Memorial Day:
Then and Now

Memorial Day was first observed on the Big Island in 1897, during the period after the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom and imprisonment of Queen Liliuokalani and before the Hawaiian Islands became a territory of the United States in 1900. Services and pageantry took place only in Hilo.
​
World War II Changed Everything
Based on newspaper research to date, it doesn't appear that Memorial Day was important within the Hakalau Kuleana (i.e., Kolekole to Poupou Stream in Ninole) until World War II when the area lost 12 boys and men during this war. 

The memorial becomes a reality in 1965

Hawaii Tribune Herald, May 19, 1965, accessed via Newspapers.com

The restored monument in 2025

MORE ON MEMORIAL DAY THEN AND NOW

Updates: June 8, 2025

Upcoming Events:

• 6/6/25 - Updated schedules: Classes, Presentations, Workshops, Community Service, and the  Hakalau  Farmers Market.​​.

Yesterday:

• 3/1/25 - Added photo of the last teacher at Hakalau School when it was located in Hakalau Gulch, Mrs. Benjamin P. Macy. ​

Hakalau Then and Now:

• 6/8/25 - Expanded Up and Down Camps: Then and Now with an aerial photo from 1925 and supporting information from 1914 Japanese maps and name lists.
• 6/6/25 - Added Memorial Day: Then and Now​
• 3/1/25 - Added new section, Then and Now to explore changes over time,

Today: ​​

• 6/6/25 - Added photos of the 2025 Memorial Day to the Hakalau Jodo Mission today.
• 6/2/25 - The history of the American Gatha presented by musicologist Cynthia Morris at the Hakalau Jodo Mission is included with narrated slides.
• 6/2/25 -Information on previous presentations at the Hakalau Jodo Mission since 2019 is available, including: ​Building World Peace, Local Style; Stronger than a Tsunami; The End of Sugar: Land and Water Use; Ready, Set, Obon! 
• 4/29/25 - Added May-June 2025 Newsletter to the Hakalau Jodo Mission Today

Up Camp Morning, April 4, 2025

---