File photo
Much has changed since this 1977 photograph of Washington Place's
interior was taken, but Hawaii's first ladies have tried to retain the
turn-of-the-century opulence of Queen Lili'uokalani's piano room.
Washington Place has been home to all of Hawaii's governors, a gathering spot for world dignitaries, and the home - and eventual prison - of Queen Lili'uokalani.
Washington Place is where Lili'uokalani composed on her koa piano "The Queen's Prayer" while under house arrest after her kingdom was unseated by the United States government. It's where Gov. Bill Quinn raised a family and built the still existing family room upstairs to accommodate his brood and those of future first families. And it's where President Johnson had to share a steak with an admiral when Gov. John Burns' chef cooked one too few entrees.
An inside look at Washington Place is the subject of Emme Tomimbang's "First Ladies of Washington Place" that airs today on KHET. It's Tomimbang's first production for public television.
Throughout the years, Washington Place's first ladies have spearheaded causes from their lofty perch on Beretania Street, and influenced some political decisions so much that it changed the course of Hawaii history.
There's the unique aspect of Washington Place being both a royal and elected official residence.
Three former first ladies - Nancy Quinn, Jean Ariyoshi and Lynne Waihee - talk about the changes at Washington Place during their tenures, what it was like to live there and its history.
"The home didn't really lend itself to family downstairs" so the family room was built upstairs, Quinn says. Ariyoshi said her "mission" at Washington Place was "to make it a place that Hawaii could be proud (of)."
The documentary also looks at other family members who have called Washington Place home, including Helen Morgan, daughter of Gov. Joseph Poindexter, and Virginia Dominis Koch, hanai granddaughter of Lili'uokalani.
Jim Bartels of Iolani Place discusses Lili'uokalani's life at Washington Place. She died there in November 1917.
Washington Place was built 150 years ago by John Dominis who died at sea while traveling to Asia to purchase furniture for his future home. His wife, Mary, rented out rooms in the huge home after her husband's death.
"Every time I go by Washington Place I still can see my family there," Judge James Burns, son of late governor John Burns and Tomimbang's husband, says. "I remember it all very, very well."
What: "First Ladies of Washington Place"