Exhibitions
Bishop Museum Announces New Hawaiian Hall Treasure Case Installation: Faith and Philanthropy: Queen Emma Kaleleonālani’s Visit to England, 1865-1866
Installation highlights new research identifying items associated with Queen Emma's travel and fundraising strategies, demonstrating the richness of her journey and the social, religious, and political spaces she navigated.
# Bishop Museum Announces New Hawaiian Hall Treasure Case Installation: Faith and Philanthropy: Queen Emma Kaleleonālani's Visit to England, 1865-1866
Installation highlights new research identifying items associated with Queen Emma's travel and fundraising strategies, demonstrating not only the richness of her journey but also the social, religious, and political spaces she navigated as a Hawaiian royal.
Honolulu, Hawaiʻi — Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, the State of Hawaiʻi Museum of Natural and Cultural History, announces the opening of a new installation in the third floor Treasure Case of its historic Hawaiian Hall: Faith and Philanthropy: Queen Emma Kaleleonālani's Visit to England, 1865-1866 ("Faith and Philanthropy"), opening Friday, July 19, 2024.
Between 1865-1866, Queen Emma Kaleleonālani departed Hawaiʻi for a year-long journey to England, the only journey outside of the Hawaiian Kingdom that she took during her lifetime (1836-1885). Her trip was not for recreation or pleasure but had a specific mission: fundraising for the construction of St. Andrew's Cathedral, the seat of the Anglican Church in the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi. For 183 days, Queen Emma leveraged her royal status and likeness to garner support and cash funds from English citizens around the country, resulting in national coverage of her extensive travels as well as the adoration of the British public.
"The fundraising for the Mission and the cathedral occurred during a particularly dark period of Queen Emma's life," shared Sarah Kuaiwa, Ph. D., Bishop Museum curator for Hawaiʻi and Pacific Cultural Resources, and curator of the installation. "At 29 she was a dowager queen, a widow, and had lost her only child. Queen Emma channeled her grief and pain into a purpose for the Anglican Church in Hawaiʻi, an important story that is not widely known."
Faith and Philanthropy highlights new research identifying items associated with Queen Emma's travel and fundraising strategies, utilizing objects from multiple Bishop Museum collections to demonstrate not only the richness of her journey but also the social, religious, and political spaces she navigated as a Hawaiian royal.
The case features a number of pieces that were identified as having associations with Queen Emma's 1865-1866 voyage, including:
- Rarely seen portraits of Queen Emma that were sold and distributed in England to fundraise for the Anglican Mission
- Pieces from Bishop Museum's Ethnology collection that are believed to have been purchased and gifted to Queen Emma during her trip, including a hairbrush and comb set from London, a Copeland porcelain set from Stoke-on-Trent, and a small pendant from the city of Ely
"The story of Queen Emma's journey is a testament to her faith, determination, and courage," said Kuaiwa. "Her story abroad speaks of her to continued desire to create resources for Hawaiian people even at the saddest period of her life. I think she can be an inspiration for all facing adversity and personal crisis."
Faith and Philanthropy: Queen Emma Kaleleonālani's Visit to England, 1865-1866 is curated by Kuaiwa and designed by Brad Evans, Bishop Museum director of Exhibits. The installation opens on Friday, July 19, 2024 in the third floor Treasure Case of Hawaiian Hall, and will run through Spring 2025.
About Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, the State of Hawaiʻi Museum of Natural and Cultural History
Bishop Museum’s mission is to inspire our community and visitors through the exploration, celebration, and perpetuation of the extraordinary history, culture, and environment of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific. The Museum was founded in 1889 by Charles Reed Bishop in memory of his wife Bernice Pauahi Bishop, a royal descendant of King Kamehameha I. Today, the Museum thrives as an educational center for the community and is widely regarded as the world’s premier institution for Hawaiian and Pacific content.
Bishop Museum’s vast collections of more than 25 million objects and specimens represent nine disciplines and include more than 22 million biological specimens, over 2 million cultural objects, 115,000 historical publications, and 1 million photographs, films, works of art, audio recordings, and manuscripts. These collections tell the stories of the cultures and biodiversity of Hawaiʻi and the Pacific as well as the proud legacy of scholarly research spanning 130 years.
Bishop Museum proudly serves more than 200,000 visitors each year, including 20,000 children on school visits. Guests are encouraged to pre-plan their trip to #HawaiisMuseum with its free digital guide, available through Bloomberg Connects.
To learn more about the Museum’s research, collections, exhibits, and programs, visit BishopMuseum.org, follow @BishopMuseum on Facebook and Instagram, visit Bishop Museum’s YouTube channel, or call (808) 847-3511. Bishop Museum is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Bishop Museum is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employer, and welcomes applicants from the military, veterans, and those with disabilities. Learn about careers at Bishop Museum at BishopMuseum.org/Careers and on its LinkedIn page.
Bishop Museum Press is Hawaiʻi’s oldest book publisher and one of the first scholarly publishers in the Western Hemisphere, and has published over 1,200 titles and distributed over 1 million books in 72 countries worldwide. Bishop Museum hosts a restaurant and gift shop on campus, Tūtū’s Place by Highway Inn and Shop Pacifica by Nā Mea Hawaiʻi.