Two unorthodox Catholic clerics in Hawai'i tended to get under the skins of their bishops because of their independent behavior. One name you will recognize — Father Damien, the martyr of Moloka'i. The other is not well known but just as interesting — Brother Gabriel Bertram Bellinghausen.

He was a pioneer principal of Saint Louis School from whence sprang Chaminade University, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Father Damien was sent to Kalaupapa. After 20 years, a bishop banished Brother Bertram to Texas.

It was most likely because Brother Bertram didn't fit the mold of a quiet, unobtrusive cleric, said Al Lum, one of his admirers.

Chaminade president Sue Wesselkamper said there's a story that Brother Bertram and King Kalakaua were pals. The genial king came back from Europe speaking a little German and French. Brother Bertram, born in Germany, was fluent in both. The story goes that Kalakaua often invited Brother Bertram to 'Iolani Palace. One time they would converse in German, the next time in French. They probably also smoked cigars and drank wine.

Lum said it may also have annoyed the bishop that Brother Bertram had such close ties to Princess Likelike that she gave him a key to 'Ainahau, her Waikiki residence where Princess Ka'iulani grew up. Lum, a professor emeritus of English at Chaminade, doesn't think that Bertram attended the fancy-dress balls at 'Ainahau. Rather, he went there to shoot pictures in the garden.

In addition to playing the violin and producing minstrel shows at Saint Louis, Brother Bertram was a pioneer amateur photographer, using a camera about the size of a breadbox. This was in the 1890s, before film. Brother Bertram captured images on glass plates.

His reputation as a photographer might have been lost if art teacher Brother Jim Roberts at Saint Louis hadn't looked in a trash can in 1964 and discovered glass plates that he saved.

Now at last, Brother Bertram and his historical photos are getting their due. They have been assembled into a delightful exhibit by Lum to celebrate the Chaminade anniversary.

I especially like Brother Bertram's photos of Hawaiians posing for him with grace and dignity. You get the feeling they liked him. He captures their rapport with nature. So many pictures of Hawaiians in those days were stiff and formal or commercial.

He took photos all around the Islands. His photos of buildings capture their architectural personality.

The free exhibit opened Friday and runs through Nov. 18 in the Sullivan Library at Chaminade.

Reach Bob Krauss at 525-8073.