Cabinet card of Queen Kapi'olani, between 1874-1891.
Kapiʻolani was a visible monarch, often traveling throughout the kingdom. In 1887, en route to England to attend Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, Kapiʻolani made headlines when President and Mrs. Grover Cleveland hosted a formal state dinner at the White House in her honor. She also visited schools, hospitals, and other public institutions in San Francisco, Washington D.C, Boston, and New York. As the first queen to visit the United States, her activities received extensive coverage in various U.S. newspapers.
Queen Kapiʻolani reigned for nearly seventeen years and was much beloved by the Hawaiian people. The king named Kapiʻolani Park in Waikīkī in honor of his queen. She visited Kalauapapa in 1884 to learn how she could assist those who were diagnosed with leprosy and exiled there, and she raised the funds to build the Kapiʻolani Home for Girls whose parents had leprosy. Though childless, the Queen cherished the Hawaiian family and the role of mother. In 1890, she established the Kapiʻolani Maternity Home, which is today the Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women and Children. To honor her the institution has adopted the Queen’s motto, “Kūlia i ka Nuʻu” – “Strive for the Highest”.
In 1891, King Kalākaua passed away at the age of fifty-four. Since the royal couple bore no children, the king’s sister Lili‘uokalani succeeded the throne. Dowager Queen Kapiʻolani was sixty-four years old when she died on June 24, 1899, at Pualeilani, her modest home in Waikiki.
On January 16, 1893 the Hawaiian Kingdom was invaded by United States marines which led to the illegal overthrow of the Hawaiian government the following day.
