The Turbulent Ending of the Nineteenth Century
In 1898, a series of explosive events led to the U.S. declaring war on Spain. A multitude of soldiers were in the port when the news came that President McKinley had signed the resolution annexing Hawai‘i. Frances Parker, visiting the school, witnessed Pope’s private rebellion, by asking girls to boldly sing their kingdom’s patriotic songs in their native tongue while their Hawaiian flag was removed. Annexation was a divisive issue at the school; it placed Pope on one side and the parents on the other. Pope, while deeply sympathetic to the plight of the country and the Hawaiian culture she had come to love, was well aware that this year of annexation, she would need to teach her girls more than history or literature; she would have to teach them to be Americans in Hawai‘i. Like the girls, Pope had torn allegiances and conflicting emotions, but it would be up to her to motivate the girls, despite their collective sadness over the demise of their sovereign nation.