Julia Morgan

Born in San Francisco, California she attended the University of California, Berkeley where she studied civil engineering.

Julia designed over 700 buildings including YWCA Oahu’s historic headquarters Laniākea, meaning “wide sky”. Her most famous work is Hearst Castle, near San Luis Obispo, California.

In 1902, Julia became the first woman admitted to Ecole des Beaux-Arts, a prestigious architecture program in Paris. She is the only female architect to receive the AIA Gold medal (posthumous). Her great talent and success helped other women to become architects.

When she built Laniākea, she was determined to have spaces for women to exercise and swim, which were both strongly discouraged at the time. Julia’s legacy lives on as the YWCA Laniākea location is one of a handful of YWCA’s left that she designed and is still used as a YWCA. Café Julia at Laniākea is named in her memory.

Emma Louise Dillingham

YWCA O‘ahu was founded 1900, on the steps of Mrs. B.F. (Emma) Dillingham’s small cottage on the corner of Arcadia and Punahou.

It was a place for Honolulu’s working women to build friendships, develop shared values and learn skills that promote community engagement. Earliest classes included English, bible study and lace-making.

Elizabeth Fuller (1925)

Elizabeth Fuller was a young woman who was an active member and the 1st president of the Hawaiian Girls Club.

They often played against the YWCA Oahu volleyball and basketball teams.

Unfortunately, Elizabeth died from drinking contaminated water while in India, on a trip around the world with the Hawaiian Girls Club.

In her memory, the Hawaiian Girls Club donated $1,000 to the new building fund for the YWCA in 1925. They chose the large hall and named it Elizabeth Fuller Hall.

Catherine Jones Richards

Catherine was Hawaii’s first licensed landscape architect. She designed the gardens of Laniākea building.

Catherine was also with the landscape designer of Ala Moana Beach along with her husband.

She also designed the building and courtyards of the Honolulu Academy of Arts and Punchbowl.

Toshiko Takaezu

Toshiko opened a ceramics studio at the Laniākea location in 1948. It closed in 2008. It was in the basement of the building.

Toshiko treated life with a sense of wholesomeness and oneness with nature; everything she did was to improve and discover herself. She believed that ceramics involved self-revelation, once commenting, "In my life I see no difference between making pots, cooking and growing vegetables... there is need for me to work in clay... it gives me answers for my life."

When she developed her signature “closed form” after sealing her pots, she found her identity as an artist. The ceramic forms resembled human hearts and torsos, closed cylindrical forms, and huge spheres she called “moons.” Before closing the forms, she dropped a bead of clay wrapped in paper inside, so that the pieces would rattle when moved.

She was once asked by Chobyo Yara what the most important part of her ceramic pieces is. She replied that it is the hollow space of air within, because it cannot be seen but is still part of the pot. She relates this to the idea that what's inside a person is the most important.

Patsy T. Mink

The Patsy T. Mink Center for Business & Leadership (MCBL) was established by YWCA O‘ahu, the U.S. Small Business Administration and a community of partners to become the only Women’s Business Center (WBC) in Hawai‘i.

WBCs are designed to assist women in starting and growing small businesses, and seek to “level the playing field” for women entrepreneurs who still face unique obstacles in the business world. MCBL is named in honor of Patsy for her dedication to helping women through legislative reforms.

Patsy was a transformative leader and a national voice for gender equality, education, peace, and so much more.

She was also the first Asian-American woman to serve on the U.S. House of Representative and the first Asian-American woman to seek the presidential nomination of the democratic party.

She leaves behind a large legacy but is most known for her work on Title IX.

Mary Sia

Mary taught Chinese cooking at YWCA O'ahu for nearly 30 years.

A native of Honolulu with a degree from the University of Hawai‘i in home economics, Mary also studied nutrition and music while studying at Cornell and Yale.

She credits her mother, Dr. T. H. Kong Li, for introducing her to the joy of Chinese cooking. She continued to hone her skills and deepen her knowledge of Chinese cooking when she moved to Peking, China in the 1920s with her husband Dr. Richard H. P. Sia, a research physician.

When she returned to Honolulu with her family, she started teaching at YWCA O'ahu in the 1940s. Her first book, “Chinese Chopsticks,” was published in 1935 and it soon went into a second edition due to its popularity.

Mrs. Sia was also a director of YWCA O‘ahu and served as the vice president of the board between 1945 and 1946. Long after she passed away in 1971, her time-tested recipes are still appreciated today.