Anna Rice Cooke, the daughter of New England missionaries and the wife of a prominent businessman, left a legacy of philanthropy all over Honolulu.
Cooke helped establish the Cooke Library at Punahou School, where she was born in 1853, the Waikiki Aquarium, and the Honolulu Academy of Arts, which is on land where she once lived. She also helped found the Outdoor Circle in 1912.
Cooke grew up on Kaua'i in a family that valued art. She spoke fluent Hawaiian.
In 1882, she and her husband, Charles Montague Cooke Sr., built a home on Beretania Street across from Thomas Square, a community park with an unobstructed view of Diamond Head.
The couple quickly began to fill the home with artwork. By 1920, Cooke wanted to display the art in a museum and subsequently donated her home for that purpose, along with $25,000.
She saw art as an educational tool. Cooke's vision was to create a place where children of many nationalities could learn and appreciate art from around the world.
The academy opened in 1927 in a new building. Cooke donated 4,500 pieces of art.
The opening-day crowd was huge: more than 4,000 people during a three-hour period.
Cooke greeted them at the entrance from her wheelchair, shaking hands with those who came to see her collection of art. Even the chair was a piece of art, a hand-carved Ming dynasty chair converted to mobility by Yuen Kwok Fong, a local furniture maker and art importer.
She died at her home in Makiki Heights in 1934 after a short illness.
