} Irene Īʻī Brown Holloway (September 30, 1869 – August 26, 1922) was a Hawaiian philanthropist.

Early life

Irene Haalou Kahalelaukoa-Kamamalu ʻĪʻī was born in

Waipio Waipio () is a census-designated place (CDP) located in the Ewa District of the island of Oahu in the City & County of Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. In Hawaiian, ''wai pio'' means "curved water". As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a populat ...

, on

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

, the daughter of

John Papa ʻĪʻī John (Ioane) Kaneiakama Papa ʻĪʻī (1800–1870) was a 19th-century educator, politician and historian in the Kingdom of Hawaii. Life ʻĪʻī was born 1800, in the month of Hilinehu, which he calculated to be August 3, in later life. He was b ...

and Maria Kamaunauikea Kapuahi I'i. Her father was advisor to

King Kamehameha III Kamehameha III (born Kauikeaouli) (March 17, 1814 – December 15, 1854) was the third king of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1825 to 1854. His full Hawaiian name is Keaweaweula Kīwalaō Kauikeaouli Kaleiopapa and then lengthened to Keaweaweula Kī ...

, and later a judge. After her father's death in 1870, she was raised in the home of Reverend C. M. Hyde, an American missionary. She attended Kawaiaha'o Seminary and the

Punahou School Punahou School (known as Oahu College until 1934) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 3,700 students attend the school from kindergarten through twelfth grade, 12th grade. Protestant missionar ...

Career

Irene ʻĪʻī was a social hostess and philanthropist in Hawaii. She was one of the first women elected to the Hawaiian Board of Missions. She served on charity boards, was active in the Kawaiaha'o Church and the

Daughters of Hawaii The Daughters of Hawaii was founded in 1903 by seven women who were daughters of American Protestant missionaries. They were born in Hawaii, were citizens of the Kingdom of Hawaii before annexation, and foresaw the inevitable loss of much of the ...

, and was a trustee of the Kawaiaha'o Seminary. She visited and brought gifts for the elderly residents of the Lunalilo Home. Her inheritance from her father's estate, including the proceeds of land sold to the United States government for the Pearl Harbor Naval Station, and her ex-husband's role as trustee of the estate, were matters of protracted legal attention.

Personal life and legacy

Irene ʻĪʻī married twice. In 1886, at age 17, she married Charles Augustus Brown, a white American businessman from Massachusetts. They had three children together. She divorced Charles A. Brown in 1898, and married Carl Sheldon Holloway in 1901; he died in 1915. In widowhood she lived in Waimea. She died in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

in 1922, aged 52 years, after a short illness. In her will, she left funds which still support the Lunalilo Home. Her sons were George (1887–1946) and Francis (1892–1976), who was awarded the

Croix de Guerre The ''Croix de Guerre'' (, ''Cross of War'') is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was first awa ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and became a golf professional and developer of the

Keawaiki Bay Keawaiki Bay is on the western coast of Hawaiʻi Island. It is the site of a residential complex built for Francis Hyde ʻĪʻī Brown (1892–1976) who was a champion golf player and legislator. History The bay is located at . The area to the no ...

residential complex. Politician

Kenneth Francis Brown Kenneth Francis Kamu’ookalani Brown (October 28, 1919 – February 7, 2014) was an American politician who was a significant figure in the political, business, and cultural life of the Hawaiian Islands in the decades from the 1960s through the ...

was her grandson. A section of Mililani Mauka on Oahu is named after Irene Īʻī Brown Holloway.

References

External links

“Luau given by Mrs. Irene I'i Holloway”
Hawaiian Historical Society, Historical Photograph Collection
I'i/Brown Family Oral Histories
(March 1999), Center for Oral History, Social Science Research Institute, University of Hawai'i at Manoa {{DEFAULTSORT:Holloway, Irene ʻĪʻī Brown 1869 births 1922 deaths People from Oahu Punahou School alumni Hawaiian Kingdom people