Samuel Mānaiakalani Kamakau was born on October 29, 1815 at Mokulēia on Oʻahu. Kamakau traveled to Maui when he was 17 years old to attend Lahainaluna Seminary, where he studied under Reverend Sheldon Dibble. These students methodically collected and recorded information about the Hawaiian culture, language, and people. 

Kamakau and twenty other students made up the second graduating class of Lahainaluna Seminary. He remained at the seminary to teach and became a founding member of the Royal Hawaiian Historical Society. Between the years of 1866 and 1871, Kamakau wrote over 200 articles for two Hawaiian language newspapers – Ke Au ʻOkoʻa and Ka Nupepa Kuʻokoʻa. These articles were later translated and published into two books: The Ruling Chiefs of Hawaiʻi (1961) and Ka Poʻe Kahiko: The People of Old (1964). Both are still widely used today. 

In his lifetime, Kamakau served as a judge on Maui as well as a legislator for the Hawaiian Kingdom. Samuel Kamakau is regarded as one of the greatest Hawaiian scholars and historians. The Lahainaluna High School library has been named in his honor because of his contributions to the preservation of Hawaiian history.