John Reinecke

From dKosopedia

Categories: Hawaii stub | Unions in Hawaii

John Reinecke (b. 1904 - d. June 11, 1982)

"Reinecke was born in southeastern Kansas. He moved to Hawai'i in 1926, became a Profesor at the University of Hawaii in creole languages, and wasted no time in becoming one of the islands' leading "dissenters" against the control of Hawaiian society by the plantocracy and the military that existed for much of this century. He formed life-long friendships with both Jack Hall of the ILWU and Art Rutledge of the Hotel Workers Union, who used to say, "John made the snow balls, and I threw them." Assisting the unions cost him and his wife their jobs during the red-baiting of the 50s as he was branded a communist and persecuted relentlessly as one of the Hawaii Seven. He, nevertheless, stood courageously by his principles and wrote so extensively about the early years of the labor movement in Hawai'i that he can truly be considered the father of Hawaii's Labor History. Many of the changes in Hawaiian social and labor organization for which he worked in the 1930s and 1940s became reality though at the time they seemed an impossible dream." [1]

John Reinecke and his wife, Aiko Reinecke, were both fired from their public school teaching jobs in 1948, after having been suspended in 1947, because they were accused of Communist leanings. The Hawaii Seven convicted of violating the Smith Act, ultimately had their convictions overturned by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the 1950s. Represented by labor attorneys Harriet Bouslog and Myer Symonds, they eventually won a settlement from the state in 1978 when Bouslog secured a formal apology and $250,000 from the Legislature.

The Reineckes were awarded the third ACLU of Hawaii Allan F. Saunders award in 1976. Days before the award, the Hawaii State Board of Education voted to recommend that the Reineckes be exonerated. This in effect revoked the 1948 termination ruling by the then commissioners of education.

External Links

• Borreca, Richard. Fear of Communist infiltrators engulfed postwar Hawaii -- A telling showdown came in 1954 at a rally when injured war hero Dan Inouye dramatically defended his patriotism Honolulu Star-Bulletin, October 18, 2005.
• Tsai, Michael. John and Aiko Reinecke Honolulu Advertiser, July 2, 2006.