Friday, May 21, 2021 – WHEN WAS THE LAST ROYAL VISIT TO THE ISLAND

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FRIDAY, MAY 21, 2021

The

369th Edition

A ROYAL VISIT

BY A QUEEN

TO 

BLACKWELL’S ISLAND

(EXACTLY 134 YEARS AGO TUESDAY)

Queen Kapiolani

Kapiʻolani (December 31, 1834 – June 24, 1899) was the queen of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi as the consort of Mōʻī (king) Kalākaua, who reigned[3] from 1874 to 1891[4] until Mōʻī’s death when she became known as the Dowager Queen Kapiʻolani. Deeply interested in the health and welfare of Native Hawaiians, Kapiʻolani established the Kapiʻolani Home for Girls, for the education of the daughters of residents of the Kalaupapa Leprosy Settlement, and the Kapiʻolani Maternity Home, where Hawaiian mothers and newborns could receive care.

Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee celebration In April 1887, Kalākaua sent a delegation to attend the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in London. It included Kapiʻolani, Princess Liliʻuokalani and Liliʻuokalani’s husband John Owen Dominis, as well as Court Chamberlain Colonel Curtis P. Iʻaukea acting as the king’s official envoy of the King and Colonel James Harbottle Boyd acting as aide-de-camp to the Queen.

The party landed in San Francisco and traveled across the United States visiting Washington, D.C., Boston and New York City, where they boarded a ship for the United Kingdom.

While in the American capital, they were received by President Grover Cleveland and his wife Frances.

In London, Kapiʻolani and Liliʻuokalani were granted an audience with Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace. She greeted both Hawaiian royals with affection and recalled Kalākaua’s visit in 1881. They attended the special Jubilee service at Westminster Abbey and were seated with other foreign royal guests, and with members of the Royal Household.[58] Kapiʻolani wore a peacock feathered dress design by her Special Equerry James Washington Lonoikauoalii McGuire.

Shortly after the Jubilee celebrations, they learned of political unrest in Hawaii. Under the threat of death, Kalākaua was forced to sign the Bayonet Constitution which limited the power of the monarch and increased the influence of Euro-American interests in the government. The royal party canceled their tour of Europe and returned to Hawaii.

NOTES FROM THE ROYAL DIARY ON THE VISIT TO BLACKWELL’ S ISLAND

On Wednesday, May 18, 1887, Queen Kapi’olani visited Blackwell’s Island, today’s Roosevelt Island in New York’s East River. The queen’s suite consisted of Mr. Allen, Mr. Carter, Mr. Iaukea, Mr. Boyd, Mr. McGuire, and Mr. & Mrs. Beckley. Among those accompanying the royal party were Mayor Hewitt and his wife, and the Charities and Corrections Commissioner Brennan and his wife. The total number of people on the tour that day was twenty-four. Princess Lili’uokalani wasn’t feeling well so she did not go.

It was a nice and sunny morning when the party boarded the ferry at East 26^th Street. What struck McGuire when they first arrived was the beauty of the place. It was covered with grass, there were lots of trees, the roads were made of gravel, and it was kept very clean. Mayor Hewitt served as the queen’s escort during the tour of the island. Queen Kapi’olani inspected the charity hospital, the nurses’ home, the penitentiary, the workhouses for petty criminals, and the lunatic asylum. She was also shown, from a distance, the almshouses for the poor and where the prisoners quarried the stone for the buildings on the island.

When they visited the Charity Hospital: “She inspected several wards and looked so kind and motherly and interested that some of the women patients were almost tempted to swap baby stories with her. The Queen talked Hawaiian mother talk to the babies, who understood all that she said. The next place visited was the Nurses’ New Home, and here the Queen, as in the hospital, inspected everything and was greatly interested” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 23, 1887).

McGuire described the Penitentiary as having dark granite walls two feet thick, and the building stood six stories tall. And he said the prisoners had short hair and wore striped blue and white pants. When they were taken through the cell corridors the queen “inspected the dark cell with considerable curiosity” especially the “delirium tremens” cell for chronic abusers of alcohol. Then Warden Pillsbury said he would show her “the prison’s big snake” which turned out to be “a band of convicts, shuffling along in lock-step” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 23, 1887).

McGuire described the workhouses as places “where the street walkers & petty thieves are kept.” They saw about 100 women in a room using sewing machines making shirts for the prisoners. This was the Women’s Workhouse. They also saw cells where the men were put at night. This was the Men’s Workhouse.

Last to be visited was the Lunatic Asylum where the Amusement Hall was “profusely decorated…with national colors” and a semi-circle of chairs for the royal party was set up with “a more imposing chair” in the center for the queen (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 23, 1887). The patients made up the audience, and some were also the performers. The entertainment started with “Reveil de Lion” on the piano, followed by a woman singing and accompanying herself on the piano. McGuire describes the play as “a short but comical piece” and mentions that one of the actors was “a young lady dressed like a young man,” and explains that one of the actors “only the day before she was so bad that she tried to commit suicide.” Yet when he saw her on stage he couldn’t believe “that she was insane for she acted her part very well” (pg. 19). After the final song, the mayor escorted the queen out to the waiting carriages. The queen was “very affable, bowing right and left to the patients” (Pacific Commercial Advertiser, June 23, 1887).

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE QUEEN’S VISIT AND THE OTHER CITIES SHE VISITED GO TO:

https://inthefootstepsofkapiolani.wordpress.com/about/colette-higgins/

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Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter  and Deborah Dorff
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WIKIPEDIA
COLLETTE HIGGINS, UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII

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