Bina Kailipaina Nieper Mossman (January 7, 1893 – May 20, 1990) was an American ukulele player, vocalist, composer, and Republican Party office holder. She also served as High Sheriff of Honolulu. She was tutored in music, and pronunciation of Hawaiian words, by deposed Queen Liliuokalani.

Early life and family

She was born Bina Nieper in Honolulu to John Theodore Nieper and his wife Susan Kaiokulani Titcomb. Her father's family immigrated to Hawaii from Germany as sugar plantation laborers. She married

stevedore A dockworker (also called a longshoreman, stevedore, docker, wharfman, lumper or wharfie) is a waterfront manual laborer who loads and unloads ships. As a result of the intermodal shipping container revolution, the required number of dockwork ...

Richard Norman Mossman in 1912. Their marriage produced daughters Ynez and Mapuana, as well as sons Richard Jr. and Sterling. The latter was a detective with the

Honolulu Police Department The Honolulu Police Department (HPD) is the principal law enforcement agency of the Honolulu County, Hawaii, City and County of Honolulu, Hawaii, headquartered in the Alapa'i Police Headquarters in Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu CDP. Officially re ...

by day, and followed in Bina's footsteps at night. For two decades, Sterling Mossman and his Barefoot Bar Gang entertained audiences in Waikiki.

Political career

After the

Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Nineteenth Amendment (Amendment XIX) to the United States Constitution prohibits the United States and its U.S. state, states from denying the Suffrage, right to vote to citizens of the United States on the basis of sex, in effect recogni ...

gave women the right to vote, Bina began working behind the scenes in Hawaii's Republican Party. With her first political convention, she involved herself in committee work, and was elected to handle music entertainment for meetings. By 1935, she was working in administrative positions with the territorial legislature. Bina served as the first woman legislator from Hawaii's 5th district of Oahu for three terms, beginning in 1938. That same year, she was elected National Committeewoman of the Republican Party. In 1945, Bina was elected to the House of Representatives, from the 5th District of Hawaii for 1939 – 1943, and re-elected from the same district in 1945. She was appointed High Sheriff of Honolulu for the term 1953–1957.

Music career

Bina Mossman's Glee Club (1914–1917) was the first all-female

glee club A glee club is a musical group or choir group, historically of male voices but also of female or mixed voices, which traditionally specializes in the singing of short songs by trios or quartets. In the late 19th century it was very popular in ...

in Hawai. They rehearsed under the supervision of deposed Queen Liliuokalani at

Washington Place Washington Place is a Greek Revival palace in the Hawaii Capital Historic District in Honolulu, Hawaii. It was where Queen Liliuokalani was arrested during the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Later it became the official residence of the go ...

. According to her 1971 account for the Watamull Foundation Oral History Project, during the Queen's lying in state and funeral, the glee club was chosen to be part of the kahili bearers who stood watch over her body for two hours at a time, waving the kahilis and singing Liliuokalani's compositions. In the 1950s Bina formed the Kaahumanu Choral Group, an all-female ensemble of mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers. They were billed as being direct descendants of Hawaiian royalty. In 1950, Bina wrote "Nâ Kipikoa" (Stevedore Hula) as a tribute to Hawaii's dockworkers. It was recorded by

Genoa Keawe 'Aunty' Genoa Leilani Adolpho Keawe-Aiko (October 31, 1918 – February 25, 2008) was a Hawaiian musician. Keawe was born on the island of Oʻahu in the Kakaʻako district of Honolulu and grew up in Lā'ie. She was an icon in Hawaiian musi ...

and her Hawaiians.

Later life and death

Bina Mossman died in 1990. She was posthumously elected in 1998 to the

Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame The Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame is an organization dedicated to recognizing the cultural importance of the music of Hawaii and hula. Established in 1994, the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame promotes the appreciation and preservation of Hawaiian cultu ...

Discography

Citations

References

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External links

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Bina Mossman Glee Club at Territorial AirwavesKamehameha Schools Museum Archive – Bina Mossman Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mossman, Bina 1893 births 1990 deaths 20th-century American musicians Members of the Hawaii Territorial Legislature Native Hawaiian women in politics Musicians from Honolulu Politicians from Honolulu Ukulele players from Hawaii Women territorial legislators in Hawaii 20th-century American women politicians