ISLAND HISTORY: Hawai‘i-born Broadway star, singer and actor Ed Kenney Jr.
A number of years ago, I phoned Broadway star, singer and actor Ed Kenney Jr. (1933-2018) at his home in Kapaa, and when he picked up his phone and I introduced myself he surprised me by singing the opening lines of the song “You Are Beautiful” from the musical “Flower Drum Song.”
ISLAND HISTORY: Solo hula dancer and singer Lorraine “Lani” Keaoulilani Rodrigues Custino
Born in Hawai‘i, Lorraine “Lani” Keaoulilani Rodrigues Custino (1931-1998) was the daughter of singer, musician, composer, and song archivist Victoria Kealiikaapunihonua Ii and Clarence L. Rodrigues.
ISLAND HISTORY: Keith Smith’s book is all about ‘Plantation Kids’
Keith Smith’s book, “Plantation Kids,” is a comprehensive account of his personal recollections, etched with detail, of the days of his youth while growing up in the plantation town of Kilauea, Kauai during the 1950s and 1960s, with much historical information weaved into the narrative.
ISLAND HISTORY: Mary Anderson’s account of her visit to Kaua‘i in 1863
In 1863, the Rev. Rufus Anderson of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions visited the Hawaiian Islands in the company of his wife, Eliza, and his daughter, Mary Anderson.
ISLAND HISTORY: Kaua‘i of long ago recalled by William Owen Smith
William Owen Smith (1848-1929), the eldest son of Kaua‘i missionaries Dr. and Mrs. James W. Smith, was born and raised at Koloa.
ISLAND HISTORY: Missionary Samuel Whitney’s 1821 journey across Kaua‘i
After missionary teacher and mechanic Samuel Whitney (1793-1845) had established the Waimea Mission Station in 1820 with his wife, Mercy, he began preaching all around Kaua‘i, traveling from village to village, 70 in all, with thousands of Hawaiians coming to hear him speak.
ISLAND HISTORY: Capt. Isaac Hart built Hale Ali‘i and Washington Place
Capt. Isaac Hart (1805-1849), the builder of Hale Ali‘i, which was the original ‘Iolani Palace, and Washington Place, best known as the home of Queen Liliu‘okalani, was the great-great-grandfather of Oliver Crowell, born in 1939 at Waimea and now a resident of Honolulu.
ISLAND HISTORY: European, Asian contact prior to Cook’s discovery in 1778
The original inhabitants of Hawai‘i were Marquesan navigators who’d migrated northward to Hawai‘i in sailing vessels as early as the 4th century AD, followed by Tahitian voyagers who’d settled Hawai‘i during the 12th and 13th centuries.
ISLAND HISTORY: Koloa Plantation supervisor Wilhelm George Schimmelfennig
Born and raised in Honolulu, Wilhelm George Schimmelfennig (1863-1927) was the son of German immigrants George Fredrick Schimmelfennig, a whaling captain, and his wife Fredricke.
ISLAND HISTORY: The Heiau at Polihale, Kaua‘i
From Hawaiian mythology we learn that the Polihale Heiau – a temple dedicated to the dead – was built by Menehunes centuries ago with stones brought from Makaweli.
ISLAND HISTORY: Deborah Kapule, Kauai’s last Queen
An alii, Kekaihaakulou (Deborah Kapule’s Hawaiian name) was born about 1798 on Kauai, likely at Waimea, her parents being the high chief, Haupu, and the chiefess, Haea.
ISLAND HISTORY: Captain Kapahe, the old-time skipper of the Ni‘ihau whaleboat
When Kauai’s teller of Hawaiian tales Eric Knudsen (1872-1957) was a young man, he became acquainted with an elderly, former Hawaiian whaleboat captain named Kapahe, and it was Knudsen’s pleasure to listen to Kapahe’s past exploits.
ISLAND HISTORY: Paniolo Miguel and the bandits of Knudsen Gap, Kaua‘i
The following story is an abridged version of a tale once told by Kauai Sheriff William Henry Rice (1874-1945).
ISLAND HISTORY: Author Ernest Hemingway visited Hawaii in 1941
Although Ernest Hemingway never visited Kauai, he did visit Oahu and the Big Island during February 1941.
ISLAND HISTORY: A brief history of coffee in Hawaii
Coffee is produced in only one state, Hawaii, where it is cultivated on the Big Island, Maui, Molokai, Oahu and Kauai.
ISLAND HISTORY: A visit to Hauola heiau in Hoea Valley, Kauai
I once hiked to Hauola heiau in Hoea Valley, Kauai during the 1980s while I was residing in Kekaha.
ISLAND HISTORY: Kauai-born publisher and postmaster Henry Martyn Whitney
Born at Waimea, Kauai, the son of American Protestant missionaries Samuel and Mercy Partridge Whitney, Henry Martyn Whitney (1824-1904) graduated from Rochester Collegiate Institute in 1841 and learned the printing trade with Harper & Brothers of New York before returning home to Hawaii.
ISLAND HISTORY: Historic Kaua‘i paintings by James Hoyle
Painter James Hoyle knew he wanted to be an artist at the age of six.
ISLAND HISTORY: Pioneer Kaua‘i rice farmer Kin Moi Ching
Chinese immigrant Kin Moi Ching (1860-1955) arrived in Honolulu aboard the Chinese steamer “Wo Chung” out of Canton, China in 1879, during the reign of King David Kalakaua, and stayed there less than two weeks before continuing on to Kaua‘i.
ISLAND HISTORY: Ed Sheehan, the author of “Days of ‘41”
Perhaps, my father, Henry Soboleski, and Honolulu radio personality, author and actor Ed Sheehan (1918-1992) knew each other, since they both worked at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard during World War II, Henry as a warehouseman and Ed as a shipfitter.