of the Seaman’s Bethel Church in 1828. It was formally founded in 1887 and it moved into its present location in 1924.

In addition to developing new institutions within the church, the congregation made great strides in the field of missionary work in the city of Honolulu, including the beginning of the present Pālama Settlement.

Pālama, then a sleepy neighborhood of neat little cottages and taro patches, was chosen by philanthropist and Central Union members Mr. and Mrs. PC Jones as the site for a new chapel.

On the makai side of King street, opposite Liliha Street, the chapel was dedicated on June 1, 1896, and presented to Central Union by the Joneses, on the condition that the church …

… “maintain public preaching there on Sundays, a weekly prayer meeting, sustain a Sabbath school and also an occasional social for the residents of Pālama, the services to be conducted in the English language.”

Located west of Nuʻuanu Stream, near Downtown Honolulu, Pālama was home to mostly working-class Hawaiian families.

Walter F. Dillingham, long active in philanthropic endeavors in Honolulu, once observed of Pālama: “One must picture Honolulu at the end of the century with its mixture of races, their variety of foods, dress, cultures, customs and living habits. All this gave Honolulu a character and personality not duplicated in any American city.”

“The business section was composed mainly of low framed buildings with corrugated iron roofs near the water front. Streets were unpaved, horse-drawn vehicles, with the ox-cart was a common sight. Taro patches, duck ponds and even sugar cane grew in the section of Palama. It was in such a section that Palama Chapel was built and which grew to be Palama Settlement.” (HJH)

In 1900, as Honolulu health officials attempted to rid the nearby Chinatown area of bubonic plague, fire destroyed a four-block section. Displaced residents took up residence in newly built tenements in Pālama, changing the physical, social and economic make-up of the community.

The chapel’s staff located housing for many of the displaced and took care of the injured and children. It also ministered to the needs of immigrants who moved into the Pālama area soon after arriving in the Islands.

Social worker James Arthur Rath, Sr. and his wife, Ragna Helsher Rath, turned Pālama Chapel into Pālama Settlement (in September 1906,) a chartered, independent, non-sectarian organization receiving contributions from the islands’ elite.

“… they called them ‘settlement houses,’ the philosophy being that the head worker, as they called them, settled in the community. Instead of going in to spend the day working and coming out, they settled in, raised their families there and in that way learned …”

“… one, what the people needed; two, gained their confidence so that they could help them fulfill their needs; and then, three, went ahead and designed programs for exactly what the people needed.”

“So they were settlers and therefore they called them settlement houses. Which is what the origin of Pālama Settlement was because my father and my mother settled there and all five of us children were born and raised in our home in the settlement.” (Robert H. Rath, Sr)

The Raths established the territory’s first public nursing department, a day-camp for children with tuberculosis, a pure milk depot, a day nursery, a night school, and low-rent housing.

In 1908, an indoor swimming pool was opened, and a year later, a gymnasium and bowling alley were built above it. Later, outdoors, a playground, tennis court, and basketball court were added.

Also that year, a new Parish House was erected on an adjacent property at Richards Street, to be used for Sunday School classes and midweek meetings

After a territory-wide fund-raising effort, in 1925 Pālama Settlement moved to its present location with nine buildings spread over eight acres of land on Vineyard and Pālama streets.

Over the years, a medical clinic, an outpatient clinic and the Strong-Carter Dental Clinic were established along with annual circuses, athletic competitions, social and community-service clubs, boardinghouses for women and a preschool. Classes and events relating to music, arts, vocations, and athletics were also offered.

World War II and the postwar era brought about widespread changes in Hawai‘i’s social, economic, and political environment. These developments, in turn, led to changes in the way social agencies such as Pālama Settlement addressed community needs.

Observers noted that Pālama Settlement was departing from its original settlement house philosophy by offering programs for fees and catering to a broad cross section of people regardless of where they lived.

The 1960s and 1970s were periods of re-evaluation, adjustment, and growth, with the settlement’s programs becoming more people-centered rather than activity-centered, stressing human and community needs as opposed to uncoordinated, departmentalized activities, following the large-scale social and economic programs being implemented nationally.

Civil rights and anti-poverty legislation brought large amounts of federal monies to Pālama Settlement for local programs geared to at-risk youth and community development.

Pālama Settlement – a smaller one due to the widening of Vineyard Boulevard and the construction of the H-1 Freeway – continues to exist as a nonprofit, nongovernmental agency dedicated to helping needy families and at-risk youths.

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