King David Kalākaua

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276 Haili St, Hilo
Lyman Museum
$3; Museum members free
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Kama`aina historian Boyd Bond will present a program on King David Kalākaua’s reign over the Kingdom of Hawai`i during the late 19th century on Monday, November 12, 7pm, at the Lyman Museum.  When he was elected Hawaii’s seventh king, Kalākaua faced a range of social, economic, and political challenges from his own people as well as from the foreigners who held the economic power in the Islands.  Anxious to rebuild his people and his kingdom after decades of foreign influence and population decline, Kalākaua became known as the “Merrie Monarch,” a phrase of either admiration or disdain depending on the speaker.  Kalākaua was the first ruling head of state to travel around the world, visiting other realms to expand his own knowledge and to bring back field workers for the sugar plantations in Hawai`i. Two foreigners, Claus Spreckels and Walter Murray Gibson, stood with Kalākaua against strong pressure from other foreign businessmen, yet these two would prove to have their own agendas.         
