Jim Bartels

For the Australian rules footballer, see Jimmy Bartel.
Jim Bartels
Born July 25, 1945
Honolulu, Hawaii
Died April 20, 2003 (aged 57)
Newport Beach, California
Resting place
 St. Andrew's Cathedral
Alma mater Punahou School; University of Hawaii
Occupation Museum curator
Spouse(s) Regina Kawānanakoa (m. 1980, div. ?)

Henry James "Jim" Nape Bartels (July 25, 1945 – April 20, 2003) was a Hawaiian museum curator and historian, who was the curator of ʻIolani Palace and later Washington Place.

Biography

Bartels was born July 25, 1945, in Honolulu. He was educated at Punahou School. Graduating from the University of Hawaii in 1967, Bartels received a bachelor degree in fine arts and a graduate degree in Asian and Pacific art.[1] He served in the Navy from 1967 to 1970 and was based in Saigon during the Vietnam War.[2]

From 1975 to 1998, Bartels served as the curator and later managing director of ʻIolani Palace. During his twenty-year career, he headed the final phase of the palace restoration and saw the return of many priceless artifacts. He resigned after a dispute with Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa, the President of the Friends of ʻIolani Palace, who sat on one of the two thrones in the museum for a photograph in Life magazine.[3][4]

He later served as the director of Washington Place, the former private residence of Hawaii's last monarch Queen Liliʻuokalani, helping to convert it from the Governor's mansion to a historic museum.[4][5] Bartels also appeared on the documentary The American Experience: Hawaii's Last Queen (1994).[6]

In November 1980, Bartels married his childhood friend Regina Kawānanakoa (born 1947), who was a cousin of Abigail Kinoiki Kekaulike Kawānanakoa. The marriage ended in divorce but the two remained close friends for the remainder of Bartels's life. She was at his bedside before his death.[2][1]

On April 20, 2003, Bartels died of infection, despite having been successfully treated for multiple myeloma, in the Hoag Presbyterian Hospital, Newport Beach, California. He was buried at St. Andrew's Cathedral, next to Washington Place.[1][5][7]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Fujimori, Leila. "Former curator of Iolani Palace dies". Honolulu Star-Bulletin (Honolulu). Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Omandam, Pat (July 21, 1998). "Palace curator was an ace at the job – A Friends of Iolani Palace director praises Bartels' knowledge and performance". Honolulu Star-Bulletin (Honolulu). Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  3. ↑ Apgar, Sally (September 5, 2004). "Kawananakoa supports preservation of artifacts". Honolulu Star-Bulletin (Honolulu). Retrieved March 19, 2012.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Leidemann, Mike (April 22, 2003). "Jim Bartels eulogized as a 'true historian'". The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu). Retrieved September 7, 2013.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Roig, Suzanne (April 21, 2003). "Hawai'i historian Jim Bartels dies". The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu). Retrieved June 25, 2014.
  6. ↑ Boylan, Daniel (2001). "Documentary Reviews of O Hawaiʻi: of Hawaiʻi from Settlement to Kingdom; Nation Within: the Story of America's Annexation of the Nation of Hawaiʻi; Hawaiʻi's Last Queen; 1946: the Great Hawaii Sugar Strike; the Great Hawaii Dock Strike; the 442nd: Duty, Honor, and Loyalty". Hawaiian Journal of History (Honolulu: Hawaiian Historical Society) 35: 45. hdl:10524/540.
  7. ↑ "EDITORIAL – Jim Bartels' legacy more than impressive". The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu). April 23, 2003. Retrieved June 25, 2014.