 Welcome to Think Tech on Spectrum OC 16, Hawaii's weekly newscast on things that matter to tech and to Hawaii. I'm Cynthia Sinclair. And I'm Emmy Ortega Anderson. In our show this time, we'll have a special treat. We'll visit Yolani Palace and take a look at its magnificent rooms, treasures and secrets. Our contact at the palace was Think Tech Co's Mark Sklov, who is now the interim director of the palace. The palace was central in the monarchy and in Hawaii's history. With that in mind, let's take a look at its origins and the role it has played. Yolani Palace was the royal residence of the Hawaiian monarchs, beginning with Kamehameha III and ending with Queen Liliyokalani. It is on South King Street in the capital district in downtown Honolulu. It is a national historic landmark on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the only royal palace in the United States. The palace halls contain beautiful memories of grand balls and hula performances, where the monarchy regularly held official functions, received dignitaries and luminaries from around the world and entertained lavishly. It was a marvel of opulence, innovation and political intrigue. The palace halls also contain painful memories of the overthrow and Liliyokalani's imprisonment. When David Kalakaua assumed the throne, the palace was in poor condition. He was the first monarch to travel around the world. While visiting Europe, he took note of the grand palaces built by other monarchs. Like Kamehameha V, he dreamed of a royal palace befitting the sovereignty of a modern nation. He ordered the old palace race and commissioned the construction of a new one. Three architects, Thomas Baker, Charles Wall and Isaac Moore designed the palace. The cornerstone was laid in 1879. It was completed in 1882 and at a cost of over $340,000, a vast fortune in those times. Its unique architecture, known as American Florentine, is seen nowhere else in the world. P.S. It had electricity and telephones even before the White House did. Queen Liliyokalani succeeded her brother David Kalakaua on his death in 1891. She was determined to strengthen the power of the monarchy. But her attempts to do so resulted in opposition from the Committee of Safety, which orchestrated the overthrow in 1893. She was later tried in the throne room and imprisoned for nine months in a small room on an upper floor of the palace. Following the overthrow, the palace became the headquarters for the provisional government. Many of the palace's original furnishings were sold at public auction. The buildings served as the capital of the territory of Hawaii, the military headquarters during World War II and then to house the Hawaii state government. During the government's use of the palace, the royal bedroom became the governor's office and the legislature occupied the first floor. The representatives met in the former throne room and the Senate met in the former dining room. Through more than 70 years as a functional but neglected government building, the palace fell into disrepair. After Hawaii became a state, Governor John Burns began an effort to restore the palace in the 1960s. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1962 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The state government vacated the palace in 1969 and moved to the new Hawaii state capital building nearby. Through the efforts of researchers and museum staff and donations of individuals, many original palace objects were located and returned. Government grants and donations funded reproduction of original fabrics and finishes to restore the rooms. The palace was opened to the public in 1978 after restoration was complete. The grounds of the palace are managed by the State Department of Land and Natural Resources, but the palace building itself is managed as a historical museum by the friends of Ilani Palace, a local non-profit concerned with its history and preservation. These days and since statehood, the palace has been a trove of cultural and historical icons and a great museum for Hawaii. Dozens take people around and show them the treasures there and it's a great way to learn about the period for visitors and local people alike. Mark Slav, a think tech talk show host and specifically the host of Law Across the Sea is the interim director of the palace and was kind enough to set up a tour for us. So, as we like to do, we walk through the public spaces of the palace. We met our guide in the entry to the palace. Our guide was charming, very knowledgeable and happy to answer our questions. But there was more. After we walked through the main rooms of the palace, our guide took us to the tough floor. The floor where the curators of the collections keep the objects and artifacts that are not on the floors below that the public does not get to see. But we saw these secret special things and they were awesome. They made the trip and the tour of the palace very special for us. Here's the footage we took when we were there. Aloha and welcome to Iolani Palace. Thank you for joining us today. My name is Iolani Gutierrez and I'm the education manager here with the Friends of Iolani Palace. Today we're going to take a look at one room on every floor of the palace starting off inside of the attic. We will then move down to the Chamberlain's office, up to the first floor to the state dining room and then to the second floor to the King's Library. Today we'll be focusing on Colonel Curtis Piaju Iauquia who is the Chamberlain here at Iolani Palace. Welcome to the attic. Here we have our offices and we house artifacts that aren't on display. This area actually was just an open floor before. There were no walls. It housed the water gallons that were the plumbing in the palace. We have a director of curation and education who I work alongside with in this office but I'm the education manager here. It's a immense honor to work here in the attic in this space. Oftentimes people don't know exactly what's up here but it's just offices and some rooms that we house artifacts that aren't on display. There was no education department for about 15 to 20 years due to lack of funding so we're fairly new programmed. There is a Hawaiian proverb that states that not all learning is taught in one school so that we are constantly learning. And that is actually the model of our King Kaweikeo Oli, Peopuni Palapala Kauu which is, mine is the education of kingdom. He really took as an initiative to educate his people which then resulted as the Hawaiian Kingdom being one of the most highly literate nations in the world at the time. Today I'm happy to give you folks a behind the ropes look into Iolani Palace. I figured we should focus our tour today on Iolkea, Colonel Curtis Piehu Iolkea who was a kahu here. A kahu can be defined as a chamberlain, retainer of royalty, administrator and caretaker. And that's why I thought it'd be appropriate to start this tour here as in a way we are current caretakers of the palace. Staying glass? Skylight? Right below us is the second floor grand hall and currently there's carpet down there below it but when there wasn't any carpet it's just wood flooring and the light shines down it is just a magnificent view. Yeah, so it's a treasure trove of fabulous things and one would expect them to be safeguarded. Yeah. Yes, truly and we are thankful to have all of our staff who are also caretakers here taking care of the everyday and our department that takes care of the artifacts themselves. The shoe covers, although most of the flooring here in the palace is an original, is to preserve the floors so that they can be viewed and enjoyed by for many generations to come. We are currently in the basement and we are heading over to the Chamberlain's office. There were only two telephones here within the palace, one in the Chamberlain's and one within the King's Library, so you can see that relationship right there. Alright, Jay, welcome to the Chamberlain's office. Ihilani, when you walk around and give tours, do you ever imagine what it would be like if you were here in the 19th century with the people who lived here? I think if I were to imagine it to that point, then I would step outside because only a very select few were actually allowed and invited into the palace. Well, here I'd like to introduce you to Colonel Curtis Piahu Iaukea. Here is his top hat, which isn't usually on display, but we took it out for you folks. It is delicate and fragile. Iaukea at a young age received his education and was expected to uphold royal duties because of that education. When King Kala Kawa came into office, he hired and took on Iaukea. One of the things that Iaukea was commissioned to do was to go as a special envoy to the Coronation of Tsar Alexander III. We actually have a photo of him that was taken during the festivities right here. We actually have a court uniform on display for you folks right here. Although this one does not belong to Iaukea, it belonged to Henry Carter, but it is one of the court uniforms that was worn during the Coronation of Alexander Nevsky. It is European in style, but it has uniquely Hawaiian motifs with the kalo and ferns, which is an example of the Ali'i-taking agency to appropriate European court attire. Another uniquely Hawaiian element to this is the buttons themselves have the Hawaiian royal coat of arms. First, I'd like to show you folks the portrait of King Kala Kawa. And below is one of the two telephones here within the palace. The phones were installed by King Kala Kawa five years after Alexander Graham Bell invented it. This allowed King Kala Kawa to call his chamberlain down here in the basement, his boat house down the street, one of the several hundred Honolulu residents who had phones by 1885. Iaukea was an avid musician and here is his silver plated cornet. This cornet was actually passed down to his descendants and then it was donated to the palace. And this is his CF Martin guitar. Here at the end we have this inlay, ivory inlay that has his name engraved into it. And we don't normally have these items out on display again, but we're happy to showcase them for you folks. And these are just to showcase Iaukea's life as a and his person that he wasn't just a diplomat, he wasn't just a dignitary, but he was also a musician. The Chamberlain's office, he did not live here necessarily, but he spent most of his time here. Yes. And as a Chamberlain, he was one of the very few people who had access to not only every floor, but to the King's chambers themselves, which is rare. There's again, he was his right hand man and he would be comfortable walking to the King's bedroom or library. We will now be heading up to this state dining room if you want to follow me up the stairs. This table here was actually belonged to King Kala Kawa, but he traded it with Colonel Curtis Iaukea for a cool wood writing desk. And on top of the table here is this French chino with the Hawaiian kingdom royal coat of arms, American and French silverware, and bohemian crystal. This table is arranged for a small, formal breakfast or dinner. And one of the King's favorite desserts was ice cream with fruit. Would you like to see the dessert table? Yes. Please follow me. So on this table is a gift for Colonel Iaukea. This Tiffany and Cole intricately designed silver spoon shares its story on the other side. Here, let's take a look. It says here, presented to Colonel Curtis Piehu Iaukea by Her Majesty Queen Lily Uokalani on the 60th anniversary of his birth, December 13, 1915. And of this time, here you see the Hawaiian crown with the L. All right, now we are going to head up the Cole wood staircase to the King's library. So Jay, we're currently on the second floor and the private, this would have been the private quarters of the royal family. And it was exclusive to the royal family and to the royal attendants, but they did have their other homes that they lived in. Life was sweet in those days. That's the impression I get. They were very forward looking, cared a lot about the people and the people loved them. After King Kala Kawa was elected and he did his tour of all the islands, every island competed to outdo each other in greeting him. And some, like he would pull up to a bay and you wouldn't even be able to see the sand because it's just covered with people and flowers. So this is the King's library, which is right next to the King's bedroom. Here he had his own personal bathroom. There are four fully functioning bathrooms inside of this palace. So here we have the second telephone that was installed in the palace. Here it allowed the King to call the Chamberlain down below in the basement, his boat house down the street, and any one of the several hundred residents who had telephones at the time. Around the room are portraits of that he collected on his travels, people he visited, and some of his family members. After the death of Lat Kapua Iwa, he fell to name a successor, so they held an election, the first election in the kingdom, and the people voted for William Charles Lunalilo as their next king. In 13 months of his reign, he became ill and passed away, but before he died, he wanted the people to have the choice to vote for their next king, so another election was held naming David Kala Kawa the next king of Hawaii, starting the Kala Kawa dynasty. Yes. When Colonel Ialkia went to the coronation of Tsar Alexander III, he was commissioned to represent the kingdom and to exchange diplomatic gifts. Some of the gifts that were given to the Tsar was the royal order of Kamehameha I and the Kamehameha Collar. In return, they gifted King Kala Kawa with these items. This here is a tumbler that was given. The A and the M stand for Alexander and Marie, and here on the back in memory of the coronation in Moscow, May 15, 1883. Another gift that we'd like to show you is the royal order of Saint Alexander Nevsky. This royal order has 609 diamonds. Here in his office, he would have conducted meetings. I can imagine this would have been a space where he would have used to draft up some of his inventions. He drafted up plans for a submarine and here we have his hat and his personal cane and also his spittoon. Around the room, there are an assortment of books and here are some documents that are all in different languages. So Kala Kawa's fluent in English and Hawaiian and had a working knowledge of other languages which is presented here. Here on the table is Kala Kawa's book of royal orders from all different nations. So I can imagine that after he received this, he may have dug into his book to research a little bit on it. Here we have Hawaiian Kingdom royal orders which are really unique and very, very rare. Despite having electricity in the palace before the White House, Honolulu City Lights is actually famous because the streets of Honolulu were lit also before the White House and they were powered by hydro turbines from Nukuwanu Stream. This is just an example of Hawaiians continuously working with the lands imbiotically. Colonel Curtis Iaukea presented the royal order of Kamehameha the first to the czar, Alexander the third and later also gifted the Kamehameha color you see here. The most important thing about Yolani Palace is the legacy and the people that, the people that lived here and the legacies they left behind and the stories that were left behind as well. I get to share these stories with our community and educate them on what exactly our Ali'i lived like. I was such an honor to host you here today and to highlight the honorable Colonel Curtis Iaukea and I'd like to invite you back and for all your viewers to come visit and have a look. What a great afternoon. Thanks to our tour guide for a great tour and thanks to Mark Slav for setting up the tour. If you want to know more about the palace or friends of Yolani Palace, visit YolaniPalice.org. 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For lots more ThinkTech videos and for underwriting and sponsorship opportunities on ThinkTech, visit ThinkTechHawaii.com. Be a guest or a host, a producer or an intern and help us reach and have an impact on Hawaii. Thanks so much for being part of our ThinkTech family and for supporting our open discussion of tech, energy, diversification and global awareness in Hawaii. And of course, the ongoing search for innovation wherever we can find it, including the study of our unique history in Hawaii. You can watch this show throughout the week and tune in next Sunday evening for our next important ThinkTech episode. I'm Amy Ortega Anderson. And I'm Cynthia Sinclair. Aloha, everyone.