When seven well-heeled women from missionary families gathered at Dillingham Ranch in Mokule'ia on Nov. 18, 1903, there hung in the air the disquieting feeling that Hawaiian language and culture were inching toward a great precipice.
As author Barbara Del Piano observed in her book "Na Lani Kaumaka — Daughters of Hawai'i," contact with the Western world had led to a rapid change in the Hawaiian way of life.
While the introduction of a written language helped to preserve history, chants, genealogies and legends, and the Hawai'i monarchy and its Western backers made numerous provisions for the preservation of artifacts and history, the fact remained that Hawaiian cultural observances, practices and language (an early Hawaiian-language class at Kamehameha schools was canceled when parents dismissed it as "useless") were in danger of disappearing.
Enter the Daughters of Hawai'i, a historic preservation society founded "to perpetuate the memory and spirit of Old Hawai'i and to preserve the nomenclature and correct pronunciation of the Hawaiian language."
The club was established by Hawai'i-born women from some of the most powerful missionary families. Its founding members were Emma Smith Dillingham, Anna Paris, Annie Alexander Dickey, Sarah Coan Waters, Lucinda Clarke Severance, Ellen Armstrong Weaver and Cornelia Hall Jones.
The Daughters pursued their mission with fervor and flair. Their first major project was installing a plaque on a cliff face at Nu'uanu Pali to mark the 1795 Battle of Nu'uanu.
The organization is perhaps best known for its restoration and preservation of two important historical sites: Hanaiakamalama, also known as the Queen Emma Summer Palace, and Hulihe'e Palace in Kailua, Kona, which they converted into a museum.
