Ah Quon McElrath (15 December 1915 – 11 December 2008) was a Hawaii labor reform leader and social activist. She retired in 1981, but spent her career advocating for unions by pushing for equal pay and treatment from the Big Five in Hawaii.

Early life

McElrath was born Leong Yuk Quon in Iwilei after her parents immigrated to Hawaii from

Zhongshan Zhongshan ( zh, c=中山 ), alternately romanized via Cantonese as Chungshan, is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is n ...

, China. Her father worked many small jobs, and died when McElrath was 5 years old. After her father's death, McElrath and her siblings worked in pineapple canneries. At age 17, McElrath went to a burlesque theater to hear

Upton Sinclair Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. (September 20, 1878 – November 25, 1968) was an American author, muckraker journalist, and political activist, and the 1934 California gubernatorial election, 1934 Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

, a famed muckraker, give a speech on poverty. This speech was her inspiration to become a social activist. She married Robert "Bob" McElrath in 1941.

Career and activism

While enrolled in the

University of Hawaiʻi The University of Hawaiʻi System is a public college and university system in Hawaii. The system confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven community colleges, an employment training center, ...

, Ah Quon McElrath joined the leftist Interprofessional Association and met

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

leader Jack Hall, who was the head of the

International Longshore and Warehouse Union The International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) is a labor union which primarily represents dock workers on the West Coast of the United States, Hawaii, and in British Columbia, Canada; on the East Coast, the dominant union is the Intern ...

(ILWU) Local 142. After graduation she worked at the Board of Public Welfare. McElrath started volunteering for the ILWU in the 1940s by making speeches and signing up dockworkers as union members. She volunteered her skills as a social worker widely, such as in the aftermath of the 1946 tsunami in

Hilo Hilo () is the largest settlement in and the county seat of Hawaii County, Hawaiʻi, United States, which encompasses the Island of Hawaiʻi, and is a census-designated place (CDP). The population was 44,186 according to the 2020 census. I ...

. While on leave, she also became involved with the sugar strike of 1946, teaching strikers what rights they were entitled to. In 1954 she became a paid union

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

er with the ILWU, and worked there she retired in 1981. In 1981, she served on the board of a civil rights advocacy organization founded by Hawaii defense attorney David Schutter.

Communism links

In 1971, the FBI released information naming the Central Committee of the

in Hawaii. Aside from McElrath, the list included Jack Hall, Jack Denichi Kimoto, John Reinecke, and Robert McElrath. Hall, Kimoto, Reinecke, and four others were put on trial for violating the Smith Act.

Retirement

After retirement, McElrath continued to advocate for the poor, women's rights, education, and health care. For two years after retirement she worked with the Villers Foundation to improve the

Supplemental Security Income Supplemental Security Income (SSI) is a means-tested program that provides cash payments to disabled children, disabled adults, and individuals aged 65 or older who are citizens or nationals of the United States. SSI was created by the Social S ...

program. She also served on the Board of Regents at the University of Hawaiʻi, and helped to create the Ethnic Studies department there. McElrath received an honorary doctorate from the university in 1988 and the UH Founders Alumni Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. McElrath passed away in 2008.

References

External links

Oral history interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:McElrath, Ah Quon 1915 births 2008 deaths University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni Members of the Communist Party USA Activists from Hawaii International Longshore and Warehouse Union people Chinese emigrants to the United States American social workers American trade unionists of Asian descent