Queen Liliuokalani’s stolen 1893 Royal Standard returned to Hawaii

[Salvage Sailor]

 

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - After 130 years, Queen Liliuokalani’s royal standard is coming home.

 

Damon Estate heiress Brendan Damon Ethington and the late Hawaiian royalty descendant Abigail Kawananakoa each contributed $30,000 to acquire Queen Liliuokalani's royal standard and the archives of Col. John Soper, who was was commander-in-chief of the military forces of the provisional government that overthrew the Hawaiian Kingdom.
© Provided by Honolulu KHNL

 

Thanks to two private benefactors, the queen’s personal flag and other historical documents have been saved from the auction block.

 

“It is a representation of the Queen herself. And so for that to be anywhere other than Hawaii, is really a tragedy. So we’re so glad that we’re able to bring these objects back home,” said State Archivist Adam Jansen.

 

The royal standard last flew above Washington Place during the 1893 overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. It was taken down and confiscated by the provisional government. (note:  Washington Place was the Queen's official residence, now occupied by the Governor(s) of the State of Hawaii)

 

Jansen will travel to New York next week to bring back the flag and the archives of Col. John Soper who was commander-in-chief of the military forces of the provisional government.

 

The items were supposed to be auctioned off last October by Bonham’s auction house but the sale was halted after the State Attorney General’s office sent a letter of claim.

 

“We felt it belonged to the state of Hawaii. We requested them to withdraw those items from the auction, and then thankfully they did so,” said Deputy Attorney General Gurudev “Dave” Allin.

 

Instead of litigation, the late Hawaiian royalty descendant Abigail Kawananakoa contributed $30,000 to acquire the flag while Damon Estate heiress Brendan Damon Ethington paid $30,000 for Soper’s archives. The benefactors then donated the items to the state.

 

“These items represent a critical piece of Hawaii’s history that has been gone for the past 130 years,” said Jansen

“Anytime we can bring home a symbol of the queen is always a very, very important.”

 

[abqpropguy]

Wow!! That is so amazing!!  Thanks for posting. 

[Wharfmaster]

Good News.      Mahalo !

 

 

 

W

[Salvage Sailor]

 

Washington Place, Honolulu in 1893 Queen's Guards

Royal Guards in front of the house of Queen Lili’uokalani (known as Washington Place), circa 1893. Pictured here is the “fallen Queen’s house,” Washington Place, and the guard of sixteen, plus their captain. Photograph by Hedemann, 1893. It appears Nowlein is to the left, armed with a sword. Courtesy of the Bishop Museum.

 

Arrest of the Queen
During 1893, Washington Place was the site of the dramatic events of the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. It was there that the queen was arrested by the new governmental forces that were aided by a detachment of United States Marines. The queen was tried before a military tribunal, where she was charged with concealment of treason against the new government, the Republic of Hawaiʻi. She was convicted and was confined for several months at Washington Place after her release from imprisonment at ʻIolani Palace.

 

Fine screen halftone reproduction of a photograph of the USS Boston’s landing force on duty at the Arlington Hotel, Honolulu, at the time of the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy, January 1893. Lieutenant Lucien Young, USN, commanded the detachment and is presumably the officer at right. The original photograph is in the Archives of Hawaii. This halftone was published prior to about 1920. U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph. NH 56555

 

Queen Liliʻuokalani resided at Washington Place for the remainder of her life. She died in the downstairs bedroom of the house on November 11, 1917. The home offers the citizens of Hawaiʻi a strong sense of place and belonging in association with the kingdom and of Queen Liliʻuokalani's memory

 

 

Historical Timeline WASHINGTON PLACE and the Hawaiian Monarchy

 

"Lowering the Hawaiian flag from ‘Iolani Palace, Annexation ceremony, August 12, 1898."
Photograph from Hawai‘i State Archives.

[militbuff]

Fascinating story and great news!  
 

Are those men Marines or sailors in the photo above?  Their uniforms look like Navy.

 

Coincidentally, I’m currently re-reading The Sand Pebbles.  The exploits of the sailors in the book in China remind me of the men above.  Fascinating how the Navy often used its sailors as Marines in many places.  In the book, the protagonist Holman is trained on board the gunboat in how to participate in incursions.  It doesn’t seem like the Navy had any formal training for its sailors in those days.  Does anyone know if they did?

[Salvage Sailor]

"The Queens Own"

 

Queen Liliuokalani's Household Guard being disarmed of their trapdoor Springfields.  "Colonel" Sopher, the man who took possession of the Royal Standard, is at right in the bowler hat. (details in link below)

 

LINK with uniform details --> The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Monarchy - How it went down in 1893-1898

 

Hawaii Air National Guardʻs Royal Guard posts ceremonial watch on the anniversary of refounding, November 16, 2021. (US Air National Guard Photos by Master Sgt. Andrew Lee Jackson)

 

 

[mikie]

24 minutes ago, militbuff said:

Fascinating story and great news!  
 

Are those men Marines or sailors in the photo above?  Their uniforms look like Navy.

 

Coincidentally, I’m currently re-reading The Sand Pebbles.  The exploits of the sailors in the book in China remind me of the men above.  Fascinating how the Navy often used its sailors as Marines in many places.  In the book, the protagonist Holman is trained on board the gunboat in how to participate in incursions.  It doesn’t seem like the Navy had any formal training for its sailors in those days.  Does anyone know if they did?

By strange coincidence, I am reading The Sand Pebbles too. I’ve seen the movie many times but first time hitting the book. I know the author served in China with the US Navy in the 1930s and based the book on his own and fellow sailors experiences. So I’d be curious if more knowledgeable folks here have some insight into your question. 
mikie

[Salvage Sailor]

40 minutes ago, militbuff said:

Fascinating story and great news!  
 

Are those men Marines or sailors in the photo above?  Their uniforms look like Navy.

 

 

Reporters then and now often think that all sailors with rifles are 'Marines'....

Note the Caption from the Hawaii State Archives on this one

 

 

 

[gwb123]

If you visit the Palace today, they will tell you of their efforts to locate and repatriate the furnishings that were auctioned off after the government was overthrown.

 

They are fortunate to have period photographs showing the rooms fully furnished. 

 

Now and then their efforts pay off.  While some of the furniture is thought to be still in the islands, other pieces went further afield.  Back in the 1980's they had a tourist from Ohio recognize a small table from one of the photographs.  As it turned out one of family had been an officer on a merchant vessel who brought it back home with him after purchasing it in the Islands.  The Palace was thrilled at the discovery, and the table was eventually donated and placed back in the room where it came from.

[Kurt Barickman]

Glad that something is being returned to the Queen’s property. Unfortunately the US bought into the imperialist tendencies of the Europeans to take control of the islands for the sake of business. Interesting story for those desiring the whole story of the US acquisition of the Hawaiian Islands for economic purposes. 
 

Kurt 

[Salvage Sailor]

Queen Lili‘uokalani Royal Standard Returns To Washington Place

 

 

Queen's Royal Standard on display - Video

 

Video of Ceremony

 

 

[Salvage Sailor]

PRESERVATION CRITICALLY REQUIRED & THE THEFT OF THE STANDARD

 

Hawaii’s first lady Jaime Kanani Green, who is of Native Hawaiian descent, was in tears as she spoke at the ceremony to honor the queen’s personal banner.

 

“Its return represents the perpetuation of her legacy,” said Green. “It symbolizes her personal sacrifice.”

 

It could also be said here, the banner is symbolic of the queen’s love for Hawaii.

 

What is disappointing, even shocking is the current state of the 4-by-12 foot banner, which is covered with holes and tears. Some of the fabric is held together by a single thread. It is dirty and in sections, looks like a liquid dripped on it.

 

“It Is in desperate, desperate need of repair,” State Archivist Adam Jansen said Friday in an interview.

 

Queen Liliuokalani’s royal standard is officially returned during a ceremony in Honolulu. (Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2023)

 

Several private owners have kept the banner in their homes for more than a century. It has not received the museum level of care needed to preserve fabric.

 

The standard is too fragile and damaged to be put on permanent display anywhere, said Jansen. He said he would allow it to be shown in public only at Monday’s  ceremony and not again until it is repaired.

 

Jansen considers Nuuanu resident Linda Hee the only fabric conservator in Hawaii skilled enough to handle the restoration work required, but Hee has retired.

 

He said he will search outside of the islands for the right specialist and ask for donations to pay for the work since no state funding is available.

“This cannot be a low bid job. The royal standard deserves the best fabric conservator available,“ he said.

 

Many had hoped that Liliuokalani’s standard once returned would be on permanent display at Washington Place where it originally flew but conditions at the queen’s former residence are not optimal for its preservation.

 

Queen Liliuokalani was ordered to remove her personal royal standard that flew over her home when she was overthrown.

 

“Washingon Place was built as a home.  We are working to impove conditions here but they will never be 100% up to museum standards,” said Louise “Gussie” Schubert.

 

Schubert is president of Washington Place Foundation and the great-great-granddaughter of John and Mary Dominis who built the home and whose son was Liliuokalani’s husband.

 

In the meantime, the foundation has commissioned fashion designer Nakeu Awai to create a replica of the queen’s standard to be on display at Washington Place.

 

Washington Place curator Travis Hancock says once the queen’s original standard is repaired, he hopes the State Archives will allow Washington Place to display it on special occasions such as the queen’s birthday.

 

How Liliuokalani’s royal standard came to be in this deplorable condition is a tale of many twists and turns.

 

At the time of the overthrow in 1893, Queen Liliuokalani saw her situation as a temporary act to prevent bloodshed. She stepped down under protest, refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of the provisional government.

 

She held out hope that when U.S. President Grover Cleveland became fully aware of what happened, her position would be respected and she would be restored to the throne. That, of course, did not occur.

 

When she received Soper’s written order on Jan. 20, 1893 to surrender her personal flag forever, she was stunned by its finality.

 

In her diary, the queen wrote that she had understood she would be allowed to continue to fly the royal standard at her home.

 

According to her diary, the day after she was dethroned, she visited the Royal Mausoleum at Mauna Ala to seek guidance from the spirits of her ancestors.  Then she traveled in her horse-drawn carriage to her cottage at Waikiki Beach where she went for a swim hoping to calm herself.

 

The directive from Soper — presented to her when she returned from Waikiki — had to have been received in sadness as another of the many betrayals she was experiencing.  FULL STORY CONTINUES HERE -->>  Denby Fawcett: The Poor Condition Of Queen Liliuokalani's Flag Mars Historic Homecoming

[Salvage Sailor]

 

Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen is a book written by Queen Liliʻuokalani, the last monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. It was first published in 1898, five years after the overthrow of the Kingdom. In it, Liliʻuokalani gives her account of her upbringing, her accession to the throne, the overthrow of her government by pro-American forces, her appeals to the United States to restore the Hawaiian monarchy, and her arrest and trial following an unsuccessful 1895 rebellion against the Republic of Hawaiʻi.

 

Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen, first published in 1898

 

Her appeals immediately after the overthrow were acted upon by her friend, President Grover Cleveland, who demanded her reinstatement from the President of Hawaiʻi, Sanford B. Dole, following a confidential investigation and report by James Henderson Blount submitted July 17, 1893. Dole refused Cleveland's demands. Cleveland then referred the matter to the United States Congress. The Congress investigated further and produced the Morgan Report on February 26, 1894, which concluded that the U.S. had no role in the Hawaiian Revolution. Following the Morgan Report, the Turpie Resolution of May 31, 1894 ended any hope for further assistance in regaining her throne, and her further appeals for help were rebuffed by the Cleveland administration.

 

Liliʻuokalani was imprisoned for months for her alleged role in a counter-revolution

Royal High Chiefess of Hawaii Lydia Liliuokalani / Library of Congress/GettyImages

 

In 1898, the same year the book was originally published, U.S. president McKinley and Congress passed a Joint Resolution known as the Newlands Resolution, annexing Hawaiʻi as a U.S. territory. This Treaty was declined by Queen Liliʻuokalani and was very unpopular with the people of Hawai'i, and the legality of this annexation remains in question today.

 

This book is seen by many in the Hawaiian sovereignty movement as a key source documenting the overthrow of the Hawaiian monarchy. However, many of her assertions regarding the overthrow are contradicted by other primary sources, including the Morgan Report and the Native Hawaiians Study Commission Report of 1983.

 

In either case, many people believe that the work is successful in conveying the frustration and sadness by the Queen and her supporters both for her loss of the throne, as well as the end of the independent nation of Hawaiʻi upon annexation to the United States.

 

Read Online free here (public access) -->>  Hawaii's Story by Hawaii's Queen  Complete book with original period photographs

 

Aloha

 

[kiaiokalewa]

Although not quite related to the topic at hand but enough of connection in that this rarely encountered SAW fob/medal sports the Royal Hawaiian crest in center giving it a clear connection to the islands.  The absolute craze part of this memorabilia is that some clown obliterated the makers hallmark on the reverse side.

 

Aloha,  John

 

[kiaiokalewa]

Apparently, there was a standard Spanish War Veterans medal that had a central motif and what looks like a sailor and soldier standing over a mermaid and it maintains it W&H Co. hallmark on its reverse.