Ah Quon McElrath has been called the Mother Jones of the Hawai'i labor movement, an underdog undaunted by big business and one of the key architects of social justice since the 1940s.
One of seven children, she was born to Chinese immigrants in 1915 and grew up in Iwilei. Life was never easy, but tougher still after her father died when McElrath was 5.
She started working during pineapple season at the nearby cannery when she was 13, making 27 cents an hour. In the fall, she'd head back to school.
She graduated from the University of Hawai'i in 1938 and quickly became a key figure with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union during the 1940s — its early years in Hawai'i. She signed up dockworkers.
In 1941, she married fellow union organizer Bob McElrath.
After World War II, she helped organize the ILWU in Hawai'i. Through the 1950s, the ILWU united sugar and dockworkers of different ethnicities to fight for higher wages.
McElrath became the union's first social worker in 1954 and counseled members on substance abuse, mental-health issues and other social problems.
By the time she retired in 1981, she had helped create legislative protection for Hawai'i's agricultural workers, improve public education disability insurance and improve social services.
She is also credited with helping to create the University of Hawai'i's Ethnic Studies program and served on the university's Board of Regents.
Now in her 90s, McElrath remains active in social and political issues, occasionally lobbying at the Legislature for women's rights, healthcare concerns and improved occupational safety. She lives in Honolulu.
