DECEMBER 5, 1902

NATIVE HAWAIIAN COMPOSER ELEANOR PRENDERGAST DIED

Eleanor (or Ellen) Kekoaohiwaikalani Wright Prendergast was born in Honolulu on April 12, 1865. She was educated as a Catholic at Sacred Hearts Convent, married John K. Prendergast, and was mother to two daughters and one son. Eleanor served as lady-in-waiting to Queen Liliʻuokalani and became her close friend. In her brief life, Prendergast was recognized as a haku mele (poet) of many songs, including a song for Liliʻuokalani, “He Inoa no Liliʻuokalani” and the famed Kaulana Nā Pua (“Famous are the flowers”). The latter was composed in 1893 for members of the Royal Hawaiian Band who protested the overthrow of Liliʻuokalani. Also known under the title of Mele ʻAi Pōhaku, the “Stone-Eating Song”, or Mele Aloha ʻĀina, the “Patriot’s Song,” it is still popular in Hawaiʻi today, although few non-Hawaiian speakers are aware of the song’s historical significance or the profound antipathy to U.S. annexation in its lyrics. Prendergast died in Honolulu.

Source:  Wikipedia.
Photo:  Author unknown, circa 1890s. Public Domain.