Each year, Historic Hawai‘i Foundation has the privilege of honoring the 100th, 125th, 150th, 175th, and 200th year anniversaries of local organizations, companies and historic places to commemorate their success and the contributions each has made to our Island communities. The anniversaries are recognized through our annual Preservation Honor Awards program.
This year, we are excited to celebrate fifteen significant anniversaries. Here we share the seven Centennial Anniversaries of 2020 and welcome you to learn more about them.
Centennial Anniversaries – 100 Years
Cooke Foundation, Ltd – Statewide
The forerunner of the Cooke Foundation, the Charles M. and Anna C. Cooke Trust, was established in 1920 by Anna C. Cooke. The Foundation supports the efforts of Hawaiʻi’s nonprofit organizations that provide meaningful programs and services and helps develop innovative ways to maximize their resources. Through grant awards to charitable organizations, the Cooke Foundation invests and contributes to the well-being of communities throughout Hawaiʻi.
Hawaiian Mission Academy – Honolulu, Oʻahu
Although the school dates back to 1897, the Academy began in 1920 with the construction of a combined elementary and secondary school named the Hawaiian Missions of Seventh-day Adventists. In 1949, a new campus for the secondary school and offices was built on Pensacola Street. It is a private high school with grades 9 to 12 that is part of the educational mission of Seventh-day Adventists in Hawaiʻi.
Honolulu Community College – Honolulu, Oʻahu
The Honolulu Community College began in 1920 as the Territorial Trade School in Palama. It became the Honolulu Technical School in 1955 and in 1964 part of the University of Hawaiʻi. Located near downtown Honolulu, HCC is an integral part of the University of Hawaiʻi. Students have direct transfer to the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the campus at Hilo, and the campus at West Oʻahu to complete their four-year baccalaureate degree.
Ishiharaya – Waipahu, Oʻahu
This local favorite in Waipahu is a longtime family-owned bake shop specializing in plantation tea cookies and rice crackers. Ira Ishihara, grandson of the original owners, continues the tradition of making senbei in the former sugar-cane town. In 2001, he decided to leave his airline career in California to take over the factory from his uncle Mitsuo Ishihara and has learned the business from scratch. New items, such as Ginger and Coconut Senbei, have a growing following.
Kamehameha Highway – Oʻahu
The first six-mile section of the O‘ahu belt road was opened on New Year’s Day, 1920. It extended from the Halfway House on the ‘Round the Island’ road to a mile beyond Heʻeia. According to the Pacific Commercial Advertiser (Dec. 19, 1920), “the new roadway is of concrete, 20 feet wide, with super-elevated turns where the roadway is 24 feet wide.” Today it encompasses hundreds of miles serving suburban and rural communities of O‘ahu.
Kamehameha Schools Song Contest – Hawaiʻi, Maui and Oʻahu
From humble beginnings on the steps of Bishop Hall in Kaiwi‘ula, what originated as an acapella singing competition one hundred years ago, when the Hawaiian language was under threat of being lost, has matured into a practice of mele and mo‘olelo reflecting the revitalized ‘ōlelo makuahine of today. Over the past one hundred years, thousands of students have sung the songs of their kūpuna, preserving mele that are the pages of Hawaiian history and capture and commemorate kīpuka aloha ‘āina, helping to define the identity of the Hawaiian lāhui for the next century and beyond.
Straub Medical Center – Hawaiʻi, Lānaʻi, and Oʻahu
Straub Medical Center was founded in 1921 as “The Clinic” by Dr. George F. Straub who pioneered the idea of forming a group of physicians into a practice in order to provide patients with specialized care more efficiently. As time went on, the group of partners expanded and determined that the Clinic needed an associated in-patient facility, and broke ground for its hospital in 1970. With the hospital’s opening in 1973, the name Straub Clinic was changed to Straub Clinic & Hospital. Throughout its years of operation, Straub Medical Center has built a tradition of introducing many medical firsts to Hawai‘i.