Kaʻahumanu Society

[1] It was founded, at Kawaiahaʻo Church, on August 8, 1864 by Princess Victoria Kamāmalu, the sister and heir-apparent of King Kamehameha V while other founding officers included Bernice Pauahi Bishop, the founder of Kamehameha Schools, and the future Queen Liliuokalani.

[2] Named after Queen Kaʻahumanu, the favorite wife of King Kamehameha I and the Kuhina Nui (co-ruler, or regent) of his successors, the organization celebrated traditional Hawaiian female leadership.

The organization's original mission was to nurse victims of the smallpox epidemic and provide proper burial for the dead.

[4] The organization chose not to invite the deposed Queen Liliuokalani to join even though she had been an original member of the 1864 club.

The modern group continued the original mission of nursing the sick and the elderly and aiding in burial expenses for the deceased while also fundraising for charitable causes, promoting Hawaiian culture and representing the Hawaiian monarchy at special events such as the annual Kamehameha Day parades.