Searching for the Hawaii Temple Dedication Photos
In this post, follow historian and writer Clinton D. Christensen and archivist Brooks Haderlie as they discover the story behind three early photographs of the temple in Laie, Hawaii.
It has been 100 years since the dedication of the temple in Laie, Hawaii. Which of these photos was taken on dedication day, November 27, 1919? For years these photos have been on calendars, books, and the internet, claiming to be from the temple dedication. But in writing and researching for the Laie Hawaii Temple’s centennial, several scholars took a serious look at three early panoramic photos, attempting to nail down their dates. They asked several important questions: Where are the Brethren who dedicated the temple? Can we identify missionaries and use their time of service to put parameters on the photo dates? Are members identifiable? How about the setting and foliage?
The easiest photo to date is PH 2710 (photograph above) because Hawaiian Mission president E. Wesley Smith signed the back of the copy held by the Church History Library. This photograph was taken as part of the mission conference on July 11, 1920. This is corroborated by Elder Byron Jones, who took two photos of this exact same group of people with his own camera and wrote the caption “July 1920” in his photo album. The entry in Andrew Jenson’s “Manuscript History of the Hawaiian Mission” for July 11, 1920, reads as follows: “After the meeting was dismissed the congregation gathered on the temple grounds where a panoramic photograph of all in attendance was taken, numbering about 450 persons.”1
Fortunately, mission president E. Wesley Smith also wrote on the back of PH 4285 (photograph above), identifying the photo as taken on April 6, 1922. However, there was no identification on the back of PH 10854 (photograph below).
So with two photographs having dates identified as 1920 and 1922, and both taken at mission conferences, what about PH 10854? This photo has long been considered the 1919 dedication photo. But where are the Brethren? When Heber J. Grant dedicated the Mesa Arizona Temple in 1927, he was featured squarely in the middle of the photograph. In PH 10854, however, there are no General Authorities.
Eric Marlowe, lead author of The Laie Hawaii Temple: A Century of Aloha, noted that George Bowles is in all three photographs and was featured prominently in PH 10854. He stands out as a tall man with a large dark mustache in the right center of the photograph, very identifiable. He and his wife came from serving a mission in New Zealand to serve in the temple and didn’t arrive until May 1920. Clearly they missed the 1919 dedication. This rules out PH 10854 as the dedication photograph.
Furthermore, BYU–Hawaii archivist Brooks Haderlie looked at a Deseret News article dated April 30, 1921, which is included in Jenson’s manuscript history along with a photograph of some missionaries and Church leaders. This photograph, along with a page labeling many of the people in the photograph, is included in the Cole family’s Hawaiian Mission photograph collection. The article describes the mission conference that had been held April 1–3, 1921. You can compare the people in the Deseret News/Cole family photograph and an enlargement of PH 10854 and see the same people wearing the exact same clothing. Clearly the two photographs were taken on the same day.
One final puzzle piece fell into place when we identified Elder Douglas Farnes Budd sitting directly in front of President E. Wesley Smith in PH 10854. Elder Budd was set apart for his mission on November 23, 1920, and departed the next day, so he wouldn’t have made it to Hawaii until sometime in December that year. This provides definitive evidence that PH 10854 was taken during the mission conference held April 1–3, 1921.
So now that one puzzle was solved, what about an official dedication photo? The Church History Library has one solo photo of President Heber J. Grant in the Heber J. Grant photograph collection, where he is standing outside mission properties in Laie on dedication day. But we don’t have a large group photo, a panorama shot of all members during the dedication.
Heber J. Grant, November 1919
However, thanks to Elder Byron Jones, who took photos throughout his mission, we do have documentation for dedication day November 27, 1919. Jones captured images from several vantage points outside the temple as the members came dressed in white. His photo album, located at BYU–Hawaii, is a rich treasure, as are the other photos documenting the Hawaiian Saints and their temple available at the Church History Library. The year 2019 marks the centennial of the Laie Hawaii Temple—the fifth operating temple of the Church, the first outside of North America—and is cause for much celebration.
Byron Jones collection, courtesy of BYU–Hawaii Archives
Top image: Laie Hawaii Temple today