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An effort is underway to change the name of a Honolulu street honoring the state’s first territorial governor to its original Hawaiian name.
Dole Street in Manoa got its name in the 1950s as a way for Hawaii’s territorial government to honor the family of Sanford Dole. But many consider the former governor an enemy of Hawaiian royalty and friend of the elite immigrant community, Hawaii News Now reported.
“The name Dole perpetuates this legacy of what occurred during the illegal overthrow, the occupation of Hawaii,” said University of Hawaii graduate student Kepoo Keliipaakaua.
The UH Graduate Student Organization is now trying to get the city to restore the street to its original name, Kapaakea, which means coral bedrock or limestone. Keliipaakaua discovered the Hawaiian name on an 1882 survey map of the Manoa area.
The name change has received support from some community members.
“We’re going door to door down Dole Street to talk to folks, seeing if they’ll be supportive of the name change,” GSO President Amy McKee said. “We have to get at least over 50 percent of the residents on board.”
The Manoa Neighborhood Board has drafted a resolution in support of changing Dole Street to Kapaakea Street and will vote on the name change in February.
Correction: >> The effort to change the name of Dole Street in Honolulu has not received support from several city departments, as was reported in an earlier version of this story and in Sunday’s paper. Also, the city Department of Planning and Permitting was misidentified as the Department of Land Utilization.