Juliet Rice Wichman (October 23, 1901November 5, 1987) was a Hawaiian conservationist, botanist, and author. Wichman worked to preserve
Hawaiian culture
The culture of the Native Hawaiians encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms practiced by the original residents of the Hawaiian islands, including their knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits. H ...
, flora, and fauna through the creation of the
Limahuli Garden and Preserve
The Limahuli Garden and Preserve is a and on the north shore of Kauai island, Hawaii. It is one of the five gardens of the non-profit National Tropical Botanical Garden.
Description
Limahuli lies within a tropical valley covering three dist ...
and through writings about ancient Hawaiian agriculture. She cofounded the Kauaʻi Museum and served as its first director when it opened in 1960.
Early years and career
Juliet Atwood Rice was born in
Honolulu
Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the islan ...
on October 23, 1901. Her parents were Charles Atwood Rice and Grace Ethel King. Charles was the son of
William Hyde Rice
William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...
, the last
Governor of Kauai The Governor of Kauai ( haw, Kiaaina o Kauai) was the royal governor or viceroy of the island of Kauai and island of Niihau during the Kingdom of Hawaii. The Governor of Kauai was usually a Hawaiian chief or prince and could even be a woman. The ...
before the
overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom
The overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom was a ''coup d'état'' against Queen Liliʻuokalani, which took place on January 17, 1893, on the island of Oahu and led by the Committee of Safety, composed of seven foreign residents and six non-abori ...
. Juliet grew up riding horses on Kauaʻi and learning Hawaiian lore from her grandfather.
She attended Miss Ransom's School in Piedmont, California, and studied at
Vassar College
Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely fol ...
.
Work in conservation
Wichman had a strong interest in conserving the land of Kauai. In the early 1950s, when construction workers were looking for
fill dirt
Fill dirt (also called cleanfill, or just fill) is earthy material which is used to ''fill in'' a depression or hole in the ground or create mounds or otherwise artificially change the grade or elevation of real property.Lohiau.
In 1946, Wichman bought 1,000 acres on the north shore of Kauaʻi island. She began transforming a section of the land of Limahula Valley into a garden, removing the cattle that had grazed there for decades. She cleared land and worked to restore the terraces used to grow
taro
Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Afric ...
by Native Hawaiians. In 1967, Wichman donated thirteen acres of land to the
National Tropical Botanical Garden
The National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) is a Hawaii-based not-for-profit institution dedicated to tropical plant research, conservation, and education. It operates a network of botanical gardens and preserves in Hawaii and Florida.
History
I ...
to establish the Limahuli Garden and Preserve.
Wichman wrote several articles on gardening and on ancient Hawaiian agriculture, including ''Hawaiian planting traditions'' (1931). She collaborated with Dora Jane Isenberg Cole to write ''Early Kauai hospitality : a family cookbook of receipts, 1820-1920'', published through the Kauai Museum Association in 1977. She was also the author of ''Amelia : a novel of mid-nineteenth century Hawaii'' (1979) and a children's book, ''Moki learns to fish'' (1981), teaching the Hawaiian words for the numbers one through ten.
She was active in many organizations, including serving as the chairman of the garden section of the Mokihana Club and chairman of the botanical section of the Kokee Natural History Museum. During World War II, Wichman co-founded the Hawaiian unit of the American Red Cross. Wichman was the chair of the committee that founded the Kauaʻi Museum and helped raise funds for the building to house it. When the museum opened in 1960, she served as its first director. She was also one of the original members of the Hawaiian Botanical Gardens Foundation, which successfully lobbied for the 1964 charter from Congress that established the Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden (later known as the National Tropical Botanical Garden).
Personal life and death
Wichman was married twice. Her first husband, Holbrook Goodale, was a pilot on
Pan Am
Pan American World Airways, originally founded as Pan American Airways and commonly known as Pan Am, was an American airline that was the principal and largest international air carrier and unofficial overseas flag carrier of the United State ...
clipper flights; he died in an airplane crash on Oahu. She married her second husband, Frederick Warren Wichman, in 1927. She had three sons: Holbrook Wichman Goodale, Charles Rice Wichman, and Frederick Bruce Wichman. Their home in Wailua was named "Pihanakalani". Later they moved to Oregon, then Menlo Park, California.
She died at age 86 on November 5, 1987.
Legacy
In 1981, Wichman was honored as one of the
Living Treasures of Hawaii
The Living Treasures of Hawaii program was created in 1976 by the Buddhist temple Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii to honor residents of Hawaii. It was inspired by the Living National Treasures of Japan award, and is awarded annually.
The criteri ...
by the
Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii
The Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii ( ja, 本派本願寺ハワイ別院, ''Honpa Honganji Hawai Betsuin'') is a district of the Nishi (West) Hongwanji branch of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, a school of Mahayana Pure Land Buddhism.
History
Jodo Shi ...
.
Formerly known as the Hawaiian Heritage Gallery, the Juliet Rice Wichman Heritage Gallery is located within the Kauaʻi Museum and displays items that belonged to the island's monarchs. The Juliet Rice Wichman Botanical Research Center at the National Tropical Botanical Garden is the hub of the organization's scientific and conservation operations. The Limahuli Garden she established provides educational tours and protection for the native environment.