Lydia K. Aholo at nineteen. Detail from photo of first graduating class of Kamehameha School for Girls, 1897. (Courtesy Kamehameha Schools Archives.)
What: The Queen and Lydia K. Aholo – Her Story, an illustrated talk presented by Sandra Bonura
When: Thursday, February 13, 2014
Where: Kana‘ina Building (Old Archives Building) – Free parking on the palace grounds.
Time: 7:30 p.m. (refreshments served at 7:00 p.m. prior to the talk)
Free & open to the public.
The Hawaiian Historical Society invites its members and friends to hear the story of a remarkable woman who lived for more than a century and knew Queen Lili‘uokalani “as the only mother I had.” The woman—Lydia K. Aholo—will be the subject of an illustrated talk presented by Sandra Bonura at the Society’s membership meeting on Thursday, February 13, 2014. The program will take place in the Kana‘ina Building (Old Archives Building) beginning at 7:30 p.m.
Lydia Aholo was born February 26, 1878, in Lahaina, Maui, to Luther Aholo, minister of interior during the reign of Kalākaua. He had earlier represented Lahaina in the legislature and served as postmaster general. Her mother, Keahi, died shortly after Lydia’s birth, and she became the hānai daughter of Queen Lili‘uokalani. She was reared in the royal household, attending Kawaiaha‘o Female Seminary, Kamehameha School for Girls, and Oberlin College, where she studied music. She discussed her life with the queen and at school in oral history interviews with Helena Allen in 1969. She died at the age of 101 on July 7, 1979.
Sandra Bonura is the co-author of An American Girl in the Hawaiian Islands: Letters of Carrie Prudence Winter 1890-1893. This book includes love letters by a Kawaiaha‘o Female Seminary teacher to her fiancé that were found in a forgotten attic trunk. During her research for the book, Bonura located the taped interviews by Lydia Aholo and facilitated their return to Hawai‘i, where they are now held at Kamehameha Schools Archives.
Bonura tells Aholo’s story in an article titled “Lydia K. Aholo—Her Story, Recovering the Lost Voice,” written with Sally Witmer, in the 2013 issue of The Hawaiian Journal of History (volume 47). Both the journal and Bonura’s An American Girl will be available for purchase at the February 13 program.
The Kana‘ina Building is on the grounds of ‘Iolani Palace. Free parking is available on the palace grounds. For further information, call the Hawaiian Historical Society office at (808) 537-6271 for information.
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