Cemetery Pupu Theatre at Oʻahu Cemetery - June 15-16; 22-23

Founded in 1844, O‘ahu Cemetery is Hawaii's oldest public graveyard.  Over the years, O‘ahu Cemetery has become the permanent residence of hundreds of prominent history makers.

Located on 18-acres in lower Nu‘uanu Valley, near downtown Honolulu, O‘ahu Cemetery is a "classic" example of an early American "rural" cemetery, distinguished by a park-like setting, and an eye-catching array of ornately carved tombstones.

Hawaiian Mission Houses is bringing back Cemetery Pupu Theater - actors dressed in period costume telling the life events of select individuals buried at O‘ahu Cemetery - at their respective grave sites.  There was nothing ghoulish about it; rather, it was very effective storytelling.

$60 per person - includes drinks and pupu, seating limited, RSVP required.  Click here to make your reservation:  https://safesite.4agoodcause.com/mission-houses-museum/event1.aspx?eventid=15

We went last year and are already signed up for this one – I suggest you do too.  This is waaay cool; lots of fun and a good learning experience.

Portrayed in the June Hawaiian Mission Houses Cemetery Pupu Theater program will be:

John Papa I‘i (1800-1870)

John Papa Ii was a leading citizen of the Hawaiian kingdom during the nineteenth century. Born in 1800 and raised under the traditional kapu system, I‘i was trained from earliest childhood for a life of service to the high chiefs.

Ii served as a general superintendent of O'ahu schools and was an influential member in the court of Kamehameha III. He was appointed by the king to the Treasury Board; was a member of the Privy Council; Board of Land Commissioners and was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Hawai‘i .

Cherilla Lowry (1861 - 1917)

Cherilla Lowry founder and first president of the Outdoor Circle (TOC) (100-years ago) whose mission was to “Keep Hawai‘i clean, green and beautiful.” Twenty-two Monkeypod trees were planted in A‘ala Park as the organization’s first tree planting project.

Through its mission, much of TOC’s activities strive to educate youth and local citizens about environmental issues that concern the preservation and conservation of Hawai’i’s natural resources, including planting trees, beautifying parks and public areas including parks, streets, playgrounds and schools and bicycle paths.

Eliab Grimes (1780–1848)

Captain Eliab Grimes, a native of Massachusetts, was a Honolulu merchant of many years and operated with his nephew Hiram, as the firm E & H Grimes.  Eliab Grimes persuaded John Sinclair to occupy the Rancho Del Paso (a 44,371-acre Mexican land grant in present day Sacramento County, California)  until such time as he (Grimes) could take legal title to it.

In 1844, Eliab Grimes received the official land grant. Over the next four years, Grimes and Sinclair, raised cattle and harvested wheat on the property.  Grimes, who subsequently became an important trader and political figure in San Francisco, died in 1848

Lucy Thurston (1795 – 1876)

Asa Thurston (1787–1868) and Lucy Goodale Thurston were in the first company of American Christian Missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands.  Lucy Goodale Thurston voyaged to the Hawaiian Islands in 1820 intent on bringing the word of God to its inhabitants.  During the next fifty years she raised a family, dealt with tragedy and helped to change the future of Hawaii forever.

The Thurstons, unlike most missionary couples, spent most of the rest of their lives in the islands.  Lucy compiled her letters and other writings into one of the most vivid accounts of the early mission days.  She underwent a mastectomy without anesthetic in 1855.  She died on October 13, 1876 in Honolulu.

Lorrin Andrews (1795–1868)

Lorrin Andrews was an early American missionary to Hawaii and judge.   In June 1831 the mission hoped to establish a seminary on Maui, since it was somewhat centrally located among the Hawaiian Islands. Andrews was selected to run the school called Lahainaluna for "upper Lahaina".

On September 5, 1831 classes began in thatched huts with 25 married Hawaiian young men. It was the first college west of the Rocky Mountains.  His students published the first newspaper and were involved in the first case of counterfeiting currency in Hawaiʻi. He later served as a judge and became a member of Hawai‘i's first Supreme Court.

Please also consider visiting the Hawaiian Mission Houses Historic Site and Archives (on King Street, adjoining Kawaiaha‘o Church.)  I am honored and proud to have been recently elected to serve on the Missions Houses Board of Trustees.