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.[1]
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.[2] She married stevedore 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 by day, and followed in Bina's footsteps at night. For two decades, Sterling Mossman and his Barefoot Bar Gang entertained audiences in Waikiki.[3]
Political career
After the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution 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.[4] 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.[5] She was appointed High Sheriff of Honolulu for the term 1953–1957.[6]
Music career
Bina Mossman's Glee Club (1914–1917) was the first all-female glee club in Hawai. They rehearsed under the supervision of deposed Queen Liliuokalani at Washington Place.[7] 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.[2][8]
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.[9][2]
In 1950, Bina wrote "Nâ Kipikoa" (Stevedore Hula) as a tribute to Hawaii's dockworkers. It was recorded by Genoa Keawe and her Hawaiians.[10][11]
