A Moment in our History: A Gathering Place for Working Women

As many of you know, YWCA O'ahu (originally named Young Women’s Christian Association of Honolulu) was founded in 1900. Our historic headquarters building Laniākea opened in 1927.

Where did we operate until we moved to our own building on Richards Street?

The very first meeting took place at Mrs. B.F. Dillingham’s cottage. Our founders were eager to find their own place to conduct business but in the meantime they started to meet in the “YMCA Hall” located at Hotel and Alakea Streets. Our board members had a few meetings at the YMCA parlor as they searched for office space. In June of 1900, they decided to move into the Elite Building on Hotel Street. 

YMCA of Honolulu, 1900.

As they searched for the first YWCA office space in Honolulu, the board placed importance on having enough lights to make the rooms “bright and attractive.” Our board minutes dated June 4, 1900 also mention that “Inquiries for a lunch room are still coming in and it was decided that at least, our headquarters should provide a place where women might eat a basket lunch and where a cup of tea might be served.”

This suggests the inconvenience the working women of Honolulu were facing in those days. They did not have a place to hang out and relax or even have lunch.

The meeting minutes dated July 2, 1900 say, “The Directors of YWCA met in their own rooms for the first time, Monday morning, July 2, at half after nine.” It also said, “Forty-seven lunches had been eaten at the rooms and the big blue couch afforded a welcome resting place to as many girls as it can accommodate every noon.” Our headquarters instantly became a go-to place for Honolulu’s working women.

These buildings became the headquarters of YWCA O'ahu in the early days:

Elite Building.

Boston Building.

The board wanted to create rooms that are “bright and attractive”:

Meeting area.

One of the rooms was used for an English class for Japanese, Chinese and Russian women.

As the organization’s activities and services continued to grow, so did the physical space to carry out the mission. Our board did not stop its efforts to create a welcoming and warm place for women, local or from out-of-state. A place that they could call their own.

-Noriko Namiki, YWCA O‘ahu CEO