Rose C. Davison

Rose C. Davison
Rose C. Davison, 1901
Born	Rosalie Compton Kahipuleokalaniahumanu Davison (1868-09-22)September 22, 1868 Honolulu, Kingdom of Hawaii
Died	May 26, 1913(1913-05-26) (aged 44) Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii
Resting place	Oahu Cemetery
Education	Punahou School
Occupation	Educator, government agent, humane officer, social worker
Parent(s)	Benomi R. Davison Mary Jane Kekulani Fayerweather
Relatives	Emma Ahuena Taylor (sister)

Rosalie Compton Kahipuleokalaniahumanu Davison, known as Rose C. Davison, (September 22, 1868 – May 26, 1913) was a part Native Hawaiian female educator, philanthropist and governmental social worker. 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.

Davison was born on September 22, 1868, in Honolulu, 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. Her siblings included William Compton Malulani, Emma Ahuena, Henry Fayerweather, and Marie Hope Kekulani. Her father died in 1875 and her mother later remarried to photographer A. A. Montano in 1877.

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 Hawaii Territorial 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.

In 1901, Davison was appointed by the Department of Public Instruction to head a delegation of Hawaiian educators who attended the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. 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.