Portraits of Kalaupapa Residents by Father Joseph Julliotte, SS.CC

Cover Image

Palakiko Kuokala, from Laupāhoehoe, Hawai‘i Island, was eight years old when he was sent to the Kalaupapa Settlement on November 1, 1905. He died there on December 3, 1917. Photograph by Father Joseph Julliotte, SS.CC. Collection of Congregation of the Sacred Hearts U.S. Province.

Notes and Queries

The image of Palakiko Kuokala, on the cover of this issue of The Hawaiian Journal of History, is one of many photographic portraits of Kalaupapa residents taken by Father Joseph Juliotte, SS.CC. It is printed from a collection of glass plate negatives in the archives of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary (SS.CC.) United States Province. Located within St. Patrick Monastery in Honolulu, this archives contains the collective memory of a religious congregation of priests and lay brothers. Its members were the first Roman Catholic missionaries to the Hawaiian Islands, arriving in 1827. Historical records and visual images found in the Sacred Hearts provincial archives document the Congregation’s personnel and activities as well as that of the communities in which they served. Kalaupapa was one such community for which the Sacred Hearts Congregation left a written and visual record.

Fathers and Brothers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary missioned to the Kalaupapa Settlement. Pictured left to right: Brother Sylvanus Van Volsem, Brother Aloysius (Louis) Leisen, Father Wendelin Mollers, Father Paul-Marie (Joseph) Julliotte, Brother Severin Baltes, and Brother Laurence Bergmans at the grave of Father Damien De Veuster, Kalawao, Molokai, 1902. Collection of Congregation of the Sacred Hearts U.S. Province.

Father Joseph Julliotte, SS.CC., was born in France on April 27, 1867. Although he began his career as a diocesan priest, he later made his profession with the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts. He arrived in the Hawaiian Islands in February of 1901. The following month he was assigned to St. Philomena Church at Kalawao, Moloka‘i. Father Robert Schoofs, SS.CC., in his book Pioneers of the Faith: History of the Catholic Mission in Hawaii (1827–1940), notes Father Julliotte’s avid interest in leprosy:

Having as able assistants Mr. Joseph Dutton and the Brothers, Father Julliotte could devote a major portion of his time to the study of leprosy, its causes, and its remedies. His findings were recorded in a number of noted articles which he wrote for medical research magazines. To enable him to pursue his own research the U.S. Government provided him with modern microscopes and photographic instruments that permitted him to photograph the bacillus of leprosy and contribute substantially to the 1904 Washington Congress on Leprosy.¹

An incident recorded in the journal of the Sacred Hearts Brothers at Kalawao illustrates Father Julliotte’s standing in the Kalaupapa community and his relationship with the Settlement’s superintendent, Jack D. McVeigh:

Rev. Father Joseph Paul Mary Julliotte arrived at Kalawao on March 2nd 1901 where he resided as Pastor. He was called away by his Superiors to go to Lahaina (Maui). He left Kalawao on January 27th 1903 very much regretted by the Brothers whos (sic) spiritual Superior and guide he was, as also by the Inmates of the Baldwin Home and the people in general. He was well beloved by All … Rev. Father Joseph Julliotte returned to Kalawao on Feb. 3th (sic) after he had been out for a week only and Rev. Father Thomas left the same day. Rev. Father Joseph was sent back by request of Mr. McVeigh Superintendent of Leper settlement who menaced the mission that in case they would not grand (sic) his request by sending Father Joseph back to the Settlement, he would dismiss the Brothers and all Religious (Brothers and Sisters) from the Settlement and have other arrangements made concerning the Homes. The Mission gave in and sent the Father back.²

Following his election as Provincial Superior of the Congregation on March 11, 1907, Father Julliotte returned to Honolulu. In 1923, he became a missionary to Hainan, China, and later served...