Plantation Doctor: A Memoir of Hawaii

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When Sugar Cane Was King…

Born on the Big Island just after the turn of the century, T. David Woo enjoyed a unique perspective on Hawai‘i’s booming plantation era. The twelfth of sixteen children, whose father was one of the first Episcopalian ministers in Hawai‘i, he left home at the age of fourteen to attend St. John’s School in Shanghai, China. After earning his medical degree in 1935, he returned to his island of birth to become a “cowboy doctor” at Parker Ranch, physician for the Hakalau, Pepe‘ekeo, Honomū and Onomea Plantations, and co-founder of the Hilo Medical Group—providing medical care for thousands of ranch hands, plantation workers and many other Big Island residents. Through rare photos, rich anecdotes in Dr. Woo’s own words and detailed maps of Hakalau’s ethnic camps, Plantation Doctor: A Memoir of Hawai‘i provides a fascinating look at the days when sugar cane was king.

Softcover; 132 pp.
Author: Dr. T. David Woo
Release Date: August 2016