Photographs of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. wearing flower lei from Hawaii residents who traveled to Selma, Alabama, to join him on a pivotal Civil Rights march are now on public display in Honolulu.
The exhibit at the state Capitol features images from the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery marches, a series of demonstrations that helped galvanize the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This act eliminated barriers such as poll taxes that had targeted Black Americans in the Deep South.
A delegation of five individuals from Hawaii brought dozens of flower lei to Alabama in March 1965. Images of King wearing these lei, which are symbolic of Hawaiian culture, have appeared before, but many in the new exhibit have not been previously seen. Some photos reveal subtle differences or include individuals who may have been overlooked at the time. The exhibit is scheduled to run through July 7.
One of the lei-bearers, Charles Campbell, who chaired the Hawaii Civil Rights Conference, was quoted in a March 20, 1965, article in The Honolulu Advertiser, stating, "Selma has the capability of becoming a real sore that could affect the entire nation."
King was photographed wearing lei approximately two weeks after "Bloody Sunday," the March 7, 1965, event where state troopers violently attacked Civil Rights marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. The photos were taken by Civil Rights photographer Matt Herron, and his widow donated them to Hawaii's Department of Accounting and General Services for the state's archives.
Steven Springel attended the unveiling and recognized a photo of his mother, Nona Ferdon, a graduate student and divorced mother of two who traveled to Selma. Springel, who was approaching his seventh birthday at the time, only grasped the significance of her trip as an adult. He noted that growing up in Hawaii, he and his sister did not experience segregation or racial inequality.
Keith Regan, who oversees the Department of Accounting and General Services and presided over the unveiling as acting governor, stated that the exhibit is part of Hawaii's programming to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the United States. He added that it serves as a reminder of the participation of people from the Aloha State in a crucial historical event.
Regan explained that the small delegation traveled thousands of miles "to be a part of the Civil Rights movement, to show ‘aloha’ to the world that Hawaii was there holding hands with our fellow brothers and sisters to ensure equality and justice were heard throughout the nation."
The Hawaii members also wore lei, crafted from plumeria flowers from Kawaiahaʻo Church grounds by mothers from the church, during the first day of the 50-mile march. The act of giving lei continues to embody the spirit of "aloha" in Hawaii, used for various celebrations and expressions of appreciation.
Tomi Knaefler, a reporter with the Honolulu Star-Bulletin who was part of the delegation, had planned to attend the news conference but was unable to due to her age. Her daughter, Pamela MacDonald, who attended, described the assignment as "the one that she holds dearest to her heart."
The exhibit arrives as the U.S. Supreme Court's 2026 term concludes, which saw a ruling that significantly weakened the Voting Rights Act, leading to partisan gerrymandering and potentially endangering decades of progress in Black political representation.