William Charles Achi Jr. (July 1, 1889 – June 17, 1947) was a

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

an attorney and territorial judge, as well as composer.

Biography

William Charles Achi Jr. was born July 1, 1889, 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 ...

. His father,

William Charles Achi William Charles Achi (1858–1928) was a Hawaiian lawyer and politician. He was of Chinese and Native Hawaiian descent. William Charles Achi was born December 16, 1858, at Kohala, Hawaii, to Lum and Kinilau (Lualoa) Achi, he was the great great gr ...

, was a political figure in both the

Kingdom of Hawaii The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi ( Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the independent island ...

and the

Territory of Hawaii The Territory of Hawaii or Hawaii Territory ( Hawaiian: ''Panalāʻau o Hawaiʻi'') was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 30, 1900, until August 21, 1959, when most of its territory, excluding ...

, following annexation by the United States. Achi attended a diverse collection of colleges, beginning with St. Louis College in Honolulu in 1904, followed by

Oahu College 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 12th grade. Protestant missionaries establish ...

in 1908,

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

from 1909 to 1911 (where he was a member of both the Stanford varsity baseball team and the Stanford University Symphony Orchestra),

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

from 1911 to 1912, and the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

from 1912 to 1913. He completed his B.A. at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

in 1914, becoming the first Native Hawaiian to receive a degree from that institution, thereafter receiving a B.L. from the University of Michigan Law School in 1917. He authored of number of college songs during this period, including "Sons of the Stanford Red", "Sons of Eli" and "Fight, Men of Michigan", and wrote a comic

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

, the "Pranks of Paprika", while at the University of Chicago. Admitted to the territorial courts on November 6, 1917, he was in private practice with his father until 1919. On November 19, 1919, Achi was appointed to a four-year term as judge of the Fifth Circuit Court of the Territory of Hawaii by President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

. He was continually reappointed to the position until July 14, 1934, when

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

instead appointed Carrick Hume Buck.Mari J. Matsuda, ''Called from Within'', p. 59-60. The replacement was motivated, at least in part, by an internal feud between territorial delegate Lincoln L. McCandless and Achi's close friend, Honolulu mayor John H. Wilson. Achi married Rebecca Kaulani Kruce at Kainaliu in the

Kona District Kona is a ''moku'' or district on the Big Island of Hawaii in the State of Hawaii, known for its Kona coffee and the location of the Ironman World Championship Triathlon. In the current system of administration of Hawaii County, the ''moku'' o ...

of the island of Hawaii, on June 7, 1911. They had six children: William Charles III, Richard Kelii, Mary Ann, Rebecca Kaohuleilani, Lincoln Leleiwi, and Stanley Alapai. He died in a Honolulu hospital on June 17, 1947.University of Michigan Alumni Association, ''The Michigan Alumnus'' (1948), p. 20.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Achi, William Charles Jr. 1889 births 1947 deaths Territory of Hawaii judges Native Hawaiian politicians University of Michigan Law School alumni University of Michigan alumni 20th-century American judges