Sovereign Nation Era Ends 1800-1827

1824

Missionary boarding schools established in Hawai’i

David Belden Lyman, early American missionary to Hawai'i who opened Hilo Boarding School. Image: Hawai'ian Mission Children's Society
David Belden Lyman, early American missionary to Hawai'i who opened Hilo Boarding School. Image: Hawai'ian Mission Children's Society

Missionaries are the first to introduce western-style formal schooling targeting adults and, later, children through the Hawaiian language. The schools discourage Hawaiian culture, language, and customs. Female seminaries, established as a corollary to male seminaries, aim to produce proper Christian wives for the graduates of church-run schools, like the Lahainaluna or Hilo Boarding School (Beyer, 2003). Between 1824 and 1827, nearly the whole adult population attends mission station schools.

Traumatic Event