Charles F. Loomis

Name Charles F. Loomis
Born October 26 1887
Died October 6 1957
Birth Location Minneapolis, Minnesota

Chief morale officer during World War II Hawai'i who promoted the loyalty of Japanese Americans and founding partner of the Institute of Pacific Relations (IPR). [1]

Charles Loomis was born on October 26, 1887, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and graduated from the University of Missouri with a B.A. from the Teachers' College. Additionally, Loomis graduated from the St. Louis Training School, the first manual training school in the country and was a manual training expert and later football manager and coach at Missouri University.

From 1911 to 1916, Loomis was the boys' work director for the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) in Hawai'i. From 1916–19, he was the secretary of the Kauai YMCA and served as the territorial secretary until 1925. In 1919, Loomis helped develop plantation social services, working with the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association and introduced sugar study in schools. This curriculum eventually became the public schools' vocational agricultural program. Additionally, Loomis helped to establish the IPR in 1925 and as its first secretary he traveled to Kyoto, Shanghai, Yosemite, Virginia Beach, Hot Springs, and Mount Tremblant in the course of organized meetings. During the mid-thirties, he was acting secretary-general of the International Secretariat.

Prior to World War II, Loomis was associated with the army through National Guard duties promoting literacy programs and educational work in the Army-Navy YMCA. After the outbreak of war, he became the chief morale officer for the military government working with individuals such as Hung Wai Ching and Shigeo Yoshida to promote interethnic unity among the different groups in Hawai'i including the Japanese. During the war, Loomis often spoke on behalf of the Japanese in the Islands and their loyalty to America. Loomis passed away at Queen's Hospital on October 6, 1957, after an extended illness. He was survived by his wife Edith Woodward Warren Loomis, to whom he was married in September 1952 and three children by a former marriage.

Authored by Kelli Y. Nakamura , University of Hawai'i

For More Information

"Charles F. Loomis Dies; Helped to Found IPR." Honolulu Advertiser , October 7 1957, A-5.

Finding aid for the Institute of Pacific Relations records at Columbia University Libraries, http://library.columbia.edu/content/dam/libraryweb/locations/burke/fa/mrl/ldpd_11043785.pdf .

Finding aid for the Institute of Pacific Relations manuscript collections, University of Hawai'i and Mānoa Library, https://archivesspace.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/repositories/4/resources/140 .

The First Battle: The Battle for Equality in War-Time Hawaii . Documentary film written, produced and directed by Tom Coffman, 2006. 56 minutes.

"Loomis, Charles F." University of Hawai'i at Mānoa Hamilton Library, Microfiche Biographical D98050.

"Rites Tomorrow for C.F. Loomis." Honolulu Star-Bulletin , October 7, 1957, 13.

  1. Research for this article was supported by a grant from the Hawai‘i Council for the Humanities .

Last updated May 14, 2024, 4:32 a.m..