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Title
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Alumni at the 1957 Pacific University Lu'au
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Description
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Pacific University alumni sitting with students at a table during a Luau held outdoors on May 25, 1957. Paper cups and plates sit on the table, which is decorated with a pineapple. This lu'au was held on the Saturday afternoon preceding Pacific's 1957 Commencement ceremony, on the lawn by McCormick Hall. Old College Hall, which at this time was located where Washburne Hall would later be built, is visible in the background.
A note on the back of the photograph identifies some of those who appear in the photograph as: Elise Lundberg; Charles E. Bradley; Mrs. Cora Lee Burke; Miss Margaret Hinman (Class of 1891); and Miss Ann Broadhurst. A stamp notes, "Photo by Grove Studio & Camera Shop, Forest Grove, Oregon." Based on other similar photographs from the same event (see PUApic_008557 and PUApic_008559), the photographer may actually have been Herb Drew; he could have had it printed at the Grove Studio.
An article published in the campus newspaper, "Pacific celebrates initiation of Luau" (The Index, May 27, 1957, p. 1), described the event: "Saturday noon saw the initiation of Pacific University's first Luau, a Hawaiian dinner held in honor of the Rev. Roy Beecher Damron who was slated to receive an honorary degree from Pacific this year. The dinner, held at the proposed site of the new girls' dorm [i.e. Walter Hall], was given for the general purpose of honoring Hawaiian students, and the senior class. From 12 to 1 p.m., the group ate cracked crab and were entertained by Pacific students. Drs. Frank Chipps and Lowell Ellis were chairmen of the event, with Dr. Meredith McVickers handling the decorations."
This 1957 outdoor Lu'au predated the later Lu'au tradition established by Pacific University's Haumana O Hawai'i (Hawaii Student) club in 1961. Unlike the Hawaii Club Lu'aus, this 1957 event was not hosted by Hawaiian students, and was apparently much less authentic. One of the founders of Haumana O Hawai'i, Professor Fred Scheller, recalled, "“We really didn’t think their lu‘au was very good and we [complained]." Their complaints led to a challenge for the club to put on a lu'au instead, which they first did in 1961. (See: "The Aloha Connection," Pacific Magazine, Spring 2010, p. 12.)
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Identifier
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PUApic_008558
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Creator
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Grove Studio & Camera Shop
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Language
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English
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Date Created
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May 25, 1957
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Date
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1957
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Medium
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gelatin silver prints
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Source
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Pacific University Archives
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Rights
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http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/
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Type
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Still Image
