Yoneda, Karl Gozo, 1906-1999

Yoneda was born in Glendale, CA, in 1906; studied in Japan, 1913-26; returned to the US, 1927; joined American Communist Party and launched career as a labor activist; a longshoreman by trade, he was affiliated with the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union, and also served as a CIO labor organizer; edited Rodo Shimbun (Japanese Labor News), the publication of the Japanese Bureau of the American Communist Party; wrote 5 books, 4 in Japanese; interned at the Manzanar Relocation Center with his wife, Elaine; after his release from Manzanar, Yoneda served in the US Military Intelligence Service as a Japanese language specialist in the China-Burma-India theater.

Yoneda is the author of JAPANESE LABOR HISTORY IN THE USA, written in Japanese, He was editor of "Rodo Shinbun, a Japanese organ of the Communist Party, USA, from 1933 to 1936. In 1934 he was the Communist Party candidate for San Francisco's 22nd Assembly District seat, the first Asian to run for a state office. He became a longshoreman in 1936 and was an active member on IlWU Local 10 until his retirement in 1972.

Biography

Yoneda was born in Glendale, California, in 1906; studied in Japan, 1913-26; returned to the United States, 1927; joined American Communist Party and launched career as a labor activist; a longshoreman by trade, he was affiliated with the International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU), and also served as a Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) labor organizer; edited Rodo Shimbun (Japanese Labor News), the publication of the Japanese Bureau of the American Communist Party; wrote 5 books, 4 in Japanese; interned at the Manzanar Relocation Center with his wife, Elaine; after his release from Manzanar, Yoneda served in the United States Military Intelligence Service as a Japanese language specialist in the China-Burma-India theater.