Ah Quon McElrath
From dKosopedia
Ah Quon McElrath. From the Honolulu Advertiser, 11-17-05, entitled, Labor icon is inspiration for ethnic studies fund:
- The daughter of Chinese immigrants, McElrath graduated from the University of Hawai'i in 1938 and soon became a key figure with Local 152 of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Through the 1950s, the ILWU united sugar and dock workers of different ethnicities in an effort to fight for higher wages and work conditions.
- McElrath took on the job as the union's social worker, initially as a volunteer. She worked alongside two other ILWU legends who have since died, longtime regional director Jack Hall and information director Bob McElrath, whom she married in 1941.
- Bill Puette, director of UH-West O'ahu's Center for Labor Education and Research, described McElrath as "the Mother Jones of Hawai'i's labor history," a reference to Mary Harris Jones, the almost mythical advocate of coal miners and other laborers.
- The vast scope of McElrath's experiences alone makes her a valuable resource, said Dean Alegado, UH ethnic studies chairman.
- "She has the continuity," Alegado said. "Individuals like her make the history real to the students. It's not just these empty, dead letters in the textbooks."
- Her work extended beyond ILWU causes. In her "retirement years," McElrath has been known to prowl the halls of the Legislature lobbying for a wide range of causes including woman's rights, healthcare and occupational safety concerns, educational opportunities, unemployment and disability insurance, gun control and physician-assisted suicide.
- Former Gov. Ben Cayetano, who appointed McElrath to the UH Board of Regents, said that as much as anything, he admires her unwavering and seemingly inexhaustible focus in fighting for the oppressed and disadvantaged.
- "What amazes me about Ah Quon is that her passion for the causes she's fought for more than 40 years remains the same," Cayetano said. "I believe she will be remembered as one of Hawai'i's great women leaders for social and political equality for all. They don't make them like her anymore." [1]
External Links
- Oral History of Ah Quon McElrath ILWU.org.
- Pang, Gordon Y.K. Quon McElrath’s view of social change, justice Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 11-17-05.
- Gordon, Mike. Ah Quon McElrath
- Wilson, Christie. Hawaii union, social activist Ah Quon McElrath dies at 92 Honolulu Advertiser, December 13, 2008.
- Krauss, Bob. She taught us to take risks, take care of others Honolulu Advertiser, December 13, 2008.
- OUR OPINION: Ah Quon McElrath was one of a kind THE ISSUE: The untiring advocate for working people and social justice has died at age 92 Honolulu Star-Bulletin, December 14, 2008.
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