Hawaii’s Last Queen is a documentary film which premiered on US television (PBS) in 1997.
It is an episode of the long-running program American Experience.
Here is some basic information about it:
** Written and produced by Vivian Durat
** Edited by Susan Fanshel
** Academic advisors: Davianna McGregor, University of Hawaii and Tennant McWilliams, University of Alabama
** Narrated by Anne Deavere Smith
** Run time: 50 minutes
The title is Hawaii’s Last Queen.
The subtitle is The Embattled Reign of Queen Liliuokalani.
She was born in 1838. Her reign was short and difficult. It began in 1891 and ended only two years later.
In 1893, the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown by a coup arranged by a group of white businessmen.
Five years later, in 1898, the former Kingdom of Hawaii was annexed by the US. This film explains how and why this happened.
The participants
Several persons are interviewed in the film.
Here are the names in the order of appearance:
** Thelma Bugbee (1911-2004) - a songwriter, a former teacher
** Aaron Mahi - conductor of the Royal Hawaiian Band 1981-2005
** Henry James “Jim” Bartels (1945-2003) - curator of Iolani Palace 1975-1998
** Patricia Ann Grimshaw (born 1938) – a historian, University of Melbourne 1977-2006
** Glen Grant (1947-2003) – a historical researcher
** Davianna McGregor – Professor of History, now retired, University of Hawaii
** Thurston Twigg-Smith - grandson of Lorrin Thurston (1858-1931)
** Malcolm Naea Chun – a cultural specialist, author of several books
** Tennant McWilliams (1943-2023) – Professor of History, University of Alabama
The participants are well-chosen. When you look at the list, you can see that some of them have passed away since these interviews were done and since this film was released.
It is a good thing that their statements and their memories are preserved in this film.
The story of her life
This film follows the life of Queen Liliuokalani from the beginning to the end. From she was born in 1838 until her death in 1917.
The story of her life is also the story of how the Hawaiians became a minority in their own country; how their monarchy was overthrown; and how the country was eventually annexed by the US.
It began with the missionaries who arrived in the 1820s and the 1830s. The missionaries taught the Hawaiians to read and write. They gave them Christianity.
They also brought some diseases against which the Hawaiians had little or no immunity. Large numbers of Hawaiians perished when they contracted one of these diseases.
The children of the missionaries became the sugar barons who took over a large part of the land and became rich in the process.
The sugar fields were cultivated by immigrant workers from Japan, China, and the Philippines. As the number of Hawaiians decreased, the number of immigrant workers increased.
The grandchildren of the missionaries became the businessmen who became politicians in order to overthrow the monarchy in 1893.
Five years later, in 1898, they managed to convince the US government to annex the country.
The US government realised the strategic importance of Hawaii, which is located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Asia and the American continent.
Queen Liliuokalani was arrested by the coup-makers in 1895. But she was released in the following year. After her release, she travelled to Washington, DC.
She wanted the US government to help her restore the Hawaiian monarchy. She believed the US government would get truth and justice for the Hawaiian people.
Instead, the US government sided with the coup-makers and annexed the former Kingdom of Hawaii.
1898 was a year of imperialism. The great powers all over the world were looking for new areas to take over and to colonize. Germany, Italy, and Japan were late-comers in the race for colonies.
They were jealous of England and France, because they had been able to start before them. Germany, Italy, and Japan wanted to catch up with England and France. They wanted to become not only great powers, but global powers with an international standing.
Hawaii was there for the taking. In the end, it was taken by the US. One reason for this decision was to secure Pearl Harbor, which was and is an excellent naval base, but another reason was to make sure that nobody else took it.
The US could easily survive without Hawaii, but the US government did not want to see another government profit from having this place.
In 1898, the US also took several colonies from Spain: Puerto Rico and Cuba in the Caribbean, the Philippines and Guam in the Pacific.
While they were taking over these former Spanish colonies, they decided that had better take control of Hawaii as well.
Conclusion
The history of Queen Liliuokalani – which is also the history of how the Hawaiian monarchy was overthrown and how the country was eventually annexed by the US – is told in great detail in this film.
It is a true story. It is well-documented. It is also a sad story. But it is part of reality and deserves to be told.
In Hawaii, this story is still remembered, but in the rest of the US and in the rest of the world, it is not well-known, almost forgotten.
American Experience deserves credit for making this film, to make sure that these events are not forgotten.
If you are interested in the history of the modern world - in particular the history of colonialism - this film is definitely something for you.
It is highly recommended.
PS # 1. Some books
** Shoal of Time: A History of the Hawaiian Islands by Gavan Daws (1986)
** Stolen Kingdom by Rich Budnick (1992)
** To Steal a Kingdom by Michael Dougherty (1992)
** Nation Within: The History of the American Occupation of Hawaii by Tom Coffman (2009)
** The Real History of Hawaii: From Origins to the End of Monarchy by Brien Foerster (2013)
PS # 2. Some documentary films
** Act of War: The Overthrow of the Hawaiian Nation (1993)
** The United States of Hypocrisy (2001)
** Conquest of Hawaii (2003)
** Hawaii: A Voice for Sovereignty (2009)
PS # 3. American Experience is a television program produced by PBS. The first episode was aired in 1988, and the program is still running today. This film Hawaii’s Last Queen is S09 E06 from 1997.
PS # 4. A few years ago, American Experience did another episode about Hawaii: S17 E13 (2005).
The title is The Massie Affair. This episode covers the history of a tragic chain of events which took place in Honolulu in 1931 and 1932.
*****
The Betrayal of Liliuokalani:
Last Queen of Hawaii
1838-1917
by Helena G. Allen
(1982)
*****
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