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The Daughters of Hawaiʻi is a nonprofit organization founded in 1903, dedicated to the preservation of Hawaiian culture, language, and sacred and historic sites. They run the Huliheʻe Palace and the Queen Emma Summer Palace (Hānaiakamalama).^[1]

History

The organization was established in 1903 by seven women who were daughters of American Protestant missionaries.^[2] Born in Hawaiʻi, they were citizens of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi before annexation. Forseeing the inevitable loss of much of the Hawaiian culture, they founded the organization "to perpetuate the memory and spirit of old Hawaiʻi and of historic facts, and to preserve the nomenclature and correct pronunciation of the Hawaiian language."

Hānaiakamalama, now known as the Queen Emma Summer Palace was the "mountain" home of Queen Emma Na'ea, wife of Kamehameha IV. She had inherited it from her uncle, John Young II, son of the famous advisor to Kamehameha I, John Young I. Queen Emma used the home as a retreat where she could escape from the oppressive heat of Honolulu into the coolness of Nuʻuanu. The Queen Emma Summer Palace was acquired by the Daughters of Hawaiʻi in 1913, narrowly avoiding the demolition of the house and construction of a baseball field on the grounds. The Territorial Government granted the Daughters the use of the home and 22,750 square feet (2,114 m²) of the grounds as long as the home was used and maintained as a museum.

Having acquired and restored Hānaiakamalama, the Daughters set about to save Hulihe‘e Palace in 1924. The Palace was in ruins. The grounds were so overgrown that the house could not be seen from the road. In 1925, the Territorial Legislature purchased Hulihe‘e and set it aside for the Daughters to use and maintain as a museum. When the Daughters finally took over Huliheʻe in 1927, there was little interest in historic preservation in the islands. At this time, the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company began to formulate plans for an oceanfront hotel in Kailua-Kona. They decided that the Huliheʻe grounds was the most desirable location in Kailua-Kona and at once began to pressure the Daughters to relinquish Huliheʻe. The ladies held firm and because of their spirit, the State of Hawaiʻi has an important educational museum and Kailua-Kona still has some open waterfront. Huliheʻe Palace was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

The Daughters of Hawaiʻi also own and maintain the site of Kamehameha III's birth at Keauhou Bay, Kona. It was also added to the Register of Historic Places in 1978.