Frank E. Midkiff, Ph.D
The Midkiff Learning Center was named in honor of Frank E. Midkiff, Ph.D., former President and Trustee, distinguished educator, and civic leader, in 1977. Midkiff came to Kamehameha School as President in 1923 until 1933, when he left to attend Yale, and received his doctorate in education in 1935. In 1939, Mr Midkiff became a trustee of the Kamehameha Schools/Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate until his death in 1983.
During Mr Midkiffʻs tenure at Kamehameha, he instituted the live baby program as part of the Senior Practice Cottage for the girls, and the high-11, low-11 work/study program for the boys (based on the Antioch/Cincinnati work study program). He also co-wrote (with John Wise) the ʻTextbook in Hawaiian Language” which was used to teach the Hawaiian Language at KS and UH. Mr Midkiff also urged the Barstow Foundation to create a modern school system in Samoa. The Barstow Foundation created a million dollar educational foundation which Mr. Midkiff administered. He is a hero in American Samoa to this day.
The United Church of Christ, Hawaiʻi Conference Koa Boardroom Table
Length: almost 20 feet (238″) or 6.1 meters
Width: 6 feet or 1.829 meters
Top edge with: 4″ or 10.2 cm
Leg width: 5″ or 12.7 cm
Provenance: The following information is from John Mr. Derby, Sr., Executive Secretary, Hawaiʻi Conference Foundation, 1838 Nuʻuanu Avenue, Honolulu, HI 96817 received by email on February 14, 2006.
“…I found out that in December 9, 1959, the Board of Directors of the Hawaiian Evangelical Association discussed furnishings for the new Mission Memorial Building…’An order for furniture has ben placed for furniture to fit nine offices, also four desks and chairs for the Conference Room. The present Boardroom table is to be refinished and will be placed in the Lobby. Mr [sic] Harold Kent has very graciously offered to have a new conference table made for us to our specifications, which Kamehameha Schools will donate to HEA.’ The Board voted that ‘a unanimous vote of thanks’ be extended to Mr. Kent and Kamehameha Schools for this most generous offer.”
“Colonel Harold Kent was the head of Kamehameha Schools from 1946 to 1962. He and Mrs. Kent both served on the Board of the Hawaiian Evangelical Association in the 1950s and 1960s. Mrs. Kent was President of the Women’s Board of Missions for the Pacific Islands from 1956-57. Colonel Kent was Moderator of the HEA for two terms.
The Sandwich Islands Missions of the 1820s became the Hawaiian Evangelical Association (HEA) from 1853-1963. In 1963, the name of the organization changed to the United Church of Christ (UCC), Hawaiʻi Conference. The koa table was received at Midkiff Learning Center, Kamehameha Schools, Kapālama from the Hawaiʻi Conference Foundation of the United Church of Christ on Friday, February 10, 2006. It is located in Rooms 102-103 with a spectacular ocean view.
History of the Koa Waʻa
The first thing you’re most likely to see when walking into Midkiff is a giant koa waʻa (canoe). Find out the story behind this unique piece in the school’s history.
The story begins in a koa forest on the Big Island, which belongs to the Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate. For years, onlookers kept a close eye on this 80-foot tree, which wasn’t just any tree; it was the last standing koa tree the forest had to offer. They hoped to build a traditional canoe from it. After much discussion, they decided to preserve the tree in its natural state and not to cut it down.
Ironically, in 1978, a powerful windstorm knocked the tree down, and needless-to-say, plans to transform it into a canoe began immediately. After curing in the forest for two years, the tree was moved to the Bishop Museum lawns for carving. While the project costed about $18,000 from start to finish, it was its significance to the culture and community that had the greatest value.
Individual parts of the canoe had been donated from all over the world and from our own backyards. The king of Tonga donated the canoe’s sail, while the ‘aha (coconut cordage) was from Tahiti. A Kaua’i canoe club gave the cross pieces, and the outrigger float — made of wiliwili wood — came from Maui. Everyone pitched in their time and efforts in support of the project’s completion, which wouldn’t be until nearly four years later.
Given the name Makani Hou O Keauhou, the canoe took its first sail through waters that the ancient ali’i once sailed in. KS eventually decided that Midkiff would be the canoe’s new home. But how would they get it inside of the building? Turns out, it was a feat in itself. With the help of dozens of volunteers, the canoe was hauled through the double doors at the back of the building. They carried it up a ramp before carefully placing it on top of the bookshelves where it rests today.
Although it’s a huge member of the Midkiff collection, we somehow tend to overlook it (or underlook it); some still don’t even know the story behind it. So next time your’e in Midkiff, be sure to take a closer look at the canoe and all it represents, as it rests happily in its final harbor.