Jack Hall
Date: c. 1952-53
Medium: Linocut
Dimensions (cm.): 56.1 x 78.7
Variants:
Black and white
In colors, printed a la poupée
Alternate titles: Los jueces
Published edition: Unknown
Contemporary publication: Unknown
References: Exposición de Homenaje 502b
Selected additional references (illustrated): Vogel 2010, 192.
Commentary: Jack Hall (1915-1971) was a leader of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) in Hawaiʻi. In 1951, in the height of the McCarthy era, he was arrested together with six local leaders of the Communist Party on charges of violating the Smith Act by advocating the overthrow of the government by force and violence. The “Hawaiʻi Seven,” as the defendants were known, were convicted in 1953 and sentenced to five-year prison terms but the convictions were reversed on appeal after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in 1957 limiting the circumstances where the Smith Act could be applied.
Méndez became aware of Hall through his close friend and fellow TGP member Pablo O’Higgins, who painted the mural Solidaridad Sindical (Union Solidarity) in the ILWU's Hawaiʻi offices in 1952. According to Vogel 2010, O’Higgins asked Méndez to “create the print for the union's use in its effort to defend Hall.” (Peter Schneider)
Catalogue record number: 177