AYUMI NAKANISHI / ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM Above, Jennel Membrere, 13, examines a gravestone at the cemetery near the Mission Houses Museum. The drooping roses with falling petals signify that a child is buried here.

History comes alive

A new Mission Houses Museum
program gives kids a hands-on
look at Hawaii's past

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By Nancy Arcayna
narcayna@starbulletin.com

Missionaries arrived on island shores in 1820 upon the Thaddeus, a brig that embarked on a six-month journey, originating from Boston. They brought with them western ways and a belief system foreign to Hawaiians.

The Mission Houses Museum has created the Touch History! Program that takes history lessons out of textbooks and missionary journals, and brings them to life. The activities present an opportunity to learn about island heritage and practice old-fashioned crafts in a hands-on setting so that kids can recreate the past, and take something home with them.

The program starts tomorrow, with its first group, the Ewa Boys and Girls Club.

One activity allows youngsters to travel back in time, plot the course of the Thaddeus, study a map and record the highlights of the Pioneer Company's life at sea. "The guide reads directly from missionary journals during the activity, said Ruth Newell, the museum's education director. Newell's favorite entry is from March 11, when the brig crew snared a shark.

"Upon opening the shark, they found a porcupine fish and a beef bone that the cook had thrown overboard," she said.

AYUMI NAKANISHI / ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM Thea, 9, center, Madison, 13, and their mom Susan Pelfrey, don period clothing at Mission House Museum. They have been participating the "Touch History!" program for 3 years.

The crew had just finished swimming, "which means the shark could not have been far distant at the time."

Similar stories are told until the youngsters reach their destination -- the Sandwich Islands. Participants need some map-reading ability, said Newell.

A look at the old printing press is another highlight. "The Mission Houses Museum is the birthplace of the written Hawaiian language," said Newell. The missionaries taught in Hawaiian and needed to print teaching materials. The first alphabet was printed in 1822. One of the activities allows children to see how things were printed, and they learn how to fold four-page signatures.

There is a professional way to do it, she explained. "The pages were neatly torn, they never used a paper cutter." Once the keiki master these skills, they hand sew their books, just as they would have back in the 19th century.

MAKING SILHOUETTES by tracing them off individuals' shadows was a typical early 19th century art form.

"Extremely elaborate designs were either cut with tiny scissors or a razor blade," said Newell. "Photography had not been invented yet. People didn't always have the time or money to have portraits painted. You could make a recognizable silhouette of someone and take their likeness with you, especially if you were going on a long trip."

Children at the museum can choose from 30 different examples that may be mounted. They can also opt to create their own cut-out.

Kimberly Kahikina creates a schoolhouse lesson in both Hawaiian and English, which allow 21t century children to solve math equations and study geography on a school slate and "practice the behavior of 19th century scholars."

Kapa printing is also among the list of activities. Kids use real pieces of kapa and create their own designs.

"We use Crayola ink today, but back then they used berries, ash and kukui nuts. The stamps were made from bamboo and carved out with a shark's tooth," Kahikina said.

AYUMI NAKANISHI / ANAKANISHI@STARBULLETIN.COM Madison Pelfrey, 13, left, and Jennel Membrere, 13, inspect the antique Ramage press displayed at the Mission Houses Museum. Missionaries brought the press with them from New England in 1820.

EVEN A CEMETERY offers its share of educational opportunities, allowing children to search for clues about the people buried on the grounds. The connection with people from the past will be reinforced when everyone gathers afterward to listen to stories about some of those whose tombstones they found.

They also learn about specific markings. For instance, a rose bud with a falling petal represents a child.

Children also get a chance to meet the "penny doll," otherwise known as 19th century Barbie. "It's an opportunity for children to see what fun looked like when there was no TV or Gameboy," Newell said.

Camp-out spotlights colonial life In a pre-Thanksgiving event coinciding with the Honolulu Academy of Arts' upcoming "Art and Life in Colonial America" exhibition, there will be a Colonial Camp-out Nov. 1 and 2 at the academy. Campers will get a glimpse of what life was like for the pilgrims in New England 300 years ago, learning how the early settlers made toast without an electric toaster and how they entertained themselves before television was invented. Students can also try colonial foods, get photographed in a colonial outfit and try loom weaving. The camp-out, which runs from 6 p.m. Nov. 1 to 8 a.m. the next morning, is for keiki ages 9 through 12 in grades 4, 5 and 6. The fee is $40 per child and will include an evening snack, breakfast, activities and supplies. Students must bring a sleeping bag, sweatshirt, flashlight and overnight toiletries. Register by calling 532-8726. Rentals of 19th-century styles offered Consider revisiting the past for Halloween in reproductions of garments worn by 19th-century Hawaii residents. The Mission Houses Museum's wardrobe collection offers styles from the 1820s to 1860s. The outfits have been used in plays, parades or community events, said Tory Laitila of the museum's curatorial department. The weekly rental fee for each adult unit is $60. A $250 deposit is required for each outfit. Schools can also use the clothing as an educational tool. The school kit, which teachers can rent, contains Western garments typically worn by boys and girls in the Kingdom of Hawaii in 1834. The items include a sea cap or hat, one black cravat, one shirt, one vest and a pair of dark pantaloons for boys; and one cap or bonnet, one chemise, one petticoat, one dress and one apron for girls. Teachers can rent the kits. The items included were on a missionary list that entailed all the things one would need in Honolulu for a two-year period. The rental program started in the early 1980s, Laitila said. "A lot of our clothes are copied from originals in the collection," he added. "We also have a core of volunteers that make patterns." Period clothing was normally meant to fit a specific person, so the dresses may be in an approximate size. During the month of December, no costumes are loaned out because they are all needed for the "Candlelight Christmas" celebration. Call 531-0481 for more information. By Nancy Arcayna

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