The 105th annual Kamehameha song contest was held last night. Hawaii New Now covered the event, and you can find other video if you seach a bit online.

There’s a family connection to the song contest that I didn’t discover until after my mother’s death.

The contests date back to 1921, when the first song competition was held at the School for Boys, followed by the School for Girls, which held its first contest the next year. The girls and boys competed in separate contests until 1952.

My mother, Helen Yonge, graduated fron the Kamehameha School for Girls in the Class of 1931. Her class was the last to graduate from the lower campus, which was located on the makai side of King Street across from what is now Farrington High School. By the following year’s graduation, the girls, along with the School for Boys, had moved to the Kapalama Campus, where they remain today.

During her senior year, my mother was president of the student council at the Kamehameha School for Girls, and in that capacity presided over the annual song context, held on November 4, 1930. The Honolulu Advertiser ran a news brief about the contest that mentioned her role.

My mother and several of her friends are shown in this photo taken on the School for Girls campus during her senior year (1930-1931). Just click on the photo to see a larger version. This photo was in a small album found among my mother’s papers after her death in 2013.

From left: Ellen Wittington, Helen Yonge, May Bradley, Bernice, Victoria Atchley, unknown, Rowena Buchanon. Names are from my mother’s handwritten note.

The funny thing is that I cannot recall my mother ever reminiscing about this part of her years at Kamehameha, and I have to wonder why.