Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 2 Comments

Hawaiian Room

“(I)f you are really lucky … If you are one of those of whom refreshing and enchanting things sometimes happen. You will have wandered into the Hawaiian Room at the Lexington …” (Tucker, Man About Manhattan, June 14, 1938)

The Hotel Lexington (on Lexington Avenue and 48th Street, New York City) was completed just six months before the market crash of 1929.

The iconic hotel became an instant favorite for global leaders, celebrities, business executives and some of America’s most famous sports icons including Joe DiMaggio, who famously lived in a penthouse suite during his whole career playing for the Yankees. (Lexington)

However, in the basement, hotel management realized they were stuck with a large and useless lower dining room. In 1932, they opened the SilveL Grill, featuring bandleaders Ozzie Nelson, Little Jack Little, Artie Shaw and Carl Ravel.

Popularity waned, and hotel owners were in need of a show that would attract wealthy society members and keep the hotel in the black. The manager decided to experiment for a few months with all-Hawaiian entertainment in a cafe decorated with South Sea motifs and featuring Polynesian food.

At the time, Hawaiian and Polynesian cultures were growing in popularity and interest across the country. However, the creation of the Hawaiian Room was still a bold move not only because of the Great Depression, but also an increasingly complicated global scene as world conflicts were escalating in both Asia and Europe. (Akaka)

On June 23, 1937, the Hawaiian Room opened in the Hotel Lexington, the first major showroom for live Hawaiian entertainment in the US and the one that became the most renowned.

The Room itself was the first of its kind and featured a glamorous dining room with island decor, large dance floor and American orchestra, and a Hawaiian music and floor show that was unmatched in its professionalism, elegance and beauty.

It was New York after all – the land of Broadway shows, fast-paced lifestyles, ethnic diversity and celebrities. (Hula Preservation Society)

The initial band, named “Andy Iona and His Twelve Hawaiians,” included Andy Iona (born Andrew Aiona Long,) composer-singer Lani McIntire and Ray Kinney as featured singer.

Kinney assembled the dance troupe in Honolulu: the solo dancer Meymo Ululani Holt, plus Pualani Mossman, Mapuana Bishaw and Jennie Napua Woodd – they became known as the “Aloha Maids” – they became the faces of Hawai‘i in New York.

While numerous American showrooms featured live Hawaiian entertainment, the Hawaiian Room served as the industry standard to beat. In many cases, performers in other American showrooms appeared at the Hawaiian Room sometime during their careers.

A few other notable entertainers who helped “make” the Room over the years include Alfred Apaka, Aggie Auld, Keola Beamer, Eddie Bush, Johnny Coco, Leilani DaSilva, Ehulani Enoka, Leila Guerrero, Meymo Holt, Keokeokalae Hughes, Clara Inter “Hilo Hattie,” Alvin Isaacs, Momi Kai, George Kainapau, Sonny Kalolo, David Kaonohi, Nani Kaonohi, Kui Lee, Sam & Betty Makia, Tootsie Notley, Lehua Paulson, Telana Peltier, Luana Poepoe and Dennie Regore. (Akaka)

The venue became “the place to be” for celebrities in New York City, and it was the people who worked in the Hawaiian Room who made it such a success. Because of their talents, island ways and authentic aloha many were able to enjoy a piece of Hawaiʻi, even if they were on another “island” 5,000 miles away. (Akaka)

The Hawaiian Room was a place where dancers could establish viable careers. In the Islands, career options were limited. Hula dancers could earn between $50 and $100 a week, compared with $4 to $10 a week in the pineapple canneries.

For many Hawaiian women, hula presented a dream ticket out of Hawai‘i, promising fame, glamour and middle-class status difficult for them to achieve in the plantation and service industries. (Imada)

They became minor celebrities as performers in what was referred to in New York papers as an “off-Broadway show not to be missed.”

Big-time celebrities like Arthur Godfrey and Steve Allen sought out the Hawaiian Room entertainers to be on their television shows. The Hawaiian Room dancers were featured on the very first broadcast of color television in the United States. (Hula Preservation Society)

“They say (dancer, Pualani Mossman) is the most photographed girl in the Islands …” She became known as the “Matson Girl” for her pictures in Time and Life magazines.

Although the Hawaiian Room was in New York, it played an ever important role in the spread of Hawaiian culture across the continental United States, as well as the development of Hawaii’s major industry … tourism.

The nightly exposure of business executives, celebrities and New York’s working men and women to the Hawaiian songs, sceneries and hula at Hotel Lexington was sure to have put dreams of a Hawaiʻi vacation in the minds of more than a few over the years. (Akaka)

Over the course of its 30-years, millions of people from all over the world experienced the Hawaiian Room, its melding of Hawaiian music and hula traditions with current American musical trends, and its people of aloha. (Hula Preservation Society)

In 1966, a hula dancer at another venue was seriously injured when her grass skirt caught on fire. That prompted new federal workplace fire laws. (KITV) The Hawaiian Room closed that year because the needed fireproofing renovations were too expensive. (honolulu)

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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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Pohaku O Kauai

On every island there existed a prominent bluff pointing westward, bearing the name: “leap of the spirit” (leina-a-ka-uhane). The name marked the jumping-off place where the soul of the dead was believed to depart beyond the land of the living.

Kaʻena or Kaʻena Point (‘the heat’) is the westernmost tip of land on the island of Oʻahu. The point can be reached on foot from both the East (via Oʻahu’s North Shore / Mokuleʻia) and Southeast (via Waiʻanae Coast;) you cannot drive around the point.

Two stories tell of Pohaku O Kauai, here.

The first speaks of the demigod Maui; in many of the accounts Maui is a mischievous trickster, stealing the secret of fire and helping his mother to dry kapa by lassoing the sun to slow its progression across the sky. (Bishop Museum)

The most audacious terrestrial undertaking of Maui was his attempt to rearrange the islands of the group and assemble them into one solid mass. He went to Kaʻena Point and cast his magical hook, Mana-ia-ka-lani, far out into the ocean that it might engage itself In the foundations of Kauai.

When he felt that it had taken a good hold, he gave a mighty tug at the line. A huge boulder, the Pohaku o Kauai, fell at his feet.

This failure to move the whole mass of the island argues no engineering miscalculation on Maui’s part. It was due to the underhand working of spiritual forces. Had Maui been more politic, more observant of spiritual etiquette, more diplomatic in his dealings with the heavenly powers, his ambitious plans would, no doubt, have met with better success. (Emerson)

The second story of Pohaku O Kauai is written by Westervelt: A long time ago there lived on Kauai a man of wonderful power, Hau-pu. When he was born, the signs of a demi-god were over the house of his birth.

Lightning flashed through the skies, and thunder reverberated – signs of the birth or death or some very unusual occurrence in the life of a chief.

Mighty floods of rain fell and poured in torrents down the mountain-sides, carrying the red soil into the valleys in such quantities that the rapids and the waterfalls became the color of blood, and the natives called this a blood-rain.

Then a beautiful rainbow formed over the house in which the young chief was born. This rainbow was thought to come from the miraculous powers of the new-born child shining out from him instead of from the sunlight around him.

Hau-pu while a child was very powerful, and after he grew up was widely known as a great warrior. He would attack and defeat armies of his enemies without aid from any person. His spear was like a mighty weapon, sometimes piercing a host of enemies, and sometimes putting aside all opposition when he thrust it into the ranks of his opponents.

If he had thrown his spear and if fighting with his bare hands did not vanquish his foes, he would leap to the hillside, tear up a great tree, and with it sweep away all before him as if he were wielding a huge broom. He was known and feared throughout all the Hawaiian Islands.

One night he lay sleeping on the side of a mountain which faced the neighboring island of Oʻahu. When clouds were on the face of the sea, these islands were hidden from each other; but when they lifted, the rugged valleys of the mountains on one island could be clearly seen from the other.

This night the strong man stirred in his sleep. Indistinct noises seemed to surround his house. He turned over and dropped off into slumber again.

Soon he was aroused a second time, and he was awake enough to hear shouts of men far, far away. Louder rose the noise mixed with the roar of the great surf waves, so he realized that it came from the sea, and he then forced himself to rise and he looked out toward Oʻahu.

He blindly rushed out to the edge of a high precipice which overlooked the channel. Evidently many boats and many people were out in the sea below.

He laughed, and stooped down and tore a huge rock from its place. This he swung back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, until he gave it great impetus which added to his own miraculous power sent it far out over the sea. Like a great cloud it rose in the heavens and, as if blown by swift winds, sped on its way.

Over on the shores of Oahu a chief whose name was Kaʻena had called his people out for a night’s fishing. Canoes large and small came from all along the coast. Torches without number had been made and placed in the canoes.

Nets had been set in the best places. Fish of all kinds were to be aroused and frightened into the nets. Flashing lights, splashing paddles, and clamor from hundreds of voices resounded all around the nets.

Gradually the canoes came nearer and nearer the centre. The shouting increased. Great joy ruled the tumult which drowned the roar of the waves.

Suddenly something like a bird as large as a mountain seemed to be above, and then with a mighty sound like the roar of winds it descended upon them.

Smashed and submerged were the canoes when the huge boulder thrown by Hau-pu hurled itself upon them.

The chief Kaʻena and his canoe were in the centre of this terrible mass of wreckage, and he and many of his people lost their lives.

The waves swept sand upon the shore until in time a long point of land was formed. The remaining followers of the dead chief named this cape “Kaʻena.”

The rock thrown by Hau-pu embedded itself in the depths of the ocean, but its head rose far above the water, even when raging storms dashed turbulent waves against it. To this death-dealing rock the natives gave the name Pohaku O Kauai (“Rock of Kauai.”) (Westervelt) The image shows Kaʻena Point.

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Andover Theological Seminary

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the people of New England were taking a new interest in religion. The devotion to their Puritan faith, which was characteristic of the first generation of colonists, had yielded long since to the claims of everyday living. (Rowe)

At the time, there were three schools of religious thought among Congregationalists. The first was known as the Old or Moderate Calvinists (with convictions of their Puritan ancestors.)

A second group was called Hopkinsians (from their spokesman, Samuel Hopkins) stressed certain Puritan principles to an extreme, like divine sovereignty and predestination; and a third party in Congregational circles was more liberal in its theological interpretations.

Although Massachusetts had stayed fairly true to its Calvinistic Puritan beginnings in the form of Congregationalism, by 1800 a new sect had swept Boston by storm: Unitarianism. This form of Protestantism rejected the aspects of Calvinism inherent to Congregationalism at the time.

Rather than accepting that all people were fallen and could only be chosen by God to be saved – predestination – early Unitarians emphasized reason, free will and the power of people for both good and evil. Also, as the name suggests, they disavowed the idea of the Trinity, believing instead that Jesus was solely a prophet and an example to live by. (Balboni)

The Old Calvinists were especially desirous to have a theological school at Andover. The Legislature of Massachusetts on June 19, 1807, authorized the Trustees of Phillips Academy to receive and hold additional property “for the purpose of a theological institution and in furtherance of the designs of the pious founders and benefactors of said Academy.”

The Phillips family was loyal to religion, as well as to education. They provided a gift to erect two buildings for the Seminary, the first American foundation for a chair in theology outside a university (a foundation for purely theological education was almost unknown in America.) (Rowe)

The Seminary was built on the campus of Phillips Academy in Andover. The Academy was founded during the American Revolution as an all-boys school in 1778 by Samuel Phillips, Jr (the oldest incorporated boarding school in the US.) The great seal of the school was designed by Paul Revere.

The purpose of the Founders for the Seminary, according to their constitution, was to increase “the number of learned and able defenders of the Gospel of Christ, as well as of orthodox, pious, and zealous ministers of the New Testament ; being moved, as we hope, by a principle of gratitude to God and benevolence to man.” (Rowe)

Seminary students partook in three years of study and four major subjects: the Bible, church history, doctrinal theology, and practical arts of the ministry. (Balboni)

The Andover Theological Seminary was dedicated September 28, 1808. The establishment of a school of divinity was a part of the original plan of the founders of Phillips Academy, although not to make it a distinct institution. (Bailey)

In addition to ministers, the seminary also produced hundreds of missionaries. Over the school’s 100-year stay in Andover, its graduates proselytized in Greece, Bulgaria, Armenia, Palestine, Turkey, India, Burma, China, Japan and all over Africa and Latin America. (Balboni)

Two notable graduates were part of the Pioneer Company of missionaries to Hawaiʻi. Hiram Bingham and Asa Thurston were classmates at Andover Theological Seminary (completed Seminary courses 1819;) they were ordained on September 29, 1819 at Goshen, Connecticut. (Joesting)

“On Saturday the 23d of October, the mission family, with a large concourse of spectators, assembled on Long Wharf; and after a prayer by the Rev. Dr. Worcester, Messrs. Bingham and Thurston sung, “When shall we all meet again?” and took a final farewell of their friends.”

“In this far distant land of strangers … it is a comfort to us to look back to that radiating point of missionary light and love, and to remember the privileges which we enjoyed, when treading, like you, on consecrated ground. The rising palaces of that hill of Zion, its treasures of learning and wisdom, and its fountains of consolation are still dear to us, though we shall never look upon its like again.”

“But it is the noble purposes of benevolent action, formed, matured, or Cherished and directed there, which gives us the most impressive view of its beauty and strength, and inspires our liveliest hopes, that that institution will be the most important to the church, and the most useful to the heathen, which the world has ever seen.”

“When we look at the history of that Seminary and of the American Board; when we see their connexion and their joint influence, hitherto so powerful, and so well directed, and the peculiar smiles which the Redeemer has bestowed upon them …”

“… our ears are open to hear the united song of heathen lands,—‘How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things.’” (Letter from Bingham and Thurston to the Society of Inquiry, February 20, 1821)

In 1908, the Seminary moved to Cambridge and in the fall of 1931 shared a campus with Newton Theological Institution in Newton, Massachusetts. In 1965, after three decades together on one campus, the two schools officially merged, becoming Andover Newton Theological School.

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Queen of the Silver Strand

Everybody loves the circus …

Howard R Valentine “was 17 when he went to Ringling Brothers Circus as a member of the famous 16-man Jackson family.  After a year with Ringling a partner act called Valentine and Dooly began a six-month tour of South and Central America. The pair played Panama during construction of the Panama Canal.”

“When the partnership dissolved, Valentine returned to the United States to marry Rae Bell another member of the Jackson family.” (SB, May 23, 1956) “The little lady is unusually attractive while the expert cyclist is a wizard as an equilibrist.” (Montgomery Adv, Jan 30, 1920)

“Valentine and Bell became a hit as a bicycle comedy and in 1911 played Hammerstein’s Victoria Theatre in New York – at that time tops in billing.”  (SB, May 23, 1956)

“No well balanced vaudeville bill would be complete without a big laugh act. This is provided in those comedy cyclists, Valentine and Bell. … Incidentally, it is remarkably clever and unusual bicycle riding.”

“Their act is a novelty and their string of stunts a long and daring one, But laughter is the main thing that was considered by these artists.  They will please you.” (Portland Telegram, March 21, 1915)

Travelling across the country. the Valentine and Bell “comedy … trick bicycle riders” act included “a comedy cycling oddity called the ‘Furniture Removers’”. (Louisville Courier-Journal, Jan 4 & 6, 1920)

A “unique feat which was thrilling to the extreme was the fancy bike riding of Valentine and Bell, who performed the astonishing stunt of riding about the stage on various articles of furniture …

“… in addition to the exhibition of bicycle feats that for daring and grace have not been equaled in Montgomery in many months.” (Montgomery Adv, Jan 30, 1920)

 “Valentine and Bell have perhaps the best bicycle act seen on a local stage this season. It has an unusual setting. And along with regular stunts which all bicyclists know, this pair of acrobats has several tricks which are uncommonly difficult.” (The Tennessean, Jan 9, 1920)

“The couple was getting top billing with Haag Brothers Circus … when a daughter, Patricia [‘Pat’ Adrienne Valentine], was born [May 9, 1919].  The Valentines were back in Honolulu with EK Fernandez shows in 1935 – 36.”

“In 1941 the Valentines decided it was time to settle down and picked the Islands as an ideal spot.” (SB, May 23, 1956)

They “had first set foot [in the Islands] in 1912, and where in 1915 they had performed at the Old Opera House at the present site of Honolulu’s main post office.” (Alton Slagle, SB, Feb 23, 1960)

“Patricia was born in Chicago … She went on the road at the delicate age of 10 weeks.  There followed a childhood of tinsel and glitter, sawdust and one-night stands, spills and thrills as Patricia learned the tricky operation of walking a tight rope.”

‘‘’At first I went on the road as excess baggage,’ she said. ’Then I joined the act.’ (Pat Valentine). … Soon she was riding a unicycle on the wire.” (Alton Slagle, SB, Feb 23, 1960)

“To circus goers a few years back she was known as ‘Patricia Valentine, Queen of the Silver Strand.’” (Alton Slagle, SB, Feb 23, 1960)  She was also called the Wizard of the Wire.  (SB, June 16, 1942)

In 1942,  Patricia married Herman Meyers, who ‘worked the circus as a sort of stage manager.’  She attended Cannon’s Business School, worked for several years as secretary to the Central YMCA physical director, and joined the Board of Water Supply … ‘In civil service there’s security,’ she explained. (Alton Slagle, SB, Feb 23, 1960)

“Patricia wouldn’t trade her circus upbringing, but she’s happy now to be settled down away from it, she confided.”

“‘I am very happy where I am,’ she said. ‘Besides, they’ve been kidding me that I’d never get all this up on that wire now.’ She patted her ample frame and laughed heartily.”

“‘I wouldn’t want to try after all these years.’” (Alton Slagle, SB, Feb 23, 1960) Pat V Meyers died January 5, 1994.

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