Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 1 Comment

Ulu Mau Village

What is known today as Aloha Festivals was created in 1946, as Aloha Week – a cultural celebration of Hawai’i’s music, dance and history intended to perpetuate our unique traditions.

A group of former Jaycees – known as the Jaycees Old-timers of Hawaiʻi – had the vision to create a public celebration to honor Hawai’i’s cosmopolitan heritage, yet created a celebration which has itself become a state-wide tradition. (Aloha Festivals)

The first Aloha Week was held during the fall as a modern-day makahiki, the ancient Hawaiian festival of music, dance, games and feasting. (By 1974, Aloha Week expanded to a month-long slate of activities, with events on six islands.) (Carroll)

A Hawaiian Village of thatched houses was constructed at the Diamond Head end of Ala Moana Park across from Waikiki Yacht Club for the Aloha Week celebration held in October 1947 (and several subsequent years.)

Then, around 1960, driving through Ala Moana Park, Herman and Malia Solomon noticed the cluster of thatched houses in a fenced enclosure. They learned from with the Parks Department that the place was only used during Aloha Week.

So, after some negotiation, they were able to lease the property with the idea of creating a “living” Hawaiian village where people could step back in time and get a glimpse of what life in Hawaiʻi was like 200 years ago – Ulu Mau Village was born.

Malia carefully chose the individuals that would become the “villagers”, people who were knowledgeable in various cultural aspects of ancient Hawaiian life and who possessed good speaking skills.

“All of us at Ulu Mau Village have a profound respect for our heritage, and we hope our village shall be the mirror to reflect this heritage to all of our people in Hawaii Nei and others who may also be interested.” (Solomon; kapahawaii)

Here, “old Hawaiʻi recreated right in the heart of bustling Honolulu, a ten-minute bus ride from Waikiki beach. At Ulu Mau Village in Ala Moana park a pili grass- thatched scattering of huts – complete to carp pond and carved Hawaiian images, stands in contrast to one of the world’s largest shopping centers across the boulevard.”

“For the admission price of $1.50 you can take a capsule course in Hawaiian culture – that will last about 90 minutes – but provide much insight into the bygone glories of Hawaii.”

“Ulu Mau means ‘ever growing’ and that is one of the first things a genial Hawaiian tutu, or grandmother, in flowered muumuu explains to you at the first hut you visit. She shows you taro growing ttro rool, then tells you how poi is made. Afterwards she pounds poi on the spot, passing out samples for everyone to try.”

“Next hut you step in displays colorful Hawaiian quilts on the walls. Here another muumuu-clad tutu starts with a brief lesson in Hawaiian. In front of her is a display of Hawaiian foliage, flowers, bananas, breadfruit and other plants. You learn the Hawaiian names of them all, as well as their many uses, both decorative and utilitarian.” (Independent Star, June 12, 1966)

Ulu Mau Village lasted at Ala Moana Park for about 10-years. Then, in 1969, “the village is relocated at Heʻeia (Ka Lae o Keʻalohi,) half an hour’s drive from Waikiki. Its neighbors are Kaneohe bay, an old Hawaiian fishpond, the coral reefs that poke out of the sea, and the Koʻolau mountains.”

“Often called the Williamsburg of Hawaii, Ulu Mau is a living exhibit of grass houses, inhabited by Hawaiians who work the ancient crafts, play the ancient games, and grow the traditional crops which fed and clothed the islanders two centuries before Capt. Cook dropped his anchor in an Hawaiian bay.”

“Like Williamsburg, Ulu Mau is at the opposite end of the wax-museum style of historical presentation. Its idea is to bring an ancient culture to life. The grounds that slope down to the sea are planted with sugar cane, banana trees, taro, ti leaves, breadfruit, and ginger.”

“Ti leaves are used to make skirts. Breadfruit was the plant that Capt. Bligh and the Bounty came to get and bring back to the West Indies, and taro gave the islanders their starchy staple.”

“The villagers of Ulu Mau also display the old Hawaiian games. Kōnane is a local brand of checkers played on flat rocks by the sea, a restful experience for those who would dissolve the tangle of a more complicated society.”

“Young visitors in Hawaii’s Ulu Mau Village sample the Hawaiian way of life as it was in the days before the white man arrived. The village is a living exhibit of grass houses inhabited by Hawaiians who work the ancient crafts, play the ancient games, and grow the traditional crops.” (Chicago Tribune, March 29, 1970)

Ulu Mau Village operated at Heʻeia for less than 10-years. When the land was proposed for urban development, the community reaction prompted the Legislature to purchase the property which was acquired as the Heʻeia State Park in 1977.

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American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM)

There are three prominent names associated with the history of Missions in America, Eliot of the 17th century, Brainerd of the 18th century and Mills of the 19th century.

John Eliot (c. 1604 – 21 May 1690) was a Puritan missionary to the American Indians. His efforts earned him the designation “the apostle to the Indians.”

David Brainerd (April 20, 1718–October 9, 1747) was an American missionary to the Native Americans who had a ministry among the Delaware Indians of New Jersey.

Samuel John Mills (1783-1818) was the key instigator of American foreign missions. He grew up in Torringford, Connecticut, where his father, also named Samuel John Mills (1743-1833,) was pastor of the Congregational Church.

In the early-1800s, the US was swept by religious revivalism and many people were converted in the wake of the newly born religious fervor.  The Second Great Awakening spread from its origins in Connecticut to Williamstown, Massachusetts; enlightenment ideals from France were gradually being countered by an increase in religious fervor, first in the town, and then in Williams College.

In 1806, Mills headed off to Williams College in Massachusetts; he shared his thoughts on a missionary life with a few friends at college.

In the summer of 1806, in a grove of trees, in what was then known as Sloan’s Meadow, Mills, James Richards, Francis L Robbins, Harvey Loomis and Byram Green debated the theology of missionary service.  Their meeting was interrupted by a thunderstorm and they took shelter under a haystack until the sky cleared.

That event has since been referred to as the “Haystack Prayer Meeting” and is viewed by many scholars as the pivotal event for the development of Protestant missions in the subsequent decades and century.

The first American student missionary society began in September 1808, when Mills and others called themselves “The Brethren,” whose object was “to effect, in the person of its members, a mission or missions to the heathen.”  (Smith)  Mill graduated Williams College in 1809 and later Andover Theological Seminary.

In June 1810, Mills and James Richards petitioned the General Association of the Congregational Church to establish the foreign missions.  American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions was formed with a Board of members from Massachusetts and Connecticut.

In February, 1812, Rev. and Mrs. Judson, Rev. and Mrs. Newall, Rev. and Mrs. Nott, Rev. Gordon Hall and Rev. Luther Rice were commissioned as the Board’s first missionaries and set sail for Calcutta, India. (williams-edu)

In 1818, following a brief stay in England, Mills sailed to the west coast of Africa to purchase land for the American Colonization Society, then embarked for the United States on May 22 – he died at sea on June 16, 1818.

The story of the Foreign Mission School (1817-1826) connects the town of Cornwall, Connecticut, to a larger, national religious fervor of the Second Great Awakening. Cornwall’s Foreign Mission School exemplified evangelical efforts to recruit young men from indigenous cultures around the world, convert them to Christianity, educate them, and train them to become preachers, health workers, translators and teachers back in their native lands.

The school’s first student was Henry ʻŌpūkahaʻia (Obookiah,) a native Hawaiian from the Island of Hawaiʻi who in 1809 (at the age of 16, after his parents had been killed) boarded a sailing ship anchored in Kealakekua Bay and sailed to the continent.   In its first year, the Foreign Mission School had 12 students, more than half of whom were Hawaiian.

The next year, the enrollment doubled to 24 and, in addition to Chinese, Hindu and Bengali students, also consisted of seven Native Americans of Choctaw, Abnaki and Cherokee descent. By 1820, Native Americans from six different tribes made up half of the school’s students.

Once enrolled, students spent seven hours a day in study. Subjects included chemistry, geography, calculus and theology, as well as Greek, French and Latin. They were also taught special skills like coopering (the making of barrels and other storage casks), blacksmithing, navigation and surveying. When not in class, students attended mandatory church and prayer sessions and also worked on making improvements to the school’s lands.

ʻŌpūkahaʻia died suddenly of typhus fever in 1818; the “Memoirs of Henry Obookiah” served as an inspiration for missionaries to volunteer to carry his message to the Sandwich Islands.

On October 23, 1819, a group of northeast missionaries, led by Hiram Bingham, set sail on the Thaddeus for the Sandwich Islands (now known as Hawai‘i.)  With the missionaries were four Hawaiian students from the Foreign Mission School, Thomas Hopu, William Kanui, John Honoliʻi and Prince Humehume (son of Kauai’s King Kaumuali‘i.)

The Prudential Committee of the ABCFM in giving instructions to the pioneers of 1819 said: “Your mission is a mission of mercy, and your work is to be wholly a labor of love. … Your views are not to be limited to a low, narrow scale, but you are to open your hearts wide, and set your marks high. You are to aim at nothing short of covering these islands with fruitful fields, and pleasant dwellings and schools and churches, and of Christian civilization.”  (The Friend)

Over the course of a little over 40-years (1820-1863) (the “Missionary Period”,) about 184-men and women in twelve Companies served in Hawaiʻi to carry out the mission of the ABCFM in the Hawaiian Islands.

Today, the Hawaiian Mission Children’s Society, a nonprofit educational institution and genealogical society, exists to promote an understanding of the social history of nineteenth-century Hawai‘i and its critical role in the formation of modern Hawai‘i.

The Society operates the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives, comprised of three historic buildings and a research archives with reading room. The Society also compiles the genealogical records of the American Protestant missionaries in Hawai‘i and promotes the participation of missionary descendants in the Society’s activities.

Through the Site and Archives, the Society collects and preserves the documents, artifacts and other records of the missionaries in Hawai‘i’s history; makes these collections available for research and educational purposes; and interprets the historic site and collections to reflect the social history of nineteenth century Hawai‘i and America.

Here is a link to some more on the ABCFM
https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/wp-content/uploads/ABCFM.pdf 

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Keōpūolani Baptism

On the arrival of the American missionaries in April 1820, all the chiefs were consulted respecting the expediency of their establishment in the islands. Some of the chiefs seemed to doubt; but Keōpūolani without hesitation approved their proposals. (Memoir)

Keōpūolani welcomed them. As the highest ranking ali‘i of her time, her embracing of Christianity set a crucial seal of approval on the missionaries and their god. (Langlas & Lyon)

Keōpūolani was the daughter of Kīwalaʻo. Kīwalaʻo was the son of Kalaniʻōpuʻu by Kalola (sister of Kahekili.) Her mother was Kekuiapoiwa Liliha, Kīwalaʻo sister. She was aliʻi kapu of nī‘aupi‘o (high-born – offspring of the marriage of a high-born brother and sister or half-brother and half-sister.)

Her ancestors on her mother’s side were ruling chiefs of Maui; her ancestors on her father’s side were the ruling chiefs of the island of Hawai‘i. Keōpūolani’s genealogy traced back to Ulu, who descended from Hulihonua and Keakahulilani, the first man and woman created by the gods.

In the year 1822, while at Honolulu, she was very ill, and her attention seems to have been then first drawn to the instructions of the missionaries. (Anderson)

In May 1823, Keōpūolani and her husband Hoapili expressed a desire to have an instructor connected with them. They selected Taua, a native teacher sent by the church at Huaheine, in company with the Rev. Mr. Ellis, to instruct them and their people in the first principles of the Gospel, and teach them to read and write.

The mission approved, and Taua resided until the death of Keōpūolani. He proved a faithful teacher, and by the blessing of God, we believe, he did much to establish her in the Christian faith. (Memoir)

Keōpūolani requested, as did the king and chiefs, that missionaries might accompany her. As Lahaina had been previously selected for a missionary station, the missionaries were happy to commence their labors there under such auspices. William Richards and Charles Samuel Stewart therefore accompanied her. (Memoir)

On the May 31, 1823, Keōpūolani arrived in Lahaina with Messrs. Richards and Stewart and their families. On their passage, she told them she would be their mother; and indeed she acted the part of a mother ever afterwards.

Immediately on their arrival, she requested them to commence teaching, and said, also, “It is very proper that my sons (meaning the missionaries) be present with me at morning and evening prayers.”

They were always present, sung a hymn in the native language, and when nothing special prevented, addressed through an interpreter the people who were present, when Taua, or the interpreter, concluded the service with prayer.

She spent a principal part of her time every day in learning how to read. and notwithstanding her age, numerous cares, constant company, and various other hindrances, made respectable proficiency.

She was indeed a diligent pupil, seldom weary with study; often spent hours over her little spelling book; and when her teachers rose to leave her, rarely laid it aside, but usually continued studying after they had retired.

She was apparently as diligent in searching for divine truth, as in learning to read, and evidently gave attention to her book, that she might know more of her duty to her Maker. (Memoir)

On the last week in August, Keōpūolani began to be seriously affected by a local indisposition, which soon seemed to relax her whole system, and in her view was a premonition of her approaching death.

On the first day of September, the chiefs began to collect in consequence of her illness. This was agreeable to their universal custom. Whenever a high chief is taken ill, although there may be nothing threatening in his illness, all the chiefs assemble from every part of the islands, and wait the result.

Thus, it was in Keōpūolani’s sickness. Vessels were dispatched to the different islands before there was any occasion for alarm. It was not many days, however, before it was seriously apprehended that the disease would prove fatal. (Memoir)

“They regarded her as a fit subject for baptism, but were unwilling to administer the ordinance without some means of communicating with her and with the people, so that there might be no danger of misunderstanding on so interesting an occasion.”

“They feared lest there should be erroneous impressions as to the place the ordinance held in the Christian system. Happily, Mr. Ellis arrived just in season, and the dying woman was thus publicly acknowledged as a member of the visible church.”

“The king and ail the heads of the nation listened with profound attention to Mr. Ellis’s statement of the grounds on which baptism was administered to the queen …”

“… and when they saw that water was sprinkled on her in the name of God, they said, ‘Surely she is no longer ours. She has given herself to Jesus Christ. We believe she is his, and death will go to dwell with him.’ An hour afterwards, near the close of September 16, 1823, she died.” (Anderson)

Keōpūolani is said to have been the first convert of the missionaries in the islands and the first to receive a Protestant baptism. (Kalanimōku and Boki had previously (1819) been baptized by the French Catholics. Kalanimōku later (1825) joined the Protestant Church, at the same time as Ka‘ahumanu.)

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David Douglas

“David Douglas was born at Scone, near Perth, in 1799, being the son of John Douglas and Jean Drummond, his wife. His father was a stone mason, possessed of good abilities and a store of general information, rarely surpassed by persons in his sphere of life.”

“His family consisted of three daughters and as many sons, of whom, the subject of this notice was the second. At about three years of age he was sent to a school in the village … At the parish school of Kinnoul, kept by Mr. Wilson, whither he was soon sent, David Douglas evinced a similar preference to fishing and bird-nesting over book leaning …”

“His boyish days were not remarkable for any particular incidents. Like others at his time of life he was lively and active, and never failed of playing his part in the usual sports of the village. A taste for rambling, and much fondness for objects of natural history being, however, very strongly evinced.”

“From his earliest years nothing, it is said, gave Douglas so much delight as conversing about travelers and foreign countries, and the books which pleased him best were Sinbad the Sailor and Robinson Crusoe.”

“In the gardens of the Earl of Mansfield, he served a seven years’ apprenticeship, during which time it is admitted by all who knew him, that no one could he more industrious and anxious to excell than he was …”

“… his whole heart and mind being devoted to the attainment of a thorough knowledge of his business … he acquired the taste for botanical pursuits which he so ardently followed in after life.”

“Having completed the customary term in the ornamental department, he was moved to the forcing and kitchen garden, in the affairs of which he appeared to take as lively an interest as he had previously done in those of the flower garden.”

“Lee’s Introduction to Botany and Don’s Catalogue, his former text books, if they may be so termed, were now laid aside, and Nicol’s Gardener’s Calendar taken in their stead.”

Douglas was recommended “to Joseph Sabine, Esq., the Honorary Secretary of the Horticultural Society, as a botanical collector; and to London he directed his course accordingly in the spring of 1823.”

“His first destination was China, but intelligence having about that time been received of a rupture between the British and Chinese, he was despatched in the latter end of May, to the United States, where he procured many fine plants, including a large number of specimens of various oaks, and greatly increased the society’s collection of fruit trees.”  (Sir William Jackson Hooker; Wilson)

“David Douglas has no rival as a collector of Northwest plants. He introduced thousands of them to Europe, some 215 of which were new, and many were named for him. He noted 7,032 in totaling his mileage for the two years of his first expedition, April 1825-April 1827, and another time mentioned adding some 7,000 distinct species of flowering plants to the collection—a plant a mile, it might be said.”

Of note, “He laid in specimens of pinus taxifolia (Douglas fir) with pine cones which were eventually distributed to nurserymen and to fellows of the Horticultural Society to plant on their estates. He even sent samples (two planks 20 feet long) of this durable, tough, straight-grained wood that is unsurpassed in the qualities that render lumber most valuable.”

“It has become on the one hand, the world’s greatest structural timber—the most important tree in the American lumber trade—and on the other, the favorite Christmas tree in millions of homes.”

“Upon his return to London, (1827-1829) Douglas was feted and honored, and made a fellow of several learned societies. He wrote a number of professional papers and was given a “handsome offer” by John Murray for a book of his travels; his portrait was painted by Sir Daniel Macnee and hung at Kew.”

“For a time he enjoyed being a celebrity and the distinguished plant hunter, Mr. David Douglas. One of his great pleasures was to walk about the gardens of the Horticultural Society and see his flourishing seedlings.”

“But Douglas was soon impatient to be back at work, so the summer of 1830 he spent once more botanizing along the Columbia. The Indians these days were surly and becoming more war-like as they realized the white men had come to take their thousand-year-old homeland from them.”

“In December, Douglas went on to California, where he remained for 19 months. But in spite of much travel he had to note, ‘my whole collection this year (1830) in California was about 500 species, a little more or less. This is vexatiously small.’” (Gould; Vassar)

“It was while he was at Monterey that he acquired the title ‘Doctor.’ A boy had been injured, and there was no medical person in the area. Douglas was able to set the boy’s broken arm and so earned the title ‘Doctor.’” (Greenwell)

“In the summer of 1833 he went with a brigade to the Fraser River country and there had a disaster which seriously affected his eyes and his health. He had in mind a trip across Russia, botanizing byway of Sitka, but returning to Fort Vancouver he had an accident.”

“At the Stoney Islands (now Fort George Canyon) on the Fraser, his canoe was dashed to pieces while shooting the rapids. Douglas was in the whirlpool an hour and forty minutes before being washed unconscious onto the rocky shore.”

“He lost everything—notes—specimens and equipment. Sick and discouraged he took a ship via California for Hawaii.” (Gould) “In Hawai‘i, he was called kauka, the Hawaiian word for doctor.” (Greenwell)

“As Douglas recuperated from his rheumatism and eye troubles in Hawaii, he botanized again. In 10 days he had a ‘truly splendid collection’ of some 50 species. The giant ferns especially awakened his admiring comment.  In the crater of a volcano he found the Silver Sword plant which is named for him.”

“In his enthusiasm for Hawaii he wrote, ‘One day here is worth a year of common existence.’ It was while waiting for a ship to take him to England that Douglas met the Rev. John Diell. They enjoyed climbing and botanizing together and early in July agreed to meet in Hilo on the Island of Hawaii.”

“The morning of July 12, 1834, he was crossing the north side of Manna Kea, when about six in the morning he appeared at the hut of Ned Gurney who was an English runaway convict from Botany Bay.”

“After breakfast, Douglas walked for about three quarters of an hour along the path. Gurney claimed he had warned Douglas to watch out for three bull pits ahead.”

“It was a native custom to trap the wild long-horned Spanish cattle by digging pits and covering them with brush. Douglas passed safely by the three pits, then retraced his steps to the third pit. When some natives came by later in the morning, they first saw the feet of a man sticking out of a mass of rubbish and stones.”

“A bull was already entrapped in the pit and the angry beast was standing on the chest of the young plant-hunter. … A suspicion of murder became so strong that it was eventually decided to pack the body in salt and take it to Consul Charlton at Honolulu, on Oahu. There was considerable evidence. The horns of the bullock were blunt and could not make such deep gashes.”

“Thus ended 9 years of botanical adventure along the Pacific for David Douglas. His death at 35 is one of the tragedies of botanical history. But in his short span of life, as one scientist wrote …

“‘No other explorer personally made more discoveries, or described more genera or species. No other collector of rare plants ever reaped such a harvest or associated his name with so many economically useful and beautiful plants as David Douglas.’” (Gould; Vassar)

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Camp Harold Randolph Erdman

Camping became a cornerstone of YMCA programming in 1885 with the start of Camp Dudley in New York, America’s first known continuously running summer camp program. Since then, generations of kids, teens, young adults, and families have experienced the magic of camp—gaining confidence, building character, and making friends and lifelong memories. (YMCA)

“The YMCA has recently [1926] acquired [a] Mokuleia site on a ten year lease.  It is owned by the Dillinghams who have given the lease practically free of charge. The Association is developing the site into a permanent camp.” It was called Camp Mokuleia (other unrelated camps in the area also used that name).

“For this year, a permanent kitchen was built and equipped, also a shower and washroom and a latrine. Plans for the development of the camp have been worked by Furer and Potter, architects, and call for a screened dining hall, a small headquarters building containing office, doctor’s office and library, 14 small bungalows to house 8 boys each, baseball field and two tennis courts.” (Advertiser, June 27, 1926)

On Christmas morning, 1932, the YMCA received an unexpected gift – the donation of the camp by sisters Marion (Dillingham) Erdman and Mary (Dillingham) Frear – daughters of Benjamin Franklin Dillingham and Emma Louise (Smith) Dillingham. Instead of being leased to by the family, Camp Mokulē‘ia would now belong to the Y.

The gift was made in memory of Mrs. Erdman’s 26-year-old son who had been killed in a polo accident. Their gift included a request that Camp Mokulē‘ia be renamed Camp Harold R. Erdman to ensure “his spirit of contribution to the happiness of others, carries on.” (YMCA)

Harold Randolph Erdman was the son of missionaries John Erdman and Marion (Dillingham) Erdman.  John Erdman had been appointed in 1904 to go with his wife to Japan as a missionary to serve during the Russo-Japanese conflict, a war aggravated by Russian expansionism into the far reaches of Asia.

In the conflict, the Empire of Japan prevailed against the European power to gain control of the Manchurian and Korean territories. It was during the couple’s stay in Kobe, Japan, that the Reverend and Mrs. Erdman had a son, Harold Randolph Erdman. (McGhee) The Erdmans returned to Hawaii in 1907.

On September 11, 1929, Harold (grandson of Benjamin F Dillingham) married Mary Chickering.  “The young couple returned to Honolulu and began construction of their dream home on the slopes of Diamond Head, an area subdivided by Harold Erdman’s uncle, Walter Dillingham, just mauka of Dillingham’s fabled home La Pietra.”

“The following June, the young couple had a daughter [Louise], born at the Kapiolani Maternity Home.  Just over a year later, in July 1931, Harold Erdman, a graduate of Punahou and Princeton, was fatally injured in a polo match at Kapi‘olani Field when his horse fell and rolled over him. He died after remaining in a coma for a month.” (Advertiser, Dec 6, 2022)

“Camp Erdman has made remarkable progress since the Dillingham-Erdman families made a gift of the property Christmas, 1931. It was named in memory of Harold [Randolph] Erdman, well known in Honolulu as a boy and young man.”

“The gift of the land prompted many other gifts, notable among which were the erection of a roomy lodge and dining room as a gift of the Honolulu Rotary club, and a health building and just last year a director’s cabin, both of which were the gift of Mr. and Mrs FC Atherton.” (Star Bulletin, May 20, 1935)

Other gifts from the Rotary Club, the Erdman’s, the Dillingham’s, the Castle’s, the Westervelts’, and many other families and organizations came pouring in to help develop and construct the camp from Army tents with dirt floors to fully-constructed cabins, a dining room and kitchen, activity buildings, a chapel, and a memorial gate and swimming raft. (DLNR)

It wasn’t just a boys’ camp. “A family camp where father and mother, and brother and sister, and even an aunt, uncle or a grandparent, may enjoy camp life in  the sunshine of the Mokuleia coast is being offered to the people of Honolulu by the Honolulu YMCA.”

“This is made more attractive this year through the new equipment which has been erected at the camp site known as Camp Harold [Randolph] Erdman.”

“The Rotary dining hall with its splendid kitchen and equipment, the new cottages – eight in all, as well as showers and modem toilet conveniences, together with a new hospital unit soon to be under construction, will be of interest to Honolulu mothers or fathers who would like to spend a few days on the beach with their children.” (Advertiser, July 2, 1932)

In 1941, the bombing of Pearl Harbor and American involvement in World War II had temporarily ended camping at Camp Erdman. The Army Engineers immediately placed 100 workmen at the camp and didn’t leave until 1943. Soon after, the camp was leased to the 14th Naval District as an officers’ rest camp. (DLNR)

The Navy gave up the camp in spring of 1946 and the YMCA was able to buy the improvements that were made at a fraction of the cost. Camping started back up immediately and attendance records were broken that first summer and increased every year since. (DLNR)

Today, Camp Erdman offers a range of programs for kids and teens throughout the summer and year-round for school groups and retreats, as well as healing camps for children of prison inmates, youth with disabilities, and more.  (YMCA)

For some, it’s the first time they’ve ventured beyond their community, eaten three meals a day, or slept in a bed—not to mention, climbed, sang or gone swimming. Through financial aid, the Y ensures life-changing experiences for all children across O‘ahu. (YMCA)

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