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February 17, 2022 by Peter T Young 5 Comments

Hewahewa

“Kailua Harbor, April 5, 1820. In the dawn of the day, as we passed near shore, several chiefs were spending their idle hours in gambling, we were favored with an interview with Hewahewa, the late High Priest. He received us kindly and on his introduction to Brother Bingham he expressed much satisfaction in meeting with a brother priest from America, still pleasantly claiming that distinction for himself.”  (Loomis)

“He assures us that he will be our friend. Who could have expected that such would have been our first interview with the man whose influence we had been accustomed to dread more than any other in the islands; whom we had regarded and could now hardly help regarding as a deceiver of his fellow men. But he seemed much pleased in speaking of the destruction of the heiau and idols.”

“About five months ago the young king consulted him with respect to the expediency of breaking taboo and asked him to tell him frankly and plainly whether it would be good or bad, assuring him at the same time that he would be guided by his view. Hewahewa speedily replied, maikai it would be good, adding that he knew there is but one “Akoohah” (Akua) who is in heaven, and that their wooden gods could not save them nor do them any good.”    (Loomis)

“Hewahewa, the high priest, had ceased to believe in the power of the ancient deities, and his highest chiefs, especially the state queen Kaahumanu, resolved to abolish the oppressive “kapu” system.  The king, ʻIolani Liholiho, had been carefully trained in the traditions of his ancestors and it was not an easy matter to foresake the beliefs of his fathers.  He was slow to yield to the sentiments of the chiefs.”  (Honolulu Star-bulletin, February 1, 1915)

“The ancient system consisted in the many tabus, restrictions or prohibitions, by which the high chiefs contrived, to throw about their persons a kind of sacredness, and to instil into the minds of the people a superstitious awe and peculiar dread.”

“If the shadow of a common man fell on a chief, it was death; if he put on a kapa or a malo of a chief, it was death; if he went into the chief’s yard, it was death; if he wore the chief’s consecrated mat, it was death; if he went upon the house of the chief, it was death.”

“If a man stood on those occasions when he should prostrate himself, (such as) when the king’s bathing water… (was) carried along, it was death. If a man walked in the shade of the house of a chief with his head besmeared with clay, or with a wreath around it, or with his head wet… it was death.”

“There were many other offenses of the people which were made capital by the chiefs, who magnified and exalted themselves over their subjects.”  (Dibble)

Shortly after the death of Kamehameha I in 1819, King Kamehameha II (Liholiho) declared an end to the kapu system.  In a dramatic and highly symbolic event, Kamehameha II ate and drank with women, thereby breaking the important eating kapu.

“When the ruling aliʻi of the realm renounced the old religion in 1819, with the collaboration of no less a person than Hewahewa, the high priest of the whole kingdom, the foundation upon which the validity of the kahuna had for so long rested crumbled and fell away.”  (Kanahele)

“By the time Liholiho made his fateful decision, many others, including the high priest Hewahewa, whose position in the religious hierarchy could be compared to that of a pope, evidently had concluded that the old gods were not competent to meet the challenges that were being hurled at them by the cannons, gadgets and ideas of the modern world.”  (Kanahele)

“(Hewahewa) publicly renounced idolatry and with his own hand set fire to the heiau. The king no more observed their superstitious taboos. Thus the heads of the civil and religious departments of the nation agreed in demolishing that forbidding and tottering taboo system”.  (Loomis)

“I knew the wooden images of deities, carved by our own hands, could not supply our wants, but worshiped them because it was a custom of our fathers. My thoughts has always been, there is only one great God, dwelling in the heavens.” (Ohana Church) Hewahewa also prophesied that a new God was coming and he went to Kawaihae to wait for the new God, at the very spot were the missionaries first landed.

This changed the course of the civilization and ended the kapu system, and effectively weakened the belief in the power of the gods and the inevitability of divine punishment for those who opposed them.

The end of the kapu system by Liholiho (Kamehameha II) happened before the arrival of the missionaries; it made way for the transformation to Christianity and westernization.

“The tradition of the ships with white wings may have been the progenitor of the Hawaiians’ symbol for Lono during the Makahiki. … With so many ships with white sails coming to Hawaii at that time, how would he know which ship would bring the knowledge of the true God of Peace?”

“He could not have known that, although the missionaries set sail on October 23rd, one day before the Makahiki began, they would take six months to arrive. Therefore, it was quite prophetic that, when he saw the missionaries’ ship off in the distance, he announced ‘The new God is coming.’ One must wonder how Hewahewa knew that this was the ship.”  (Kikawa)

“Hewahewa knew the prophesy given by Kalaikuahulu a generation before. This prophesy said that a communication would be made from heaven (the residence of Ke Akua Maoli, the God of the Hawaiians) by the real God. This communication would be entirely different from anything they had known. The prophecy also said that the kapus of the country would be overthrown.”

“Hewahewa also knew the prophesy of the prophet Kapihe, who announced near the end of Kamehameha’s conquests, ‘The islands will be united, the kapu of the gods will be brought low, and those of the earth (the common people) will be raised up.’ Kamehameha had already unified the islands, therefore, when the kapus were overthrown, Hewahewa knew a communication from God was imminent.”  (Kikawa)

After the overthrow of the kapu system, Hewahewa retired to Kawaihae, to wait confidently for the coming of a “new and greater God.”  (Kikawa)

“Hewahewa departed for Kailua Bay (formally Kaiakeakua—Seaside of God) ahead of the missionaries to await their arrival with the King. After Hewahewa’s departure, the missionaries’ ship entered Kawaihae. Hewahewa’s household told the Hawaiians accompanying the missionaries the astounding news that the kapus had been overthrown! The missionaries ship was then directed to Kailua Bay were the King was in residence.”

At Kailua, Hewahewa gave an even more astounding prophecy, he pointed to a rock on the shore and said to the new king, ‘O king, here the true God will come.’ When the missionaries arrived at Kailua, they landed their skiff on that very rock! This rock is commonly known as the ‘Plymouth Rock of Hawaiʻi.

In 1820, Hewahewa, the highest religious expert of the kingdom, participated in the first discussions between missionaries and chiefs. He welcomed the new god as a hopeful solution to the current problems of Hawaiians and understood the Christian message largely in traditional terms. He envisioned a Hawaiian Christian community led by the land’s own religious experts.  (Charlot)

“Hewahewa … expressed most unexpectedly his gratification on meeting us … On our being introduced to (Liholiho,) he, with a smile, gave us the customary ‘Aloha.’”

“As ambassadors of the King of Heaven … we made to him the offer of the Gospel of eternal life, and proposed to teach him and his people the written, life-giving Word of the God of Heaven. … and asked permission to settle in his country, for the purpose of teaching the nation Christianity, literature and the arts.”  (Bingham)

Hewahewa later retired to Oʻahu and became one of the first members of the church established there. This church is located in Haleiwa and is called the Liliʻuokalani Protestant Church.  (Kikawa)  “He lived in the valley of Waimea, a faithful, consistent follower of the new light.”  (The Friend, March 1, 1914)

The image shows Hewahewa and the destruction of the heiau.  (Artwork done by Brook Kapukuniahi Parker.)

© 2022 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Ali'i / Chiefs / Governance, Hawaiian Traditions Tagged With: Liholiho, Kamehameha II, Haleiwa, Hawaii, Ai Noa, Kamehameha, Heiau, Kapu, Kailua-Kona, Makahiki, Waimea, Hewahewa

April 24, 2019 by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Hale‘iwa Hotel

While the Moana is touted as the First lady of Waikīkī, the Hale‘iwa Hotel, at the end of the OR&L train line in North Shore O‘ahu was constructed a year before the Moana.

In 1898, as part of the O‘ahu Railway & Land Company (OR&L) rail system, the Hale‘iwa Hotel (“house of the ‘iwa”, or frigate bird) was completed.

The hotel was part of a bigger plan to expand and diversify operations of the OR&L rail line. OR&L primarily serviced the sugar plantations, adding a hotel at the end of the line opened up opportunities to expand the number of people riding the train.

Passenger travel was an add-on opportunity that not only included train rides; they also operated a bus system. However, the hauling for the agricultural ventures was the most lucrative.

Typical hotels, like the Moana and later the Alexander Young Hotel in downtown Honolulu, served the traditional function of accommodating visitors; Ben F. Dillingham’s hotel sought that, as well as the diversified use of his train line.

On the continent, railroads were building hotels on their lines as a means to enhance the passenger counts – Hawai‘i, through OR&L, was doing the same.

By the early-1900s, the expanded railway cut across the island, serving several sugar and pineapple plantations, and the popular Hale‘iwa Hotel. They even included a “Kodak Camera Train” (associated with the Hula Show) for Sunday trips to Hale‘iwa for picture-taking.

When the hotel opened on August 5, 1899, guests were conveyed from the railway terminal over the Anahulu stream to fourteen luxurious suites, each had a bath with hot-and-cold running water.

Thrum’s ‘Hawaiian Annual’ (1900,) noted, “In providing so tempting an inn as an adjunct and special attraction for travel by the Oahu Railway – also of his (Dillinghams’s) creation – the old maxim of ‘what is worth doing is worth doing well’ has been well observed, everything About the hotel is first class…”

The weekend getaway from Honolulu to the Hale‘iwa Hotel became hugely popular with the city affluent who enjoyed a retreat in “the country.”

Reportedly, a round-trip, two-day excursion by train from Honolulu to Hale‘iwa, around Ka‘ena Point, cost $10. It included an overnight stay at the Hotel, a tour through Waialua sugar mill and a ride up to Wahiawa to tour the plantations.
The original manager was Curtis Iaukea, who had been chamberlain to Kalākaua’s royal household and was famed for his knowledge of protocol.

To while away the time there, the hotel recreational activities offered guests golf (reportedly the second course to be constructed in the islands,) tennis, fishing, canoeing and glass-bottom boat rides.

With the opening of the Hale‘iwa Hotel, the business climate expanded and tourism began to play a hand in the area. Many of the early business families and their original business buildings still remain in Hale‘iwa town today. Some of the town’s buildings are protected landmarks.

As noted in ‘The Union Pacific Magazine,’ (1924) “there are few more charming spots in the Hawaiian Islands than this delightful hotel with its bungalow cottages for guests and its beautiful grounds sloping gently back to the bank of a crystal clear river that runs out between lava rocks to the sea”.

By the late-1920s, it was hard to maintain the luxury and level of service at the hotel. What had been built two decades before to lure passengers to ride the train no longer applied, as more and more people owned cars.

In 1930 the railroad closed the hotel and it became a private ‘Haleiwa Beach Club.’ Later, the Haleiwa Hotel became the ‘Haleiwa Army Officer’s Club.’

During the height of its popularity, the hotel had made the name Hale‘iwa famous, and when its, ultimately, doors closed in 1943; its name remained as the name of the surrounding community – Hale‘iwa.

The last ride on OR&L’s train operations was on December 31, 1947, ending 58-years of steam locomotives hauling all kinds of people, freight and other around O‘ahu.

By 1953, the aged, termite-ridden structure had been torn down. Hale‘iwa Joe’s restaurant now stands where the Hale‘iwa Hotel once stood.

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Haleiwa_Hotel-from rail
Haleiwa_Hotel-from rail
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circa 1910, from The Advertiser's archives shows the old Hale'iwa Hotel
circa 1910, from The Advertiser’s archives shows the old Hale’iwa Hotel
Bridge at Haleiwa Hotel
Bridge at Haleiwa Hotel
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Haleiwa_Hotel-1930s
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Haleiwa Hotel-Interior
Haleiwa Hotel-Interior
Driveway at Haleʻiwa Hotel circa 1915
Driveway at Haleʻiwa Hotel circa 1915
Haleiwa Hotel-1935
Haleiwa Hotel-1935
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Panoramic-view-of-Haleiwa-Hotel-1902-four-years-after-Benjamin-Dillingham-opened-the-hotel-in-1898

Filed Under: Economy, Buildings Tagged With: Hawaii, Haleiwa, Oahu Railway and Land Company, Haleiwa Hotel, Dillingham

February 13, 2016 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Matsumoto Shave Ice

It is referred to in different ways, depending on where you are from … in Hilo it’s Ice Shave; lots of folks outside the Islands call it Sno-Balls, SnoCones (or Snow Cones) or even Shaved Ice … most, here, call it Shave Ice.

Shave ice exists all over the world today and is known as Gola Gunda in Pakistan, Juski in India, Ice Kachang in Malasia & Singapore where it is served with red beans and other fruits, Raspa, Raspado, or Raspadillo in Mexico and Peru (Raspar means “scrape” in Spanish.) (Stever)

In 1956, five years after Matsumoto Grocery Store first opened their doors to the public, a family friend suggested that the store sell cones of shave ice to help make up for slow business.

Mamoru and Helen soon purchased a hand-crank shave ice machine from Japan, attached an electric motor and started making shave ice cones at a nickel a piece. (Nemoto)

Whoa … we are already getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s look back …

Born in Hawaiʻi, Mamoru Matsumoto’s family returned to Hiroshima-ken when he was a toddler, and they struggled to survive. He worked as an apprentice at a sake factory and other odd jobs, but the income was insufficient.

Through friends and relatives he met his wife, Helen Momoyo Ogi, and they were married at the Haleiwa Jodo Mission. Mamoru worked long hours while Helen became a seamstress. They dreamed of opening their own business and purchasing a home for his family in Japan and for themselves.

Mr Kazuo Tanaka gave them the opportunity to open their own grocery store, M. Matsumoto Store Inc (founded February 13, 1951) in the previous Tanaka Store in Haleiwa. (Matsumoto)

Although grateful for the spot they now call home today, they “struggled” at first and had to work “really hard” in order for the family business to stay afloat. (Nemoto)

At first, Mamoru peddled his wares on a bicycle, until he was able to afford a panel truck. He went from camp to camp, taking orders and delivering the goods, while Helen manned the store and did some sewing. (Matsumoto)

“My dad had a panel truck,” says the second-generation Matsumoto. “He used to go around the community trying to sell canned goods in the back.” (Nemoto)

In 1956, the family expanded the business to include the frozen treat that’s known as kakigori (shave ice) in its place of origin, Japan. “The Japanese immigrants moved here with ice shavers. The equipment works like a wood planer.” (Washington Post)

This was before the present big wave surfing on the North Shore. Until the 1930s, modern surfing in Hawaiʻi was focused at Waikīkī; there the waves were smaller.

Then, in 1937, Wally Froiseth and John Kelly, reportedly on a school trip witnessed the large break at Mākaha and later surfed its waves. They were later joined by George Downing and others.

Riding at an angle to the wave, rather than the straight to shore technique, on the new “hot curl” board, with narrower tails and V-hulled boards, allowed them to ride in a sharper angle than anyone else.

Mākaha became the birthplace of big wave surfing. Even before Oʻahu’s North Shore, Mākaha was ‘the’ place for surfing – especially big-wave surfing.

But North Shore surfing caught on, so did the requisite stop at Matsumoto’s for shave ice.

When son Stanley Matsumoto took over in 1976, he bumped the canned goods to make space for the growing shave ice (and Matsumoto T-shirt) enterprise, which had been garnering attention from the Japanese media and visiting celebrities from both sides of the Pacific. (Washington Post)

In the busy summer season, the shop makes 1,000 ices a day; when school’s in session, the number drops to 500. “My father would be so happy with how the store has gotten so big,” said Matsumoto, whose father died in 1994 at age 85. (Washington Post)

“If they were alive right now they would be so happy to see how the store is today,” Matsumoto says. “They would be so proud to see everyone come to the store and have a nice time.” (Nemoto)

Shave ice is a local specialty found throughout the islands, but Matsumoto’s stands out for being the oldest continuously run operation on Oahu, going back more than half a century. (Washington Post)

Kamehameha Schools recent redeveloped the area. In all, the 28,000-square-foot retail complex spans a 0.1-mile section of Kamehameha Highway between Mahaulu Lane and Kewalo Lane.

Retailers now open for business include Matsumoto Shave Ice, Whaler’s General Store, Haleiwa Fruit Stand, Clark Little Gallery, Global Creations, Greenroom Hawaii, Guava Shop, Island Vintage Coffee, Kahala Sportswear, Mahina, Mailikukahi Hale Kamehameha Schools North Shore Information Center, Malibu Shirts, Spam Hawaii, Splash! Hawaii, T&C Surf and Teddy’s Bigger Burgers. (PBN)

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Matsumoto Shave Ice
Matsumoto Shave Ice
Matsumoto Shave Ice
Matsumoto Shave Ice
Matsumoto Shave Ice
Matsumoto Shave Ice
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Matsumoto Shave Ice
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Tanaka Store-before Matsumoto
Tanaka Store-before Matsumoto
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Concept_Siteplan_Haleiwa redevelopment-ksbe

Filed Under: Place Names, Economy Tagged With: Matsumoto Save Ice, Shave Ice, Hawaii, Haleiwa, North Shore

December 28, 2015 by Peter T Young 8 Comments

Haleiwa Airfield

The date of construction of the Haleiwa airfield has not been determined. The earliest depiction of the field which has been located was a 1933 aerial photo, which depicted a group of B-6A biplanes on a grass field.

Haleiwa Field on the northwest coast of Oahu, 30-miles from Honolulu, was originally (prewar) a center for private flying.

“On the 3rd of December 1941 the 47th Pursuit Squadron was assigned to this base …. This was not a regular runway, just something comparable to an old country road rather than an airstrip. (HIAVPS)

Originally used as an emergency landing field, it had only an unpaved landing strip. Those on temporary duty there had to bring their own tents & equipment.

On December 7, 1941, combined forces of the Japanese Imperial Navy struck at Naval and Army installations on Oahu – and the secondary target was the fleet of American aircraft scattered about the island, aircraft that could disrupt the aerial assault and then follow the fleeing Japanese back to their carriers.

The first targets hit were the airfields: Wheeler, Kaneohe, Ewa, Hickam, Ford Island, Bellows and the civilian airport serving Honolulu. In the strafing and bombing, scores of American aircraft were destroyed in a few minutes. The Imperial bombers could then concentrate on the American fleet at Pearl Harbor.

Haleiwa Field earned its place in history when it became the only airfield able to provide defense against the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Japanese heavily strafed the aircraft at Wheeler Field and few aircraft were able to get airborne to fend them off. Haleiwa was an auxiliary field to Wheeler and contained a collection of aircraft temporarily assigned to the field including aircraft from the 47th Pursuit Squadron.

A total of eight Curtiss P-40 Kitty Hawk and 2 Curtiss P-36 Mohawk pursuit planes were at the field on the morning of 7 December 1941.

Lt. George S. Welch (heir to the grape juice family) and 2nd Lt. Kenneth M. Taylor (on his first assignment,) both P-40 pilots, were at Wheeler when the attack began.

They had previously flown their P-40B fighters over to the small airfield at Haleiwa as part of a plan to disperse the squadron’s planes away from Wheeler.

Not waiting for instructions the pilots called ahead to Haleiwa and had both their fighters fueled, armed and warmed up. Both men raced in their cars to Haleiwa Field completing the 16-mile trip in about 15 minutes.

With their P-40s, now warmed up and ready, they jumped into their cockpits. The crew chiefs informed them that they should disperse their planes. “The hell with that”, said Welch. Ignoring the usual pre-takeoff checklists the aircraft took off down the narrow airstrip.

Once in the air they spotted a large number of aircraft in the direction of Ewa and Pearl Harbor. Only then did they realize what they were up against. “There were between 200 and 300 Japanese aircraft,” said Taylor; “there were just two of us!”

The two P-40s engaged the aircraft attacking Ewa Mooring Mast and shot down five Japanese planes. They then returned to Wheeler to replenish their ammunition. While there, another wave of dive bombers appeared and Lt. Taylor raced back into the air. His P-40’s cockpit was damaged as a Japanese plane chased him.

Lt. Welch was able to down the plane following him and they both returned back to Wheeler. Lt. Welch was credited with a total of four Japanese planes shot down and Lt. Taylor downed two.

Just as suddenly as it began, the sky was empty of enemy aircraft. Both are credited with being the first “Aces” of World War II. Taylor & Welch were both awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Walsh & Taylor’s dramatic ride & takeoff was shown in the movie Tora, Tora, Tora. (Trojan)

The Army improved the field during the early part of World War II and it was in use to simulate real battle conditions for gunnery training. In 1944 the Navy took the field over for carrier-landing training.

After the war Haleiwa Fighter Strip was apparently reused as a civilian airport for some period of time. Haleiwa was depicted as a civilian airport on the 1947 Hawaiian Islands Sectional Chart.

It was described as having a 4,800′ hard-surface runway. The Haleiwa Airport was apparently abandoned at some point between 1947-1961, as it was not depicted at all on the 1961 Honolulu Sectional Chart. (Trojan)

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Haleiwa Field, September 7, 1941
Haleiwa Field, September 7, 1941
Haleiwa Field, September 4, 1941
Haleiwa Field, September 4, 1941
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Bell P-39 aircraft at Haleiwa Field 1943-1944
Bell P-39 aircraft at Haleiwa Field 1943-1944
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P-39 in background
Haleiwa Field, August 20, 1942
Haleiwa Field, August 20, 1942
Haleiwa Field, 1942.
Haleiwa Field, 1942.
with A-24 and 2 PQ-8A target aircraft.
with A-24 and 2 PQ-8A target aircraft.
4 Bell P-39s fly over Haleiwa Field as maintenance work progresses at left.
4 Bell P-39s fly over Haleiwa Field as maintenance work progresses at left.

Filed Under: Military Tagged With: Hawaii, Haleiwa, North Shore, Haleiwa Airfield

August 7, 2014 by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Waialua Female Seminary

Education in the US at the beginning of the 19th-century was primarily triggered by the need to train the people to help grow the relatively new nation.

Back then, it was believed that women should be educated to understand domestic economy, because they were to play the major role in educating the young, primarily in their homes, and later (as the school population grew and there was a shortage of teachers) as school teachers.  (Beyer)

Although schools for upper-class women were in existence prior to the 19th-century, the female seminary for middle-class women became the prevailing type of institution from 1820 until after the Civil War. The most prominent female seminaries were Troy Seminary (1821,) Hartford Seminary (1823,) Ipswich Seminary (1828,) Mount Holyoke Seminary (1837) and Oxford Seminary (1839.)

The seminary’s primary task was professional preparation: the male seminary prepared men for the ministry; the female seminary took as its earnest job the training of women for teaching and motherhood.  (Horowitz, Beyer)

The founders of the female seminaries were at first men who were committed to providing education for women, but as time went by, more of the founders were women. The financial backing for these seminaries was typically from private sources and the tuition charged the students. Their enrollment varied between 50 to 100-students; they preferred girls between the ages of 12 and 16.  (Beyer)

Western-style education did not begin in Hawai’i until after members of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) arrived in 1820.

Because the primary educators responsible for developing the education system of Hawai’i were Americans, the educational practices for Hawaiian girls tended to mirror, but not necessarily duplicate, what was taking place on the continent.  (Beyer)

In 1835, at the general meeting of the Mission, a resolution was passed to promote boarding schools for Hawaiians; several male boarding schools and two female boarding schools were begun (Wailuku Female Seminary on the island of Maui and the Hilo School for Girls on the island of Hawai’i.)  Before the 1850s, both of these schools had closed.

Wailuku Female Seminary (or the Central Female Seminary, as it was first called) was the first female school begun by the missionaries. It received support at a time when the missionaries were experimenting with both boarding schools and a manual labor system.

The first female seminary to be established on the island of Hawaiʻi was the Kaʻū Seminary. In 1862, Orramel Hinckley Gulick and his wife, Ann Eliza Clark Gulick (a graduate of Mount Holyoke Seminary,) began the school. Both were the children of missionaries (Peter Johnson Gulick and Fanny Hinckley Thomas Gulick; Ephraim Weston Clark and Mary Kittredge Clark.)

Due to the isolated location of the seminary, it was difficult to attract many students to the school. As a consequence, tuition and board were free, as long as the girls were placed under the parental care of the teachers of the school until the girls were married or obtained employment.

In 1865, after struggling to fill the school, it was decided to move the school to Waialua, Oʻahu, on the Anahulu Stream.  It opened there on August 7 with 50-students, ranging in age from 11 to 15.  As with other schools at the time, the students were instructed in the Hawaiian language.

The girls are selected by the pastors, from among the most promising girls of the parishes; and every major district in the islands had one or more representatives in the school. It was hoped that this institution would raise up a class of educated women, who might make teachers, and suitable partners for native Hawaiian ministers and missionaries.  (The Missionary Herald)

The large two-story building, surrounded by a veranda, housed the girls, their four teachers, one temporary assistant and two children of the teachers. A second large building was the school-house, the lower floor of which was a spacious school-room, while the upper story was divided into recitation rooms. (The Missionary Herald)

The girls at Waialua Female Seminary came from families where the traditional Hawaiian culture was still practiced. However, at school the girls were dressed in calico, as opposed to their usual holoku; they slept in beds, rather than on mats on the floor; and they ate at a table with silverware, instead of on the floor using their fingers.

The schedule for the day began with breakfast, followed by each girl reading from the Hawaiian Bible; after the principal offered a prayer in Hawaiian, they were dismissed to begin the routine work, which included all the work necessary to maintain the school (except for carting and carrying firewood and baking and pounding the taro for poi.)

The older girls put the food away, washed the dishes and swept the floor. The younger girls did various tasks, which included sweeping and dusting the parlor, the sitting-room or the schoolroom, gathering up the litter of leaves and branches from the yard and garden paths, or putting the teachers’ rooms in order. Some of the girls were involved with preparing the meals; all the girls washed and ironed clothes once a week.

The academic work took place between 9 am and noon and 1 pm and 4 pm.  The curriculum included geography, arithmetic, surveying, astronomy, singing, Bible history and the Bible in general. Manual training consisted of instruction in cutting and sewing dresses, in washing, ironing, cooking, cleaning house and painting; an hour and a half was spent on gardening and farming.

The school kept the girls until they graduated (40 percent of the enrollment,) married (34 percent of the enrollment,) were employed (4 percent of the enrollment,) left for health reasons (6 percent of the enrollment) or were dismissed for not applying themselves or for bad behavior (16 percent of the enrollment.)

In December of 1870, the school closed when the Mission sent the Gulicks to evangelize in Japan.  Waialua Female Seminary reopened on April 3, 1871, under the direction of Miss Mary E Green (another missionary descendent and graduate of Punahou and Mount Holyoke Seminary.)

Miss Green ran the school until 1882, when she became ill and could no longer run the school. The property was sold and the money was given to the trustees of Kawaiahaʻo Seminary in Honolulu to make further improvements there.  (Lots of information here from Beyer and Missionary Herald.)

The school was called ‘Hale Iwa’ by the girls (the first use of the name for this area.)  Later, that name came back to this area when OR&L opened the Haleiwa Hotel (1899;) when the hotel closed (1943,) the name of the area remained as Haleiwa, and it continues to be called that today.

The image shows Waialua Female Seminary (1865.)  In addition, I have added other images in a folder of like name in the Photos section on my Facebook and Google+ pages.

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© 2014 Hoʻokuleana LLC

Filed Under: Missionaries / Churches / Religious Buildings, Schools Tagged With: Waialua, Haleiwa, Kau, Haleiwa Hotel, Waialua Female Seminary, Hawaii, Hawaii Island, Oahu, Gulick

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