About the Harriet Bouslog Labor Scholarship Fund (HBLSF)
HBLSF MISSION
The Harriet Bouslog Labor Scholarship Fund (HBLSF) supports ILWU Local 142 members and their families in their quest for a better life.
HBLSF
The Harriet Bouslog Labor Scholarship Fund provides financial assistance for education at any school in the University of Hawaii System to the family members of existing and retired ILWU Local 142 members as well as the members themselves, subject to a preference in favor of the children and grandchildren of active and retired members and a further preference in favor of High School seniors.
The Bouslog Labor Scholarship commemorates the historic achievements of the ILWU Local 142 and encourages greater awareness and understanding of the ILWU Local 142's economic, social, and political contributions to Hawaii.
More about the Scholarship Program
HISTORY
Harriet Bouslog served Local 142 of the ILWU Local 142 as its first General Counsel at the request of Harry Bridges, the ILWU Local 142's first President. Together with the brave men and women of Local 142, she changed Hawaii from a near feudal state to the vibrant multi-ethnic, multi-cultural society we all enjoy today. In so doing, Harriet Bouslog and Local 142 forged a relationship of mutual respect and admiration that lasted for all of her life.
Harriet earned her place in history as Hawaii's first female labor and civil rights attorney. As the ILWU Local 142's General Counsel from 1946 to 1978 she was involved in mounting the legal defense of working men and women as well as those who otherwise would have no advocate in seeking social and work place justice. Harriet Bouslog believed that assisting the members of Local 142 had given her professional life meaning.
As a result of her relationship with the men and women of Local 142, Harriet and her husband, Stephen T. Sawyer, established the Harriet Bouslog Labor Scholarship Fund in 1989 to benefit the children and grandchildren of ILWU Local 142 members and retirees. Harriet Bouslog passed away in 1998 at the age of 85 and Stephen T. Sawyer passed away in 2008.
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Harriet Bouslog Biography DVD
Brilliant, vivacious, and controversial, Harriet Bouslog was one of Hawaii's great defenders of human rights and dignity. This inspiring documentary, produced by PBS Hawaii and the Center for Biographical Research, combines interviews with family, friends, commentary by legal historians of the life and times of Harriet Bouslog.
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- HBLSF Scholarship Committee
Mark D. Bernstein, Esq. (President, Harriet Bouslog Labor Scholarship Fund)
Mark Bernstein, a University of Hawaii graduate, became legendary civil rights attorney Harriet Bouslog's last partner, when he returned to Honolulu in 1979, having graduated from Southwestern University School of Law in Los Angeles. After Ms. Bouslog's retirement in 1980, he went on to establish what is now one of Honolulu's oldest solo legal practices operating out of the historic Bank of Bishop Building, which is now known as the Harriet Bouslog Building on Merchant Street, where his practice concentrated on intellectual property and complex commercial litigation. Mr. Bernstein has been listed as one of The Best Lawyers in America every year from 1995 in the field of Music Licensing. He now is the President of the Harriet Bouslog Labor Scholarship Fund
Leah Bernstein (Director, Harriet Bouslog Labor Scholarship Fund)
Director, Harriet Bouslog Labor Scholarship Fund
Guy K. Fujimura (Secretary-Treasurer, ILWU Local 142)
Secretary-Treasurer, ILWU Local 142
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