A memorial honoring the 1924 Hanapēpē Massacre is taking shape on Kauaʻi as state officials are closer to constructing a monument that is expected to be completed in 2026.
Last year, state officials and community members commemorated the centennial of the tragic turning point in Hawaiʻi's labor movement that led to the death of 16 Filipino strikers and four police officers.
The state Department of Accounting and General Services plans to place the memorial in front of the Hanapēpē Filipino cemetery, where the strikers are buried in a mass grave.
Eric Agena, a DAGS engineering program manager on Kauaʻi, said the monument ensures that people don't forget that part of Hawaiʻi's history.
He said the memorial will be two concrete columns with gaps between them that symbolize the two sides of the conflict.
“The way they’re oriented is that no matter the time of day, there’s always a shadow cast,” Agena said. “The point being that the shadow symbolizes that dark chapter of labor history.”
DAGS spokesperson Diane Ako said the department will not be contracting an artist to design and construct the memorial, rather it will be done “in-house.”
“We have engineers, architects and tradespeople at what we call ‘Kauaʻi District Office’ which is where it'll be constructed,” she said in an email.
On Sept. 9, 1924, Filipino plantation workers were camped out in Hanapēpē to try and fight for improved working conditions. During that time, workers demanded a wage increase of $1 a day to $2, and reduced working hours from a 10-hour day to eight hours.
The violence broke out when the Kaua‘i police entered a Visayan strike camp, where two Ilocano strike breakers were being held against their will and detained from going to work. A gunshot was heard but no one knows who fired the shot. That fueled the deadly conflict that left 20 people dead and over 100 arrests.