Damien and Liliuokalani Statues - Two Beloved Figures

Photo: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, public domain (cropped)

A stop on Historic Downtown Honolulu Walk, a free self-guided tour.

The blocky bronze figure at the Capitol's Beretania Street entrance is Father Damien, a Belgian priest who arrived in Hawaii in 1864. In 1873 he volunteered to serve the people exiled to Kalaupapa on Molokai because they had leprosy, now called Hansen's disease. He built homes, a church and coffins, caught the disease himself and died there in 1889. The Catholic Church declared him a saint in 2009.

Sculptor Marisol Escobar showed him near the end of his life, wearing glasses, his face marked by illness. Some people found it shocking in 1969; many now find it moving.

On the other side of the Capitol, facing toward the palace, stands Hawaii's last queen. Marianna Pineda's 1982 bronze shows Liliuokalani holding three papers: the song Aloha Oe that she composed, a draft of the 1893 constitution that set off her overthrow, and the Kumulipo, the creation chant she translated into English. You will pass her on the way back to the palace; look for fresh lei at her feet.

Getting here: Cross Beretania Street at the crosswalk; the statue of Father Damien stands at the Capitol's main entrance.

Did you know?: A twin of the Damien statue stands in the U.S. Capitol in Washington as one of Hawaii's two statues there.

Photo op: Step back along the entrance walk to frame Damien's dark bronze figure against the Capitol's pale palm-shaped columns.

More on Wikipedia: Statue of Father Damien · Father Damien · Marisol Escobar · Marianna Pineda

Damien and Liliuokalani Statues - Two Beloved Figures

Stops on this tour