Inside the Archives A Kamehameha Schools Graduation: 100 Years Ago by Janet Zisk, KS Archivist
I
t is fascinating to look into the faces of Kamehameha Schools’ alumni from 100 years ago, the class of 1909. The 1909 graduation was the second year that the Boys’ School and the Girls’ School participated in a joint ceremony. It was also the largest graduating class for the Boys’ School ever. Twenty-two young men received their diplomas. In comparison, seven students representing the Girls’ School seems like a very small number, but boarding facilities for the girls accommodated many fewer students than the boys’ facilities. There is no photo of the boys without the numbering of each student done later as an aid to identification. In contrast, the girls’ photo has no associated identification. We know their names which are listed in the commencement program, but not who is who. The photo of the girls is especially charming with each girl holding a rose stem, with their diplomas in a mass at their feet. Each girl would have each made her own graduation gown. The colors of the Girls’ School were red and white. The ribbon on each diploma would have been red and undoubtedly the roses also. The 22nd Commencement of the Kamehameha Schools took place on June 7, at 8 p.m., in the Bishop Memorial Chapel. One account mentions that the chapel was very crowded that evening. The chapel was located ma uka on King Street, where Farrington High School is now located. Charles Reed Bishop sponsored the construction of the chapel to honor his wife Pauahi, and it was dedicated on Founder’s Day 1897. There was no yearbook for the class of 1909, and with the exception of the class of 1911, no yearbook until the class
of 1924. This was because Kamehameha Schools did not offer a full high school diploma – through grade 12 – until the class of 1924. Through 1921, KS students graduated with the equivalent of a grade 9 diploma. Grade 10 was added in 1922 and grade 11 in 1923. A number of 1909 KS graduates chose to attend Punahou to obtain a full grade 12 diploma as did KS students in other years. Take a close look at student No. 21 of the Boys’ School graduating class. This young man is Edwin Puahaulani Murray who became the first Kamehameha Schools’ alumnus to serve as a trustee of the Schools, which he did from 1940-1968. Just this single fact made the class of 1909 outstanding in KS history.
The Kamehameha Schools Archives is located in Midkiff Learning Center, Kapa¯lama Campus. The Archives is open to the public by appointment from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. year-round on school days. Donations of artifacts dealing with the history of Kamehameha Schools are welcome. For more information, please contact archivist Janet Zisk at 842-8945 (jazisk@ksbe.edu), assistant archivist Candace Lee at 842-8455 (calee@ksbe.edu) or photo archivist Pop Diamond at 842-8402, or visit www.ksbe.edu/archives.
Communications Division 567 S. King Street, Suite 400, Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96813
Permit No. 1449 Honolulu, HI
KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS
PAID Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage Hä‘ulelau 2009
n “Wayfinding Through the Storm” Released n Counseling Program Serving Thousands n KS Graduates Leading at Lunalilo Trust n Three Mountain Alliance Wins National Award