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A Christian and “Civilized” Education: The Hawaiian Chiefs' Children's School, 1839–50

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2017

Linda K. Menton
Linda K. Menton*
Affiliation:
Curriculum Research and Development Group, College of Education, University of Hawaii at Manoa
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Extract

The Hawaiian Chiefs' Children's School was founded in June 1839 when Hawai‘i's Congregational missionaries, gathered in the dusty port town of Honolulu for their annual General Meeting, received a letter from Hawai‘i's high chiefs asking them to establish a school exclusively for their children, the royal children. The chiefs' proposal was discussed at length by the assembled missionaries. Some expressed concern about devoting limited missionary resources to so few children. Others did not think the chiefs' children should be singled out for special treatment. In the end, however, these reservations were overcome, and the mission voted to accept the chiefs' request.

Type
Articles
Information
History of Education Quarterly , Volume 32 , Issue 2 , Summer 1992 , pp. 213 - 242
Copyright
Copyright © 1992 by the History of Education Society 

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References

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36 For information about the basic curriculum at the school, see “Report of the Chiefs' Children's School,” 1841. Mrs. Cooke taught reading, singing, writing, and drawing. She also supervised the children's journal writing. For information about the curriculum at the school when the children were older, see “Report of the Chiefs' Children's School,” May 1846, Sandwich Islands Mission Collection; and ASC, 18 Feb. 1847, vol. 8, 36, 23 Apr. 1847, vol. 8, 51, 7 Apr. 1847, vol. 8, 47, 19 Apr. 1847, vol. 8, 50, 25 May 1847, vol. 8, 59.Google Scholar

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