By Staff Reports
(KANE‘OHE) — On Thursday, January 23 from 5:00–6:00 p.m., author and historian Anwei Law will talk about longtime Kalaupapa resident Ambrose Kanewali‘i Hutchison, in memoirs of his early life, family, and relationships with Father Damien, Queen Kapi’olani, and Rudolph Meyer on the third floor of Hale La‘akea library. Supported by Ka ‘Ohana O Kalaupapa, the Hawai‘i Council for the Humanities and the IDEA Center for the Voices of Humanity.
This presentation is part of a series of events in conjunction with A Source of Light, Constant and Never Fading exhibit in the library. Events and the exhibit are free and open to the public. Access to the third floor is available by elevator.
Ambrose K. Hutchison: The Story that No One Else Could Tell
Presentation by Anwei Law
Thursday, January 23, 5–6 p.m.
Windward Community College, Hale La‘akea Library Learning Commons, 3rd Floor
Ambrose Kanewali‘i Hutchison was born on Maui, the son of a Native Hawaiian woman and a Scottish physician. He developed leprosy in his youth and was sent to Kalaupapa in 1879 at the age of 20. He spent the next 53 years there and left an indelible mark on Kalaupapa’s history that has only begun to be acknowledged in recent years. Hutchison worked closely with, and outlived, most of the major figures in Kalaupapa’s early history including Father Damien, Mother Marianne, Rudolph Meyer, Queen Kapi‘olani, Queen Lili‘uokalani, and Joseph Dutton. He wrote and re-copied hundreds of pages of his recollections of a lifetime at Kalaupapa. In so doing he left for us a story that no one else could tell.
For more information about the exhibit and upcoming related events, and the Hawai‘i Collection Room at Hale La‘akea, please contact Cindy Texeira at 235-7340 or ctex@hawaii.edu.