Blog

CADES SCHUTTE With a century of dedicated excellence, Cades Schutte has helped businesses and families find prosperity in Hawai‘i. Attorneys Arthur G. Smith and Urban E. Wild founded this firm in 1922 as Smith & Wild. From that beginning, the history of Cades Schutte can be traced through the milestones of Hawai‘i’s history. As the states largest full-service law firm, they have and continue to offer a wide range of corporate and personal legal services. Cades Schutte has continually strived to exceed the expectations of their clients and community with a mission to provide solutions that are unique, lasting, and substantial.   HAWAI‘I EDUCATION ASSOCIATION The Hawai‘i Education Association (HEA) celebrates 100 years of supporting educators across Hawai‘i. HEA was formed in 1921 to help educators in their fight for better pay and work conditions. HEA was the original advocacy organization representing the education community before the Territorial and State Legislatures. During the State Constitutional Convention of 1968, HEA was the first to testify in support of public collective bargaining. After the constitution was amended to allow public sector employees the right to organize, HEA played a major role in the establishment of three collective bargaining units for educators that endure to this day — Hawaii State Teachers Association (HSTA), University of Hawaii Professional Assembly (UHPA), and Hawaii Government Employee Association (HGEA) Unit 6. With the formation of the unions, HEA’s focus shifted to promoting teacher excellence and professional development. In 1994, HEA acquired 501(c)(3) nonprofit status to continue support for local educators. A hundred years later, HEA is a champion for the teaching profession and supports the professional excellence of educators at all schools and grade levels statewide. What remains unchanged over the past [...]

  The Puʻunēnē School is a historic school building in the community of Puʻunēnē in the central part of Maui, Hawaii near Kahului.  Puʻu nēnē means “nēnē goose hill” in Hawaiian.  Puʻunēne's primary industry was growing, harvesting and processing sugarcane for over a century. Puʻunēnē School was built in 1922 by the Hawaiian Commercial and Sugar Company (a division of Alexander & Baldwin). The school was constructed on 10 acres of land donated by the company in 1913. Upon completion, it replaced an earlier four-room school on the site that was built to hold 350 students. In 1937 to 1940, Puʻunēnē School science teacher Soichi Sakamoto's began training boys in a Three-Year Swim Club to compete for the 1940 Summer Olympics originally scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Japan but cancelled due to World War II.  "Sakamoto’s swimmers would win medals in later Olympics, fulfilling his dream of creating world-class athletes and continuing Hawai‘i’s tradition of cultivating great swimmers like Duke Kahanamoku." (See Further Resources below.) Puʻunēnē School is significant as a surviving architectural example of a school from the early twentieth century on Maui and for its role in the history of education on Maui. The Classical Revival 1922 two-story concrete building became Maui’s largest elementary school with about 1000 students in grades one through eight from nearby communities. In the 1950s the area went into decline as many families moved to Kahului. In the 1950s and 1960s the building was used for special education classes. In 1979 it became an administrative annex for the Department of Education. Puʻunēnē School was added to the Hawai‘i Register of Historic Places in August 2000. The 1o0th anniversary of  Pu‘unēnē School in Maui was commemorated at the 2022 [...]

Opened in 1922, the Wai‘oli Tea Room was conceived as a vocational training facility for the orphans housed at the Salvation Army Girls Home that was also located on the Manoa Campus.  At its peak, hundreds of guests from around the world enjoyed breakfast, lunch or afternoon tea which were served daily. The young women from the Girls Home staffed and operated the restaurant and were provided the opportunity to learn skills such as cooking, cleaning, food service, and hospitality. At the time, this was considered a valuable head start into the work world and self-reliance after they had aged out of the program. Many of the young woman who grew up at the orphanage and spent their time at Wai‘oli found that it had made a significant impact in their lives and helped pave the way for viable employment in the Hawaiian Islands. The Tea Room operated with this mission until the early 1970’s when the orphanage closed as the state developed foster care programs that are in place today. For the next 40 years, the building had many operators but never recaptured the sense of purpose that was its foundation for the first 50 years. Today in Hawaii, the Salvation Army does not serve orphan children, but rather is one of the largest providers of treatment for individuals suffering with substance abuse disorders. Renamed the Wai‘oli Kitchen & Bake Shop, new owners Ross and Stefanie Anderson have revitalized this historic treasure and restored Wai‘oli's mission to help transform lives by providing vocational training, life skills and hope to individuals in recovery. We consider ourselves the next ones to run with the baton that is Wai‘oli...and  we want to definitely honor the host culture [...]

The Pacific Building located in downtown Hilo is a prominent two-story concrete reinforced structure which carries a physical historic presence and landscape within the core of downtown Hilo and was built during the territory of Hawai‘i. It is the home of Bears Coffee, one of the first businesses that developed the concept of a sidewalk cafe in downtown Hilo. The main building was built in 1922. Lyman Museum’s records call this the Pacific Hotel with a hotel on the second floor and commercial businesses on the first floor. In 1924 the Hilo Library was a tenant on the first floor and in 1929 a bakery moved in at the corner of Keawe Street. An outdoor oven or smokestack stands in the back could have belonged to the bakery. The Pacific Hotel was still in business in 1942 and served as a gathering place for people travelling on the railroad tracks from Hāmākua and Kona, allowing them overnight eating and resting place, and a library for entertainment, and access to other businesses on the first floor. The commercial property has upkept its image as a community gathering place. In order to be profitable for owner, tenants and the islanders/tourists have tried to have diverse businesses as tenants - to be a place to shop, eat, sit and meet. Keawe Street is covered with a canopy so shopkeepers put tables and chairs outside, provide free internet and allow people an open-air dining experience. While customers are eating or doing work, some with their pets alongside, others are playing a music and singing, and making new acquaintances. The general feeling is uplifting and community centered. The 100th anniversary of the Pacific Building in Hilo will be commemorated at [...]

May, 1910: New head office completed in new location of Makai-Diamond Head corner of Fort and Merchant Streets. Photo: Hawai‘i State Archives HPP-7-7-004-00001.   In 1893, Charles Montague Cooke (1849–1909) with his brother-in-law Joseph Ballard Atherton and business partner Peter Cushman Jones founded Bank of Hawai’i.  In 1897, it was chartered in the Republic of Hawaii by Interior Minister James A. King and opened its main branch located at the corner of Fort and Merchant streets. A decade after its founding, in 1903, the bank opened its first branch in Kauai. In 1922, the bank acquired First Bank of Hilo, which had four branches. Charles Dexter Lufkin organized First National Bank of Wailuku in 1901. Five years later, he had organized Lahaina National Bank. Then he organized the First National Bank of Paia in 1913. Lastly, in 1917, First National Bank of Paia merged with Lahaina National Bank and First National Bank of Wailuku to form Bank of Maui. In 1930, Bank of Hawai‘i  amalgamated Bank of Maui. From the beginning, Bank of Hawai‘i’s mission has been to provide banking services to the community. The bank’s growth depended on the growth of that community, which was directly related to the growth of Hawai‘i’s pineapple industry. During the first years of the 20th century, at roughly the same time the territory's political leaders first pushed for statehood, advances in the efficiency of canning methods fueled the expansion of pineapple production. Sugar production increased as well, providing the seeds for Bank of Hawai‘i’s continued growth—waves of new immigrants and new businesses, both attracted by the flourishing pineapple and sugar industries. The growth in population greatly increased Bank of Hawai‘i’s potential customer base, which enabled it [...]

  The iconic Hawai‘i Theatre, featuring an elegant neo-classical theme with stately Corinthian columns, a domed ceiling and Lionel Walden’s mural, Glorification of the Drama, on the proscenium arch, first opened its doors on Wednesday, September 6, 1922. Over the decades, the theater has played a significant role in Honolulu’s cultural landscape bringing live music and performances to O‘ahu. Its original neo-classical design by Honolulu residents and architects Walter Emory and Marshall Webb, saw the theater christened the ‘Pride of the Pacific’ on its opening. From plays, world-renowned musicians, award shows like the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, film screenings and comedy shows, the theater, nestled in Honolulu's Chinatown, has been a gathering place of creators and fans alike. In 1984, a group of concerned citizens reestablished the theater as a nonprofit organization, renamed it the Hawai‘i  Theatre Center (HTC) and rescued it from demolition. HTC was restored to its former glory with public and private funds and re-opened in 1996. While the theater has experienced several shortfalls and closings throughout its lifetime, the mission of the non-profit Hawaii Theatre Center helped to continue to provide a broad range of entertainment, cultural and educational experiences; promote redevelopment and revitalization of downtown Honolulu/Chinatown; and enhance the quality of life in Honolulu. As part of the conversion to a non-profit, the theater was also designated as a national historic property, preserving many of the historically significant features of the architecture.  Elements such as the fine detail of the tiny maile leaves (reminiscent of Greek-style headdresses) adorning the proscenium arch to a large canvas mural of dancing figures overlooking the audience and the theater’s 1921 Robert Morton pipe organ. HTC is the second largest proscenium performance facility in the [...]