Sargent Kahanamoku

Sargent Hiikua Kahanamoku (March 5, 1910 – May 16, 1993) was a Native Hawaiian aquatic athlete, and public relations spokesperson for Standard Oil Company. Sculptor Malvina Hoffman used him as her model for part of The Races of Mankind exhibit at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Sargent was the younger brother of Duke Kahanamoku.

Sargent Kahanamoku circa 1933

Family background

He was the youngest son born into a family of Native Hawaiians headed by Duke Halapu Kahanamoku and Julia Paʻakonia Lonokahikina Paoa. Both parents were direct descendants of Kamehameha I. His brothers were Duke, Samuel, David, William and Louis, all of whom participated in competitive aquatic sports. His sisters were Bernice, Kapiolani and Maria.[1]

Athletics

In 1925, at age 15 years, he won the backstroke event to help his 7th Grade classmates win a YMCA meet in Honolulu.[2] At age 20, when he attended Andover Academy in Massachusetts, he won a 50-yard freestyle competition against a Yale University competitor.[3]

Sargent was part of a crew for the July 22, 1933 canoe races off the Kona coast. Five days later, he and his friend Paul Fagan Jr. became stranded off the shore 3-1/2 miles from Diamond Head when Fagan's speed boat ran out of fuel. With no radio or other equipment aboard to help them, and no other boaters within signaling range, they began to drift out to sea. In a self-rescue reported on the front page of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, with no rescue in sight, Sargent spent four hours towing the boat back to shore with one hand, while he used his feet and other hand to paddle through the water.[4]

He and his brother Sam, along with Fred Wilhelm and Melvin Paoa, paddling for the Outrigger Canoe Club, won in the Junior 4 on June 11, 1937.[5] Through the next decade, Sargent continued to compete in local aquatic meets in Hawaii. During the August 15, 1946 holiday celebrating the prior year's surrender of Japan (known then as alternately "Victory Over Japan Day" or "Veterans Day"), Sargent steered his crew of the "Kakina" outrigger to victory.[6]

Circa 1939-1940, Sargent took up the game of golf. As he got older, his golf activities began to replace the more vigorous competitive aquatic sports.[7]

Business and personal life

In 1931, sculptor Malvina Hoffman used Sargent as her model for "Hawaiian Surf-Rider, Polynesia", part of The Races of Mankind exhibit at the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. The exhibit eventually went into storage, but was revived at the Field Museum in 2016.[8]

He went to work for Standard Oil as its Hawaiian public relations representative, a position he held for 38 years. When President Franklin D. Roosevelt visited Hawaii in July 1934, Sargent and his brother Sam were part of the official welcoming ceremonies at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.[9]

Sargent married school teacher Anna Furtado. She was elected to the Territorial House of Representatives, and to the State Senate after statehood was granted. The couple were King and Queen of Aloha Week in 1961.[10] Sargent was appointed chairman of the Hawaiian Heart Fund in 1963. Anna died in 1969, and Sargent ran unsuccessfully for the State Senate on the Republican ticket.[11]

He married Catherine Toberman Torrence in 1970. Her father was famous Los Angeles developer Charles E. Toberman, known as “Mr. Hollywood” after building landmarks such as the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Grauman's Chinese Theatre and Hollywood Bowl. She died in 1980. [12]

Sargent later married for a third time to Mary Ray, who described him as a people lover and an infinite source of stories of Hawaii. When Sargent died in 1993, his memorial service was held at the Outrigger Canoe Club.[13]

References
  1. Gee, Bill (April 18, 1953). "Fabulous Kahanamoku Family". Honolulu Star-Bulletin – via Newspapers.com (subscription required) . p. 20. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  2. "Seventh Grade Wins Swim Meet". Honolulu Star-Bulletin – via Newspapers.com (subscription required) . May 7, 1925. p. 9. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  3. "Kahanamoku Is Andover Star". Honolulu Star-Bulletin – via Newspapers.com (subscription required) . March 11, 1930. p. 22. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  4. Eskridge, Robert Lee (July 15, 1933). "Ancient Spirit of Hawaii Will Be Evoked". Honolulu Star-Bulletin – via Newspapers.com (subscription required) . p. 17. Retrieved February 13, 2018.; "Sargent Kahanamoku Turns Into Motor; Tows Disabled Boat 3-1/2 Miles". Honolulu Star-Bulletin – via Newspapers.com (subscription required) . July 28, 1933. p. 1. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  5. "Outrigger Wins Canoe Regatta Over Hui Nalu". The Honolulu Advertiser – via Newspapers.com (subscription required) (June 12, 1937). p. 8. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  6. Ito, Monte. "Outrigger Paddlers Come From Behind To Win Feature Race Regatte". The Honolulu Advertiser – via Newspapers.com (subscription required) (August 16, 1946). p. 16. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  7. "Hawaiians Shoot Hot Game". Honolulu Star-Bulletin – via Newspapers.com (subscription required) . February 19, 1940. p. 10, col. 5. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  8. Kinkel, Marianne (2011). Races of mankind : the sculptures of Malvina Hoffman. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. pp. 70–73. ISBN 978-0-252-03624-8.; Schuessler, Jennifer (January 20, 2016). "'Races of Mankind' Sculptures, Long Exiled, Return to Display at Chicago's Field Museum". The New York Times. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  9. "Hawaiian Ritual Revived For President at Hotel". The Honolulu Advertiser  – via Newspapers.com (subscription required) . July 27, 1934. p. 3. Retrieved February 13, 2018.; Luis, Cindy (May 25, 1993). "Last of the Kahanamoku brothers gets a fond farewell". Honolulu Star-Bulletin – via Newspapers.com (subscription required) . p. 19. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  10. "Aloha Is For Always: The Kahanamokus". The Honolulu Advertiser – via Newspapers.com (subscription required) . October 8, 1961. p. 37. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  11. "1970 campaign ad for Sargent Kahanamoku". The Honolulu Advertiser. October 29, 1970.
  12. "Catherine Kahanamoku obit". The Los Angeles Times. April 5, 1980.
  13. Adamski, Mary (May 18, 1993). "Kahanamoku brother Sargent lived with aloha". Honolulu Star-Bulletin – via Newspapers.com (subscription required) . p. 4. Retrieved February 13, 2018.; Glauberman, Stu (May 18, 1993). "Youngest of Kahanamoku boys dies". The Honolulu Advertiser  – via Newspapers.com (subscription required) . p. 3. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
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