Queen Lili'uokalani, the last reigning monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom and one of the most remarkable figures in American history, is the person most intimately associated with this neighborhood in the heart of downtown Honolulu, where you now walk. Lydia Lili'u Loloku Walania Wewehi Kamaka'eha was born in Honolulu in 1838 and ascended to the Hawaiian throne in 1891 following the death of her brother, King Kalakaua. A gifted composer — she wrote 'Aloha 'Oe' and over 160 other songs — and a deeply committed monarch, she sought to restore the royal powers that had been eroded by the Bayonet Constitution her brother had been forced to sign in 1887.
On January 17, 1893, a Committee of Safety composed largely of American sugar planters and businessmen, backed by U.S. Marines from the warship USS Boston anchored in Honolulu harbor, overthrew her government. She yielded her authority not to the conspirators but specifically to the United States government, expecting it to undo the illegal act. It never did.
In 1993, one hundred years after the overthrow, the United States Congress formally apologized for the illegal action. The Hawaiian sovereignty movement, which seeks to restore some form of self-governance to Native Hawaiians, honors Lili'uokalani as its founding inspiration. Her legacy is unfinished business.