When Gladys Kamakakuokalani 'Ainoa Brandt passed away in 2003, it took three days for mourners of all stripes — governors and judges, teachers and students, descendants of royalty and disenfranchised admirers — to filter through Kawaiaha'o Church.
Such was the impact of a woman whose life spanned nearly a century, and whose life's work broke barriers at the same time it helped revitalize a nearly-extinguished culture.
Brandt was born in Honolulu in 1906. Her father was David Kanuha, a territorial legislator who once supported Robert Wilcox's failed attempt at restoring the monarchy of Lili'uokalani. She was hanai'd at age 4 by Ida Pope, then principal of the Kamehameha School for Girls.
After graduating from McKinley High School and the University of Hawai'i, Brandt began teaching in public schools on O'ahu, Maui and Kaua'i. She was the first woman to be named a public school principal, and the first woman to serve as district superintendent of schools. She would later be named principal of Kamehameha School for Girls — the first Native Hawaiian principal in the school's history — and director of the high school division.
Like many of her generation, Brandt was denied access to her native culture and language, yet she would emerge as one of the most daring champions of the Hawaiian renaissance. In the 1960s, for example, Brandt and colleague Nona Beamer broke the ban on doing hula standing at Kamehameha Schools.
To many, what Brandt contributed after her retirement in 1971 was just as significant as what she had done in the classroom and in the principal's office. She served on the board of the Punana Leo Hawaiian language immersion program and was chair of the University of Hawai'i Board of Regents, where she was instrumental in establishing the Center for Hawaiian Studies. She served on the boards of several other organizations, including Wilcox Memorial Hospital, Kapi'olani Children's Medical Center and the Cancer Center of Hawai'i, for which, as a cancer survivor, she helped raise millions of dollars.
Proving that she was as tough as she was nurturing, Brandt joined in drafting the "Broken Trust" essay that led to the ouster of Bishop Estate trustees.
