DU 629 H7 Td BUHR A a39015 01I813046 lb r F::'-~~.!!111 1111!. _ I THE GIPT OF A-vc-ve. oT H4w I~ IE -- I I klnfiriTf'ii rirt' History ofn ace lolani CPalace Compiled by Albert Pierce Taylor Librarian, Bureau of Archives Territory of Hawaii I, li'hi'ecs Comlmm ission of the Territort otf HtaaZ'lii Rayrmond(l C. Broizn, Charirltrlz A. G. i11. Robertson [7. 0. Smith Compiled by Albert Pierce Taylor Librarian, Bureau of Archives Territory of Hawaii jr^ hives Commin;ission of the Territor' of /aZ'aii Ranymond C. Brow'n, Chairman A. G. lIl. Robertson [F. 0. Smith Thronc Room,, lolai Palace I lolani Palace Now the Executive Building Territory of Hawaii. PON THE SITE of the present structure which was occupied in December, 1882, by King Kalakaua and his consort, Queen Kapiolani, stood the first royal palace of Kamehameha III, who reigned from 1825 to 1853, a frame building completed in 1846 and razed in 1878 to be succeeded by the present structure. The first palace was occupied successively by Kings Kamehameha III, IV, V, Lunalilo and Kalakaua. The new palace was occupied by King Kalakaua from 1882 to 1891, the year of his death, and by Queen Liliuokalani, his sister and successor to the throne, who reigned from 1891 to 1893. From 1893 to date the former palace has been used as the executive building for the successive Provisional Government (1893-4), Republic of (7) Hawaii, (1894-1900), Territory of Haw a i i (1900- ). Kamehameha IV suggested the name "St. Alexander's Palace" at a meeting of the Privy Council, December 7, 1868. The Privy Council suggested the name "Iolani Palace," the Hawaiian name, Iolani, having been applied to Kamehameha II and Kamehameha IV. The name was officially adopted, remaining as such until June 2, 1893, when it was changed to "Executive Building" by a resolution adopted by the Executive and Advisory Councils of the Provisional Government, and it has since been so called. The cornerstone of the present building was laid December 31, 1879, the birthday of Queen Kapiolani, consort of King David Kalakaua, by the Masonic fraternity of Honolulu at the request of the King, who was a high member of the order, being a 330 Scottish Rite Mason and a Knight Templar, and its completion was celebrated December 27, 1882, by a Masonic banquet held therein by the united Masonic lodges. The palace was erected at a cost in excess of $350,000. It is of brick construction, with facing of cement and concrete block trimmings. It originally had a slate roof, two stories in height with basement and attic. The interior is finished with (8) the choicest of Hawaiian woods. The ground plan is 120 by 140 feet, and is 80 feet to the top of the central towers. The hall to the right of the main vestibule, now used by the House of Representatives for legislative sessions, was formerly the Throne Room during the monarchy period, the throne dais and canopy being in the same position then as now except that the surmounting crown has been replaced by the American eagle. It was the throne room of King Kalakaua up to the time of his death in January, 1891, and lastly by his sister, Queen Liliuokalani, up to the time of her dethronement in January, 1893. It was also the scene of formal court receptions, levees and balls. The funeral rites for King Kalakaua (1891), Prince Kawananakoa (1908), Queen Liliuokalani (1917), and other members of the royal families were held therein, the last obsequies being those for Prince Kalanianaole (1922), Delegate to Congress from 1902 to 1922, and for Sanford B. Dole, President of the Provisional Government of Hawaii, and the Republic of Hawaii (1893-1900), held on June 12, 1926. The hall is used on formal occasions by the Governor of Hawaii. It was ( 9 ) also used in 1895 as a military court room following the revolution of 1895, among those on trial being former Queen Liliuokalani. On the opposite side of the vestibule was the state dining room now used as the Senate Chamber. The chamber occupied by the President of the Senate and staff was formerly a reception room known as the "Blue Room," and used much by the military aides of the Sovereigns, and for audiences with the sovereign w h e n the Throne Room was not used. In the basement the rooms occupied for years, until 1926, by the Department of Public Works, Commissioner of Public Lands, Hawaiian Homes Commission, etc., were formerly occupied by the royal chamberlain and staff, and by the royal kitchens with corresponding service rooms. These rooms are now occupied as "Committee Rooms" of the two houses of the Legislature. The second foor rooms were mainly used as private apartments by the sovereigns and members of their families. That occupied by King Kalakaua, and later by Queen Liliuokalani, is now the executive chamber of the Governor of Hawaii, and during the Republic of Hawaii period was the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. The central room, adjoining, now occupied by the Gov( 10) ernor's secretary, was the "Foreign Office," or the office of the Sovereigns. The room now occupied by the Secretary of the Territory was formerly the Music Room, and was later the executive chamber of President Sanford B. Dole of the Provisional Government and Republic of Hawaii. President Dole used the corner room as a sleeping apartment when affairs of the Republic were at a critical stage. The room now occupied by the Attorney-General was the bed-chamber of Queen Kapiolani. The offices of the clerks of the Attorney-General were the bed-chambers of the Princess Poomaikalani and Kekaulike, sisters of Queen Kapiolani. Queen Liliuokalani was imprisoned for nine months in 1895 in the corner room (makaiWaikiki, over the Throne room) occupied by the Auditor until 1926, following the unsuccessful royalist insurrection in January of 1893. The hallway in the second story was used by the royal families as a breakfast and general sitting room, where they received and entertained their intimate friends. The Hawaiian monarchy was abrogated January 17, 1893. A Provisional Government was established on that date which had its headquarters in the present Judiciary Building until June (11) j.llljd iUiVol 'a.)Iff(0 YS'I.Ollu, zo 3rd, when formal possession of the Palace was taken for that purpose, and the building officially designated as the Executive Building. On July 7, 1898, President McKinley signed the Joint Resolution of Annexation, as passed by both houses of Congress, annexing the Hawaiian Islands to the United States as an integral part of the United States. On August 12, 1898, Admiral Miller, commanding the U. S. Naval forces on the Pacific Station, formally raised the American flag over the building. United States Minister Harold M. Sewall accepted the Government of the Islands from President Sanford B. Dole on the same occasion. On June 14, 1900, the Hawaiian Islands became the Territory of Hawaii, U. S. A., with President Dole as the first Governor. In October, 1926, the Departments of the Treasury, Audit, Public Works, Land, Homes Commission, Farm Loan Board, Geological Survey, Harbor Commission, were removed to the new Territorial Office Building, adjoining the Judiciary Building. The Executive Building is now occupied only by the Governor, Secretary of the Territory, Attorney-General, and the two houses of the Legislature. ( 13 ) The royal palace in addition to the basement and two main floors, had an attic where King Kalakaua established a library for the Hale Naua Society, of which he was president, and above the attic are six cupolas. From the roof of the Palace and the platforms of the cupolas, President Dole and staff, with field glasses, watched the progress of skirmishes between the government forces and the insurrectionists in January, 1895, when the Hawaiians endeavored to restore former Queen Liliuokalani to the throne. A large proportion of the furnishings, particularly paintings and objects of art, for the Palace, were purchased in Europe. Many oil paintings, especially portraits of the sovereigns and members of the royal families of the two Hawaiian dynasties-Kamehameha (1795 -1874), and Kalakaua (1874-1893), were already in place. There were portraits of Kamehameha the Great, a copy from a portrait painted by Choris, the Russian artist accompanying the expedition of Lieut. Kotzebue, Russian navy, in 1816; Kamehameha II, and his consort, Queen Kamamalu, from paintings made during their visit to London, 1824, where they died; Kamehameha III (1825-1854), his consort, Queen Kalama; Kamehameha IV (1854-1863), and his consort, ( 14 ) Queen Emma; Kamehameha V (1864-1872); King Lunalilo (1872-1874). These now adorn the walls of the throne room. During the reign of Queen Liliuokalani, oil portraits of King Kalakaua and Queen Liliuokalani, painted by the American artist, Wm. Cogswell, for which the Queen paid him $3,000, were added. After the death of Prince Kuhio Kalanianaole, nephew of Queen Kapiolani, who was delegate from Hawaii to Congress from 1902 to 1922, his portrait was added to the throne room. In this room is also a life-sized oil portrait of King Louis Philippe, of France, presented by that monarch to Kamehameha III, and landed at Honolulu early in 1848 from the French frigate Sarcelle, and installed in the old palace with much ceremony. During the Wilcox revolution in 1889, this portrait was pierced by many bullets from sharpshooters' rifles. In the second story hallway there are portraits of Admiral Thomas, British navy, who restored the independence of Hawaii to Kamehameha III on July 30, 1843, following the seizure of the islands by Lord George Paulet, on February 25, 1843. Also, an oil portrait of Napoleon III, a gift (15 ) to Hawaii from that sovereign; an oil portrait of Alexander II of Russia, a gift from the Czar. There are oils and crayons of King Kalakaua, Queen Kapiolani, Princess Likelike, Princess Kaiulani, High Chief Haalelea, Kamehameha III as a young man, and President Sanford Ballard Dole (1893-1900), who also served as the first Governor of the Territory of Hawaii (1900-1903). Oil portraits of King William of Prussia (1830) and Field Mlarshal Blucher of Prussia, sent to Kamehameha III in that year by the German ruler, are among the oldest works of art associated with the Palace. These are referred to in many books written about Hawaii, between 1832 and 1845. An oil portrait of the succeeding King of Prussia (1848) arrived here early that year as a gift to Kamehameha III. The throne room, between sessions of the legislature, is maintained as it was in monarchy days. The royal dais with its canopy is exactly the same with the exception that the symbolic crown above it has been replaced by a symbolic American eagle. The throne chairs are now on exhibition in the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum. The crown of King Kalakaua, which was worn by him for the first time on February 12, 1883, ( 16 ) when a formal coronation celebration was observed (he was elected February 12, 1874), is now filed in the Archives of Hawaii, a building near the palace. The crown of Queen Kapiolani is in the Bishop Museum. It was not despoiled. The coronation ceremonies were held in a pavilion set up in front of the Palace steps. It was afterwards moved and permanently established near the Palace and is now used as a bandstand. The Palace was the scene of many brilliant social functions in monarchy days, the King, his queen, his sister, the Princess Liliuokalani, in for mal garb (the King in military uniform) receiving guests at the dais. The etiquette of the court of St. James prevailed at the Palace. Introductions were formal, and following introductions the visitors walked backwards to the exits. The Royal Hawaiian Military Band, directed by Capt. Henri Berger, a bandmaster sent to Kamehameha V by Emperor William of Germany, in 1872, played for balls and receptions. Officers of visiting warships were always received at the Palace, and a ball usually followed their first courtesy visits, the royal hospitality being reciprocated by receptions and balls aboard the warships. ( 17 ) The royal quadrilles were very royal, as they were participated in by the King, Queen, Princesses, and representatives of foreign governments and their ladies. On July 30, 1889, Robert W. Wilcox, a partHawaiian, who, as one of several Hawaiian youths educated abroad, had received a military training in the Italian artillery school at Turin, Italy, launched an insurrection. At the head of 250 Hawaiians he marched into the Palace grounds through the Hotel Street entrance, and demanded the surrender of the Palace from Lieut. Robert Parker Waipa, King's Guard, who commanded a detachment of twelve Hawaiian soldiers on duty. Lieut. WVaipa refused. Wilcox made no military attempt to take the Palace, but occupied the King's bungalow. Citizens, organizing into military companies, with sharpshooters, surrounded the Palace grounds. Ten of Wilcox's men were killed. At dusk the revolutionists surrendered. The Palace walls were chipped by bullets, the scars of battle still showing. On January 14, 1893, Queen Liliuokalani went in state to Aliiolani Hale, the parliament house (now the judiciary building) and prorogued the (18) I I Hallwaj, leading to second f loor legislature. She returned to the Palace, assembled her Ministers in the Blue Room, and announced that she intended to proclaim a new Constitution. The Ministers refused to sign the document, whereupon Her Majesty appeared at the railing of the second story lanai, and informed a delegation of Hawaiians assembled in front of the steps that, intending to give them a new Constituti;n she had been frustrated. Citizens, on learning of the proposed coup, organized a Safety Committee, a n d on January 17, 1893, the climax came when the Committee asked for, and received the surrender of the Parliament House, and at once proclaimed a Provisional Government, thereby abrogating the monarchy and deposing the Queen. Judge Sanford B. Dole was proclaimed President. In January, 1895, an insurrection occurred, the purpose being to restore the monarchy and the Queen. The insurrection failed. On January 16, 1895, former Queen Liliuokalani was arrested by order of the government, and tried before a military court in the former throne room. She was found guilty of the charges of misprision of treason, and sentenced to imprisonment, her prison chamber being designated in the second story of the Palace, directly over the throne room, where ( 20 ) she remained nine months until paroled, after which she was granted full pardon. Afterwards she resided at her private home, "Washington Place," until her death on November 11, 1917. She was accorded a state funeral from the old Palace. "Washington Place" was purchased by the territorial government, for preservation, and is now the official residence of the Governors of Hawaii. (21) SOVEREIGNS OF HAWAII Kamehameha I........................................1795-1819 Kamehameha II.....................................1819-1824 Kamehameha III....................................... 1825-1854 Kamehanleha IV........................................1854-1863 Kamehameha V.........................1..................1863-1872 Lunalilo.................................................1872-1874 Kalakaua.... —.................... —1874-1891 Liliuokalani........ -..-.........- 1891-1893 PRESIDENT PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT Sanford Ballard Dole......... —..-.... --- 1893-1894 PRESIDENT REPUBLIC OF HAWAII Sanford Ballard Dole.-1.. -..................1894-1900 GOVERNORS OF HAWAII Sanford B. Dole.-....................1900-1903 George R. Carter....-....................1903-1907 Walter F. Frear --—.. —..... -............-1907-1913 Lucius E. Pinkham.. —....................... ----1913-1918 Chas. J. McCarthy.........-...................-......1918-1921 Wallace R. Farrington....-........................ -1921 -SECRETARIES OF HAWAII Henry E. Cooper.........-...........-..1900-1903 George R. Carter -............................ 1903-1904 A. L. C. Atkinson..-.................1904-1907 E. A. Mott-Smith...........................1907-1914 Wade Warren Thayer...........-........-.......1914-1917 Curtis Piehu Iaukea..-..................-.....1917-1921 Raymond C. Brown -.........-.............. — 1921 -(22) I I i ,Ir pfl'; i~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:!' I::::: I:::~::-:: ftl:: Ad!-::!:: e ~::: Iolani Palacrewad glrolunds f roin Kilng street oitt1an ce C) r 1:1