Images of Old Hawaiʻi

by Peter T Young 2 Comments

‘The Lion of North Kona’

George Washington Pilipo was born February 22, 1828 in Holualoa North Kona on the Island of Hawaiʻi, one of eleven children (only two of whom however lived to majority.)

He attended the District School for several years, and in 1852 went to the Hilo Boarding School where he remained only a few months, entering Lahaina Seminary in 1853.

“He took the full course there graduating in 1857 with honor having won the affection and respect of both teachers and fellow pupils.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 29, 1887)

Returning to Kona he opened an independent school which was maintained for a number of years. During this time however he acted as the efficient assistant pastor in the Kailua church of Reverend Asa Thurston.

In 1864, at the Evangelical Association for Hawaiʻi Island meeting in Waimea, Pilipo received his license. The next year he was ordained a minister.

“He was installed at Kailua over the old church where Father Thurston had labored from the landing of the missionaries in 1820 … Here Pilipo labored and preached acceptably and honored by all for six years, until he was called to, and accepted, the pastorate of Kaumakapili in Honolulu.” (Paris)

“(V)ery few know of the actual facts connected with the financial transactions there which left a stain upon his good name, fewer still are aware of his honorable attempt to make good any loss suffered through him. It is a fact however that he settled the whole matter with the church borne years ago. (Hawaiian Gazette, March 29, 1887)

“(H)e was unfortunate in entrusting church funds to persons who were unreliable. I believe he meant to be honest and has been greatly slandered.”

“He was noble and independent, a true Patriot and Christian … a fearless champion for temperance and unmoved by the threats, bribes or flattery of the Roman and Anglican churches, both of which sought to win him over to their faiths.” (Paris)

“Mr Pilipo’s reputation however rests mostly upon his political career. He was early elected a member of the Legislative Assembly and served continuously and with honor for sixteen years. He was a powerful and effective speaker.”

“Among a nation of born orators he excelled. He rarely failed to carry the hearts as well as the heads of his audiences in his utterances. From the first he has stood consistently on the side of what he considered Hawaiʻi’s best good.”

“He earned for himself the name of The Lion of North Kona.” (Hawaiian Gazette, March 29, 1887)

“He was the persistent foe of corruption and peculation in office. His voice was ever raised against measures calculated to injure Hawaii. His clear sight of the true character of measures proposed arrayed him against them whenever in his judgment they would tend to injure the people as a nation.”

On February 12, 1874, nine days after the death of King Lunalilo, an election was held between the repeat candidate David Kalākaua and Queen Emma, widow of King Kamehameha IV. Pilipo supported Emma – she lost.

However, in the legislature, “the last of the Emmaites” were reelected, including Pilipo (as well as Joseph Nawahi from Hilo and J Kauai from Kauai.) (Kanahele)

On July 11, 1882, a bill before the legislature called for conveyance of Crown Lands to Claus Spreckels in satisfaction of claims he may have. Pilipo declared that this was a “step toward destroying the independence” of Hawaiʻi. (Hawkins)

Pilipo opposed the bill and in a speech in the legislature he said, (1) “this is not a matter that will please the Hawaiian People,” (2) this issue “really has no business before this Assembly … (and) should be considered in the courts’ and …”

(3) “I think that taking crown lands away from the crown and giving them to another person is a step in destroying the independence of the country.” (The bill was later approved and signed into law by Kalakaua.) (Van Dyke)

King Kalakaua became so incensed by Pilipo’s critique of his government’s dealings with Spreckels that he personally intervened in the 1886 general election campaign to ensure that Pilipo was not reelected.

Kalakaua “received hundreds of cases of cheap gin, which he sent to every voting precinct to secure the election of his candidates to the Legislature. He went personally to one country district, with a company of soldiers (to campaign against) Kalakaua’s staunchest opponent in the Legislature.” (William Brewster Oleson; Congressional Record)

“In order to prevent Pilipo’s election, the King proceeded to his district of North Kona (and) took an active part in the canvass …. The King’s interference with the election nearly provoked a riot, which was averted by Pilipo’s strenuous exertions.” (US State Department)

“(Kalakaua) stationed soldiers with side arms in double rows at polling places, thus intimidating voters and pushing men out of line who were suspected of opposition to his schemes, thus forcibly preventing their voting.” (William Brewster Oleson; Congressional Record)

Pilipo was defeated by JK Nahale by 19-votes; Pilipo died March 25, 1887. (Hawkins) The image shows George Washington Pilipo.

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George Washington Pilipo
George Washington Pilipo

by Peter T Young Leave a Comment

Summertime

In a lot of respects, with or without kids, school vacation schedules seem to set how we operate our lives.

Until the middle of the 19th century, Americans used the word vacation the way the English do, the time when teachers and students vacate the school premises and go off on their own.  (Siegel; NPR)

Summer … Memorial Day to Labor Day, right?  Well, maybe before, but why?

A first thought is the historic reason for the season of summer vacations is so kids can go work on the family farm.  There are a number of reasons summer vacation came about, but the farming calendar isn’t one of them.

There used to be two basic school schedules – one for urban areas and the other for rural communities.

In the past, urban schools ran year-round. For example, in 1842 New York City schools were in class for 248 days. Rural schools took the spring off to plant, and the autumn off to harvest. (The summer actually isn’t the busiest time in agriculture.)

Short school years with long vacations are not the norm in Europe, Asia, or South America. Children in most industrialized countries go to school more days per year and more hours per day than in America.

Rural schools typically had two terms: a winter term and a summer one, with spring and fall available for children to help with planting and harvesting. The school terms in rural schools were relatively short: 2-3 months each.  (Taylor)

In addition, in rural areas, the summer term was considered “weak.” The summer term in rural neighborhoods tended to be taught by young girls in their mid- to late-teens. On the other hand, schoolmasters, generally older males, taught the winter terms. Because of this, the summer terms were seen as academically weaker.  (Lieszkovszky; NPR)

It’s hot in the summer. The school buildings of the 19th-century weren’t air-conditioned. Heat during the summer months would often become unbearable.    (Lieszkovszky; NPR)

In 1841, Boston schools operated for 244-days while Philadelphia implemented a 251-day calendar. In the beginning of the 19th-century, large cities commonly had long school years, ranging from 251 to 260 days.  During this time, many of these rural schools were only open about 6-months out of the year.  (Pedersen)

In the 1840s, however, educational reformers like Horace Mann moved to merge the two calendars out of concern that rural schooling was insufficient and then-current medical theory and concerns over student health in the urban setting.

“(A) most pernicious influence on character and habits … not infrequently is health itself destroyed by over-stimulating the mind.”  (Mann)

This concern over health seemed to have two parts.  As noted above, there was the concern that over-study would lead to ill-health, both mental and physical; the other concern was that schoolhouses were unhealthy in the summer (heat, ventilation, etc.)  (Taylor)

Attendance became another problem.  The city elite could afford to periodically leave town for cooler climates.  School officials, battling absenteeism, saw little advantage in opening schools on summer days or on holidays when many students wouldn’t show up. Pressure to standardize the school calendar across cities often led campuses to “the lowest common denominator” – less school.    (Mathews; LA Times)

In the second half of the 19th-century, school reformers who wanted to standardize the school year found themselves wanting to lengthen the rural school year and to shorten the urban school year, ultimately ending up by the early 20th-century with the modern school year of about 180 days.  (Taylor)

Summer emerged as the obvious time for a break: it offered a break for teachers, generally fit with the farming needs and alleviated physicians’ concerns that packing students into sweltering classrooms that would promote the spread of disease.  (Time)

While it’s clear historically that 3-month layoff from school was not based on farming needs – for most of the country – in Hawaiʻi there was a farm-based reason for the break from studies, at least from 1932 to 1969.

It happened in Kona.

By the 1890s, the large Kona coffee plantations were broken into smaller (5+/- acres) family farms.  By 1915, tenant farmers, largely of Japanese descent, were cultivating most of the coffee. Many hours were spent cleaning and weeding the land, pruning the trees, harvesting the crop, pulping the berries and drying them for the mills.

These were truly family farms.  “At that time, we used to work until dark. You see, no matter how young you were, you have to work. Before going to school, we pick one basket of coffee, then go to school. We come home from school and we pick another basket.” (Tsuruyo Kimura; hawaii-edu)

Konawaena was the regional school; it was first established as an elementary school, about 1875.  By 1917, they were pushing to get a Kona high school (at the time, Hilo High, established in 1905, was the only high school on the island.)

In 1920, the Territory acquired land for a new school and in 1921, the new Konawaena accommodated students up to the 9th-grade; classes through the senior year were added by the 1924-25 school year.

Konawaena means “the Center of Kona,” and it lived up to its name.  “Everything possible has been done to make the community feel that the school belongs to them. A Kona Baseball League has been organized and all league games are played on the school diamond” (Crawford, 1933; HABS)

The Kona area was observed as being “different socially from the rest of the Islands” (Crawford, 1933; HABS.)  Coffee farming was the main reason for the difference. This labor-intensive crop thrived best in the steep lava slopes of the Kona districts.

“The labor problem is one that will have to be seriously considered.  As coffee culture increases, the need of a greater supply of labor will be strongly felt, particularly at picking time. A large force is then needed for three or four months, after which, if coffee alone is cultivated, there is need only of a small part of the force required for picking.”  (Thrum)

These labor and  land factors meant a non-industrial, small-farm type of agriculture, very different from the industrial trends in the growing sugar and pineapple plantations that developed in other areas of the Islands.

The school went beyond recreational activities to accommodate the surrounding community.

In 1932, the school’s ‘summer’ vacation was shifted from the traditional Memorial Day to Labor Day (June-July-August) to August-September-October, “to meet the needs of the community, whose chief crop is coffee and most of which ripens during the fall months.” (Ka Wena o Kona 1936; HABS)

In 1935, the legislature recognized the ‘Konawaena Coffee Vacation Plan’ and passed legislation such that “The teachers of the Kona District … shall be paid, under such conditions as the Department of Public Instruction (now DOE) may require, their monthly accruing salaries during the months of September and October of each year during which such plan is in operation.”    (Session Laws, 1935)

This “coffee harvest” school schedule and the “coffee vacation” lasted until 1969 (Honolulu Star Bulletin 1969; HABS.)

And now, in Hawaiʻi and across the country, there are varying arrangements for school schedules and vacations.  Some areas have lost the 3-month layover; but most are trending with a total 180 to 200-days of instruction, with various schedules in arranging the breaks.

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Happy Mother’s Day!

The image shows my mother, grandmother, grandfather and some of their friends in 1928 in front of Moku‘aikaua Church. (My mother is the littlest girl sitting near the middle, her mother is sitting next to her near the middle (wearing a hat) and her father is on the right.

This stone and mortar building, completed in 1837, is the oldest surviving Christian church in the state of Hawaiʻi, started by the first Protestant missionaries to land in Hawaiʻi and the oldest intact Western structure on the Island of Hawai‘i.

With the permission of Liholiho (Kamehameha II), the missionaries first built a grass house for worship in 1823 and, later, a large, thatched meeting house.

Missionary Asa Thurston directed the construction of the present Moku’aikaua Church, then the largest building in Kailua-Kona. Its massive size indicates the large Hawaiian population living in or near Kailua at that time.

Built of stones taken from a nearby heiau and lime made of burned coral, it represents the new western architecture of early 19th-century Hawaiʻi and became an example that other missionaries would imitate.

The original thatch church which was built in 1823 but was destroyed by fire in 1835, the present structure was completed in 1837. Moku‘aikaua takes its name from a forest area above Kailua from which timbers were cut and dragged by hand to construct the ceiling and interior.

In 1910, a memorial arch was erected at the entrance to the church grounds to commemorate the arrival of the first missionaries.

My mother was the great-great grand-daughter (and her father was great grandson) of Hiram Bingham, leader of first missionaries to Hawaiʻi who first landed in the Islands, here at Kailua-Kona in 1820.

Happy Mother’s Day!

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Kapalilua

“Kona … had three marked areas – Kekaha in the north [from around Honokōhau to Keahualono, the Kona-Kohala Boundary], central Kona, and [Kapalilua] in the south [from Honokua and south to Manukā].” (Cordy)

In Kekaha (a shortened version of Kekaha-wai-‘ole o nā Kona” (waterless Kekaha of the Kona district) in the northern portion of Kona (Maly)) “the lands are increasingly more arid”.

“[T]he central portions [of Kona] had arid shorelines with shallow soil in pockets amidst rocky outcrops and bare lava flows … High rainfall was present ca. 1-2 miles inland, and here soil was thicker … Farther above were the ‘ōhia forests”.

“South of central Kona are the [Kapalilua] lands … These lands are subject to frequent lava flows from Mauna Loa … High cliffs are common along the [Kapalilua] coast.”  (Cordy)  Desha states that “Kapalilua was a land of starvation.”

“Over the period of several centuries, areas with the richest natural resources became populated and perhaps crowded … the population began expanding to the kona (leeward side) and more remote regions of the island.”

“In Kona, communities were initially established along sheltered bays with access to fresh water and rich marine fisheries. The primary ‘chiefly’ centers of Kona were established at several locations – these being in the Kailua (Kaiakeakua) vicinity, Kahalu‘u-Keauhou, Ka‘awaloa-Kealakekua, and at Hōnaunau.”

“Smaller outlying communities were established further south, in the region traditionally known as Kapalilua, at areas such as Kauhakō-Ho‘okena, Ka‘ohe, Pāpā, Miloli‘i, Kalihi, Honomalino, and Kapu‘a, with even smaller communities at areas in between the large kulana kauhale (village communities).” (Maly)

“In the time of intensive native cultivation, South Kona was planted in zones determined by rainfall and moisture. Near the dry seacoast potatoes were grown in quantity, and coconuts where sand or soil among the lava near the shore favored their growth.”

“Up to 1,000 feet grew small bananas which rarely fruited, and poor cane; from 1,000 to 3,000 feet, they prospered increasingly. From approximately 1,000 to 2,000 feet, breadfruit flourished.”

“Taro was planted dry from an altitude of 1,000 to 3,000 feet. An old method of planting taro in Kona, described to us by Lakalo at Ho‘okena, was to plant the cuttings in the lower, warmer zone where they would start to grow quickly …”

“… and then to transplant them to the higher forest zone where soil was rich and deep and where moisture was ample for their second period of growth, in which their corms are said to have developed to an average of 25 pounds each.” (Handy, Handy & Pukui)

Ellis, part of Captain Cook’s crew verifies the mauka planting, “After ascending part of the hill, which was covered in every direction with plantations of sugar-cane, sweet potatoes, tarrow, plantains, and breadfruit trees, which were by far the largest they had seen, they arrived at a spot of land entirely uncultivated, and overrun with long grass and ferns.”

“At some distance from this were four or five small huts, the habitations of a few poor people, whose business appeared to be to cultivate several plantations of tarrow that probably belonged to some of the arees or principal people.”

“They had nothing to dispose of, but two small fowls, a few roots of tarrow, and a small quantity of poey as they called it, which was a kind of pudding made of potatoes, mashed up with water, and constitutes the principal part of the food of the lower class  of people.”

“The soil in this part was light, and of a different kind to that below. Having purchased the fowls and tarrow, they left the huts, and proceeded to the wood, which was about two miles distant, through a considerable tract of waste ground, entirely over-run with long grass, ferns, and the dracaena terminalis …”

“… the foot-path was sometimes pretty good, but in general stony, though not in so great a degree as the lower parts: these stones were evidently the production of the volcano. …”

“As they proceeded, they arrived at a long tract of wild plantain-trees, . which far exceed the cultivated ones in size; they produce fruit like them, but it never arrives at perfection. The path now became very dirty and slippery, the soil being a ruff yellow clay, interspersed with large stones.”

“They saw a variety of trees, one species of which was very tall and large, and its leaves greatly resembled those of the spice-trees of Vandiemen’s Land [Tasmania]; this is the wood of which the natives make their canoes. …”

“The next morning was fixed upon for their return to the ships; but they took a different route to their former one, proceeding nearly in a WNW direction, through innumerable plantations of the paper mulberry-tree, bread-fruit, and plantain-trees, which formed an extensive garden, and rendered the houses which were situated there delightfully pleasant.” (Ellis)

In comparing central Kona to Kapalilua, missionary William Ellis notes, “The northern part, including Kairua, Kearake’kua and Honaunau, contains a dense population, and the sides of the mountain are cultivated to a considerable extent …”

“… but the south part presents a most inhospitable aspect.  Its population is thin, consisting principally of fishermen, who cultivate but little land, and that at the distance of from five to seven miles from the shore.” (Ellis)

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Manago Hotel

“They came to America almost a century ago to marry men they only knew in photographs.”

“The picture bride movement, which allowed men to marry by proxy, became the only way members of the predominantly male Japanese population in the United States could find wives and start families.”

“According to some historians, the majority of Japanese born in the United States can trace their ancestry to a picture bride.”  (LA Times)  Between 1907 and 1923, over 14,000 picture brides arrived in Hawaiʻi from Japan.

One such picture bride became Osame.

As a child, Osame’s father told her, “You are only a farmer’s daughter.  What good does it do you to get more education for working in the fields or for business?  If you can sign your name, that’s enough.”

He allowed Osame to go through fifth grade, but said she would be a subject of laughter if she attempted high school.  (Sandra Wager-Wright)

At the age of seventeen, she left Japan and came to the Islands and married Kinzo Manago – settling in South Kona on the Island of Hawaiʻi.

A few years prior, Kinzo left Japan to go to Canada and learn English.  He and several friends departed for Honolulu, where they expected to board a boat for Canada.  One of the friends gambled away the money and they were stuck in the Islands.

Kinzo discovered that he had a relative on the island of Hawai`i, so he took a steamer to Kona.  Shortly thereafter, Kinzo began working as a cook, which is how he earned enough money for a picture bride.

At first, following a proxy ceremony in 1912, Osame stayed with her husband’s family in Japan until she could book passage on a ship to Honolulu.  The couple went through a second ceremony at a nearby Shinto temple.

The next day, they left for Kona on the cramped interisland steamer.  People, cattle, cargo – all together in the hold.  Many people put mats out on deck.  The boat landed at Kailua, and the couple took a cart up the rocky road to Captain Cook.    (Sandra Wager-Wright)

At first, Kinzo worked full time chopping firewood.  In 1917, he borrowed money from his former boss and purchased a two-room house, a cook stove and supplies.  The couple set aside one room for their own use.  In the other, Osame served homemade bread and jam to taxi drivers traveling from Kona to Hilo.

This marked the beginning of the Manago Hotel.

As they were able, the couple added rooms and a second floor while expanding food service to include full meals and sake.  For those who chose to spend the night, the Managos charged $1.00 to sleep on a tatami mat.

By the end of 1930, the couple had seven children, and the business brought in $20 per day.  (Sandra Wager-Wright)

During World War II, the military contracted Kinzo and Osame to feed the soldiers who, at the time, occupied Konawaena School.

The hotel was turned over to Harold and Nancy Manago, the 2nd generation, in 1942; after the war, Harold purchased the land beneath the hotel to expand in acreage and guest rooms.

Harold and Nancy managed the business for 42 years. Then in 1984, their youngest son Dwight and wife, Cheryl, took over the hotel.

Over the last 30 years, more and more tourists from the mainland and foreign countries have discovered Manago Hotel. When asked about the diverse clientele, Dwight said “At the same time, we’re lucky the same local working people keep coming. It’s a good mix, where we don’t just cater to one or the other.” (Manago Hotel)

The hotel has a low-key style that makes it a favorite with Island residents. They come for the simple but spotless rooms and rock-bottom prices. Old-timers will recall stopping by the original hotel and dusting off coffee-farm dirt. They’d wash their hands at the porcelain basin outside, before going in to eat.  (Manago Hotel)

Kinzo and Osame never dreamed that the original hotel with two cots plus futons would turn into 64 full rooms, and a new three-story wing overlooking Kealakekua Bay and the City of Refuge.

Manago Hotel has 42 rooms with private bathrooms, and 22 rooms with shared bathrooms. Rooms may be reserved for daily, weekly or monthly rates.

The Restaurant located within the hotel offers local and American foods at reasonable prices. The dining room setting is typical of old Hawaiʻi – family style.  One item of personal interest, Manago pork chops – ‘nuff said. (Lots of Information here from Manago Hotel and Sandra Wager-Wright.)

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