The Massie Affair

[sinjin]

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/massie/filmmore/fd.html

So I saw this documentary the other day and wondered how many here had seen it and what you thought of both the show and the case. I knew nothing of this lovely slice of history before seeing the show.

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: The Massey Affair

It's an infamous case, but I don't think they talk about it in high school. I didn't hear about it until college.

Edit:Um, and I think you'll get better luck searching for it if you use the correct spelling, "Massie".

[Palolo Joe]

Re: The Massey Affair

We talked about it in high school. Guess it's where you go to school...

[Lei Liko]

Re: The Massey Affair

It's an infamous case, but I don't think they talk about it in high school. I didn't hear about it until college.

Edit:Um, and I think you'll get better luck searching for it if you use the correct spelling, "Massie".

We briefly touched on the subject in my semester of "Hawaiian History" in high school.

I took a joint UH/UCLA American Studies class one summer with the late Glen Grant (the last summer session course he taught at UH), and he devoted a big chunk of the course to the Massie Case. This book comes to mind, as Dr. Grant wrote the introduction.

I remember going on his walking tour through Downtown Honolulu and he likened the Downtown Post Office (the old courthouse that housed the trial) to Rose Red. He mentioned that something in there "didn't like him". He accompanied a Japanese news crew for a piece they did on the Massie Case, and when they filmed at night, a violent entity forced them out.

Being that books, articles, PBS specials have emerged in recent years, I'm sure they're talking about it more in the classroom. They should...especially since the case almost sparked Hawaii's first race riot.

ETA: I never understood why this has always been referred to as "The Massie Affair". Joseph Kahahawai was MURDERED, so how come the accusers get remembered that way for generations to come?

[Leo Lakio]

Re: The Massie Affair

I saw it as well. Obviously, not something that was covered where I grew up (in the midwestern U.S.); though I had heard references to the case on a couple of occasions, this documentary provided a lot of information on an important piece of Island history.

[Miulang]

Re: The Massie Affair

The travesty is even after Lt. Massie, Grace Fortescue (Thalia's mother), and 2 other sailors admitted to murdering Kahahawai and were handed manslaughter verdicts for which they were sentenced to 10 years in prison apiece, Gov. Lawrence Judd commuted the sentence the next day to one hour in his office. 30 years later, Judd contended that he had to do what he did because Congress was threatening punitive action against the Territory and the Honolulu Police Dept.

Additional fallout from the Massie Case:
On Jan. 22, 1932, Gov. Judd signed a law that reorganized the Honolulu Police Dept, established a Police Commission that appointed the Police Chief and prohibited police from entering into political activities.

On Jan. 29 of the same year, conviction for rape was punishable by death or life imprisonment.

May 22, 1932: The US Senate passes a bill to overrule a Hawai'i law that stated that a person who had 2 mistrials would automatically be acquitted of the crime. If the law had been allowed to stand, the surviving 4 local men who were accused of the rape could have been prosecuted again.

Feb. 13, 1933: the Massie case is finally closed and the surviving 4 accused men are set free. A 279-page report on the investigation by Pinkerton Agency indicated that the 5 accused men were not anywhere near the scene of the alleged rape, and medical authorities who examined Mrs. Massie could not find any evidence of her being raped. The Governor had received the report in Oct. 1932.

Miulang

[Tiabla]

Re: The Massie Affair

Our book club selection for June was Honor Killing by David Stannard. This is an exceptionally well researched and well written account of the Massie Affair. Our book group decided that this was one of the best books we'd read in awhile. We agreed it is a must-read for anyone interested in true crime, injustice, or the history of Hawaii. Just don't read it before bedtime as it will cause your blood to boil!

ETA: I never understood why this has always been referred to as "The Massie Affair". Joseph Kahahawai was MURDERED, so how come the accusers get remembered that way for generations to come?

Excellent point, and one I wondered about while I was reading Honor Killing. I guess it's similar to how the media refers to the "Manson murders", rather than the "Tate/Labianca murders". Ah, the thin line between notoriety and fame. Also, the subtitle of Honor Killing in hardcover is: How the Infamous "Massie Affair" Transformed Hawai'i. The paperback subtitle is: Race, Rape and Clarence Darrow's Spectacular Last Case. Not only is the new subtitle misleading in that Clarence Darrow doesn't even appear until 250 pages into the book, but it also takes the focus off of the main players of the Massie Affair and implies that the case revolved around...a famous rich white man.

[helen]

Re: The Massie Affair

Didn't know about the case in high school, first found out about it from a TV Pilot called Battles. Anyway I had the impression it was called the Massie Affair after Thalia.

[AbsolutChaos]

Re: The Massie Affair

Our book club selection for June was Honor Killing by David Stannard. This is an exceptionally well researched and well written account of the Massie Affair. Our book group decided that this was one of the best books we'd read in awhile. We agreed it is a must-read for anyone interested in true crime, injustice, or the history of Hawaii. Just don't read it before bedtime as it will cause your blood to boil!

I'm sorry that I missed out on this discussion! I really enjoyed this book too, and while I was aware that papers "back in the day" used to be pretty non-PC, I had no idea that they could get away with such inflamatory allegations and half-truths (and outright lies) the way they did. Makes me wonder what people will make of our newspapers a hundred years from now?

[Leo Lakio]

Re: The Massie Affair

Makes me wonder what people will make of our newspapers a hundred years from now?

They will wonder: "why did people take information off the internet and copy it down onto sheets of dried tree-pulp? Oh, those wacky ancients!"

[speedtek]

Re: The Massie Affair

We studied that in HS and we were not convinced that the locals had done it either. They were just scapegoats. Just goes to show that people with money can manipulate anything.