Irene ʻĪʻī Brown Holloway

Irene ʻĪʻī Brown Holloway
Irene ʻĪʻī Brown Holloway, from a 1923 publication
Born	Irene Haalou Kahalelaukoa-Kamamalu ʻĪʻī September 30, 1869 Waipio, Hawaii
Died	August 26, 1922 Honolulu, Hawaii
Occupation	Philanthropist
Parent	John Papa ʻĪʻī
Relatives	Kenneth Francis Brown and Zadoc Brown (grandson}

Irene Īʻī Brown Holloway (September 30, 1869 – August 26, 1922) was a Hawaiian philanthropist.

Early life

Irene Haalou Kahalelaukoa-Kamamalu ʻĪʻī was born in Waipio, on Oahu, the daughter of John Papa ʻĪʻī and Maria Kamaunauikea Kapuahi I'i. Her father was advisor to King Kamehameha III, and later a judge. After her father's death in 1870, she was raised in the home of Reverend C. M. Hyde, an American missionary. She attended Kawaiaha'o Seminary and the Punahou School.^[1]

Career

Luau at the Brown residence, Waipiʻo, Oʻahu, ca. 1890

Irene ʻĪʻī was a social hostess and philanthropist in Hawaii. She was one of the first women elected to the Hawaiian Board of Missions. She served on charity boards, was active in the Kawaiaha'o Church and the Daughters of Hawaii, and was a trustee of the Kawaiaha'o Seminary. She visited and brought gifts for the elderly residents of the Lunalilo Home.^[1] Her inheritance from her father's estate, including the proceeds of land sold to the United States government for the Pearl Harbor Naval Station, and her ex-husband's role as trustee of the estate, were matters of protracted legal attention.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Personal life and legacy

Irene ʻĪʻī married twice. In 1886, at age 17, she married Charles Augustus Brown, a white American businessman from Massachusetts.^[7] They had three children together. She divorced Charles A. Brown in 1898, and married Carl Sheldon Holloway in 1901; he died in 1915. In widowhood she lived in Waimea. She died in Honolulu in 1922, aged 52 years, after a short illness.^[1][8][9] In her will, she left funds which still support the Lunalilo Home.^[10]

Her sons were George (1887–1946) and Francis (1892–1976), who was awarded the Croix de Guerre in World War I,^[11] and became a golf professional and developer of the Keawaiki Bay residential complex. Politician Kenneth Francis Brown was her grandson.^[12][13] A section of Mililani Mauka on Oahu is named after Irene Īʻī Brown Holloway.^[14]

References

1. Hawaiian Mission Children's Society (1923). Annual Report of the Hawaiian Mission Children's Society. Government Press. pp. 85–86.
2. "Ii Estate in Court". The Honolulu Advertiser. October 6, 1902. p. 11. Retrieved August 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Decision in Ii Case is Given". Evening Bulletin. September 1, 1910. p. 1. Retrieved August 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Decision in Ii Case is Given (continued)". Evening Bulletin. September 1, 1910. p. 2. Retrieved August 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Big Ii Estate Case Upheld on Appeal". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. October 8, 1912. p. 1. Retrieved August 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "Dole's Decision (continued)". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. October 8, 1912. p. 3. Retrieved August 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "CHARLES A. BROWN; A Figure in Business Affairs In Hawaii for 40 Years Was 81". The New York Times. May 4, 1937. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
8. "Mrs. Holloway Passes on in Honolulu, Aged 52". Hawaii Herald. August 31, 1922. p. 5. Retrieved August 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "Notice to Creditors". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. October 3, 1922. p. 13. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
10. Hawaii Community Foundation (October 13, 2018). "How to Fund the Ultimate Time Machine". Hawaii Magazine. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
11. "Francis Ii Brown honored with the French Croix de Guerre, 1918". nupepa. September 26, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
12. "Famed Kamaaina Golfer Dies". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. July 26, 1976. p. 2. Retrieved August 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
13. HistoricHawaii. "Kenneth Francis Kamuokalani Brown will be remembered as a visionary mixing modern Hawaii with Hawaiian values". Historic Hawaii Foundation. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
14. "Mililani Mauka Is Under Way". The Honolulu Advertiser. April 8, 1990. p. 88. Retrieved August 13, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

External links

• “Luau given by Mrs. Irene I'i Holloway”, Hawaiian Historical Society, Historical Photograph Collection
• I'i/Brown Family Oral Histories, (March 1999), Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai'i at Manoa