Women and Children in Honolulu

Years later, Helen wrote in her memoirs, "We rented a cottage on Front Street and occupied it with Mrs. Mellen and her little girl Laura, then two years old. Two Chinamen brought our meals in to us from the Hotel. There was a large front yard filled with banana and fig trees, and directly opposite was the Catholic Church."

The one story cottage was surrounded by verandas. It was set back from the road among tamarind trees. A gate opened at the rear through which the yard connected with the grounds of the Reverend S. C. Damon and his wife. He was a seamen's chaplain and the editor of "The Friend." The women would often talk across the fence. There were native nurses whom the whaling people called "Kanakas." They wore "Mother Hubbards" which were loose unbelted dresses or muumuus and flowered wreaths on their heads. They never sat on chairs, but on the floor. They looked after the children while the young mothers went out.

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Courtesy of Hawaii State Archives