King Kamehameha I - Washington DC
N 38° 53.385 W 077° 00.499
18S E 325819 N 4306459
This statue of King Kamehameha is the third replica of a total of 6 statues. This statue used to sits in the National Statuary Hall inside the United States Capitol Building in Washington DC.
Waymark Code: WMEP5H
Location: District of Columbia, United States
Date Posted: 06/21/2012
Views: 18
In 2008, shortly after Hawaii-born Barack Obama was nominated as the Democratic Party’s candidate for the presidency, the statue was moved from a dark, back row of Statuary Hall to a prominent position in Emancipation Hall in the Capitol's new visitor center. The statue was made from molds of the King Kamehameha statue that sits in front of the Judiciary Building in historic downtown Honolulu. This King Kamehameha statue was dedicated in a ceremony inside the United States Capitol Building Rotunda on April 15, 1969. Every year on June 11, which is King Kamehameha Day in Hawaii, the statue is draped with flower leis in a ceremony featuring hula dancers and Hawaiians portraying King Kamehameha and his favorite wife Kaahumanu.
The original statue has its origins in 1878 when Walter M. Gibson, a member of the Hawaiian government at the time, wanted to commemorate the 100 year arrival of Captain Cook to the Hawaiian Islands. In 1883 the statue was placed aboard a ship and headed for Hawaii. Near the Falkland Islands the ship wrecked and the statue was thought lost. However, the Hawaiians had insured the statue for $12,000 and Gould rushed to complete a second.
Before the second statue could be sent the original had been recovered by some Falkland Islanders. They sold it to the Captain of the wrecked ship for $500, and the Captain then sold it to Gibson for $875. Now Hawaii had two statues. The original stands near the legendary king's birthplace in Kapa?au in Kohala, on the island of Hawaii?i. The re-ordered one stands in front of Ali?iolani Hale.
A third replica was commissioned when Hawaii attained statehood and was unveiled in 1969. It stood in the United States Capitol alongside the Father Damien Statue and was the heaviest statue in Statuary Hall, weighing 15,000 pounds.
Where is original located?: Kapaʻau in Kohala
Where is this replica located?: Emancipation Hall at the US Capitol in Washington DC
Who created the original?: Thomas R. Gould
Internet Link about Original: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamehameha_Statues
Year Original was Created (approx. ok): 1883
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Visit Instructions:
Post at least one photo of the replica.