Rose C. Davison

Rosalie Compton Kahipuleokalaniahumanu Davison, known as Rose C. Davison, (September 22, 1868 – May 26, 1913) was a Kingdom of Hawaiian female educator, philanthropist and governmental social worker, who was part Native Hawaiian. She served as assistant secretary of the Board of Education of the Territory of Hawaii and represented Hawaii in the 1901 Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York.

Early life and education Rosalie Compton Kahipuleokalaniahumanu Davison was born on September 22, 1868, in Honolulu, Kingdom of Hawaii, to American pharmacist Benoni Richmond Davison and British-Hawaiian chiefess Mary Jane Kekulani Fayerweather, the granddaughter of the British Captain George Charles Beckley and Ahia, a distant relation of the reigning House of Kamehameha and descendant of the 15th-century King Līloa.

She was initially educated at St. Andrew's Priory School and Fort Street School and later graduated from Oahu College (the modern-day Punahou School). After finishing school, Davison worked as a schoolteacher and became the first English language instructor at the government school in the Mānoa Valley in 1889. She later worked as a governmental school agent and was appointed as assistant secretary of the Territory of Hawaii Board of Education under the leadership of Alatau T. Atkinson. During the 1900 United States census, she assisted Atkinson who was serving as census superintendent. She was charged with assembling an educational exhibit showcasing the products of the students of the islands including school assignments, industrial products and sewing. The intents of the exhibit was to "surprise the American population which yet believes that Hawaii is a land of cannibals". Davison and her retinue of part-Hawaiian ladies, including Mapuana Smith and Miss Ordway, became representatives of "Kanaka civility" in contrast to the hula dancing troupes which have been the main Hawaiian attractions in past international exhibitions.

Davison was actively involved in philanthropy and the betterment of ill-treated children and animals. Especially devoted to the welfare of dogs and horses from her youth, she was considered "one of the finest horsewoman in the Islands" and helped to arrange pāʻū riders in floral parades. She became involved with the Hawaii Humane Society and received a police commission and appointment in 1909 as humane officer by Sheriff Curtis P. Iaukea. Her duties included inspecting the barns and stables of the islands to ensure compliance with the humane society. She also worked to protect children, especially young girls, taking them from abusive families and placing them in foster care or into industrial schools. She would personally go to the lowly parts of town at night to save the children in these areas. It was noted, "Hardly a school child in the country, whether white or brown but knew Miss Davison and the boys always took off their hats to her as she passed them." Following a funeral at the Central Union Church, her cremated remains were buried directly over her father's grave at Oahu Cemetery.

Her obituary in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin noted: Few women will be mourned as she is mourned by this community. Rich and poor, high and low, great and small,—her friends were legion. She was a splendid type of woman, an honor to her Hawaiian-American blood, an honor to woman-kind. Her work as a humane officer was effective, quiet, broad, earnest. Her personality was a rare combination of the alertly vigorous and the womanly sympathetic.