Lorrin Andrews Thurston (1858-1931)

Lorrin Andrews Thurston (1858-1931), editor
Vistas of Hawaii: The Paradise of the Pacific
Chicago: W.F. Sesser, 1891
Photogravures
Paper size: 22 ¼" x 28 ½"
Framed size: 30" x 36 ½"
Photogravures from Vistas of Hawaii: Paradise of the Pacific


Lorrin Andrews Thurston was a lawyer, politician, and businessman born and raised in the Kingdom of Hawaii. The grandson of two of the first Christian missionaries to Hawaii, Thurston played a prominent role in the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom that replaced Queen Liliuokalani with the Republic of Hawaii, dominated by American interests. Lorrin Andrews Thurston was born on July 31, 1858 in Honolulu, Hawaii and was fluent in the Hawaiian language, giving himself the Hawaiian nickname

Kakina. In 1898 Thurston purchased the Pacific Commercial Advertiser newspaper (forerunner of the present-day Honolulu Advertiser). As principal owner and publisher after 1900, he promoted the sugar and pineapple industries. He headed the Hawaiian Promotion Committee (which evolved into the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau), but his conservative values objected to the hula which he called “suggestive" and “indecent.”

His fortunes rose considerably as a result of the 1898 annexation of Hawaii by the United States, since it removed all duties from shipments to the largest market. Thurston is credited with promoting the development of Hawaii’s sugar cane plantations and railroads and bringing the first electric street cars to Honolulu.

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