Finch, Earl M. (15 Dec. 1915-25 Aug. 1965), philanthropist and entrepreneur, was born near the small town of Ovett, Mississippi, to Paul and Eloise S. Finch. Earl Finch's childhood was typical of many early-twentieth-century white rural southerners: his family was Baptist, uneducated, and poor. When the Finches were driven off the land by a prolonged agricultural depression, Paul Finch was variously employed as a sawyer, salesman, and janitor. Earl Finch attended school until the age of ten, dropping out to find work to supplement the family's income. Finch was an uncomplaining and devoted son, dutifully supporting his parents and caring for his disabled mother for many years. Despite this austere upbringing, Finch developed an impressive business acumen.

By his late twenties, Finch established himself as a successful local merchant in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. He owned a variety of businesses, ranging from a clothing store to a bowling alley, and enjoyed a "good reputation" in the community, despite being shy and having few friends (Howard, p. 6). Upon the United States' entry into World War II, Finch volunteered to enlist in the army but was rejected because he had a weak heart and flat feet. Nevertheless, Finch found alternative means to support the war effort at home and in the process became a folk hero and national celebrity.

Finch devoted his war years to providing comfort and camaraderie for troops stationed nearby. He opened an army and navy goods store in Hattiesburg, through which he arranged special deliveries of scarce items. He also began organizing excursions to New Orleans for visiting troops, particularly those from far-flung corners of the country. Finch soon turned his attention to the most isolated and deprived of new arrivals: Japanese American soldiers and their families inside the American internment camps.

The conditions of interred Japanese Americans, who were deprived of basic necessities by rationing and isolation, provoked profound and immediate compassion from Finch. He procured truckloads of supplies, acting as an honest-broking middleman whose whiteness and freedom of movement permitted him to make contacts that those confined could not. He arranged to ship tobacco, toiletries, blankets, and candy to the camp cooperative stores and succeeded in obtaining specialty items, like tofu and bamboo shoots--a near impossibility, given wartime rationing and shortages.

Noting their lack of available social venues, Finch organized parties for Japanese American soldiers as well. He invited large groups of soldiers to a 350-acre ranch he purchased outside Hattiesburg for rodeos and barbecues. Most notably, he helped found the Aloha USO in Hattiesburg to entertain Japanese American troops. Finch was instrumental in the club's success, arranging for Hawaiian music and food and even helping bring Japanese American women across state lines from the camps in Arkansas for the dances. For his ingenuity and devotion, Finch earned the moniker "one-man USO" from Japanese American soldiers and civilians alike.

Finch was a major figurehead within the community of Japanese Americans in the South. His financial support helped alleviate the shortages of war and facilitated the social lives of tens of thousands of people. His emotional support was no less significant. Finch developed a lasting affection for the soldiers and their families and was deeply admired in return. Finch maintained correspondence with hundreds of troops while they were stationed overseas; he visited the wounded in hospitals and dutifully consoled their families when word came that they would not survive. He was lovingly greeted into the homes of families and dubbed the "godfather of the 442nd," referring to the segregated regiment of Japanese American soldiers.

Finch's generosity generated surprise and suspicion among his peers and even among those he helped. The lanky, balding Mississippian stood out conspicuously from the throngs of Japanese American men and women who embraced him. Business partners questioned his motives, and local whites quietly muttered about Finch's inordinate fondness for Japanese Americans, whose place in the racial hierarchy of the Jim Crow South was precarious. The Federal Bureau of Investigation took notice of Finch, too, conducting an investigation into his activities in 1944. The Bureau was alerted by an intelligence official at Camp Fannin, Texas, of a visit by Finch to the Japanese American soldiers stationed there. Finch had lavished gifts on the soldiers and paid for "all the ice cream they wanted" (Howard, p. 6). However, the Bureau's investigation found nothing but speculation and innuendo, neither of which marred Finch's reputation. For his part, Finch explained his motivations by simply stating, "I like those boys" (Howard, p.3).

Finch's affection for "those boys" continued to grow after the war. He kept in contact with the soldiers he helped and was invited to visit those residing in Hawaii during March 1946. Finch received "the largest welcome ever offered to any visiting dignitary in Hawaii's history" (Howard, p. 241), including leis from the governor and a month-long series of parties in his honor. Finch soon permanently relocated to Hawaii, where he continued his philanthropic pursuits on a larger scale. He became active in the 442nd Veterans Club, helping organize the "Go for Broke" Carnival in June 1947, which raised more than $125,000. From 1957 to 1964 Finch organized and promoted the "Show of the Stars" concert series that brought headlining musical talent to Hawaii to play for sellout crowds. He also emerged as an early advocate for Hawaiian statehood. Although he never ran for public office, Finch's political contacts reached to the governor, to U.S. senators, and to the presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson.

Finch invested heavily in humanitarian aid to Japan. He made frequent trips there to arrange deliveries of candy, blankets, and supplies to Japanese orphans and families devastated by the war. In 1952 Finch established a higher education scholarship fund for young men from Japan to study in Hawaii. Two recipients of the scholarship, Seiji Naya and Hideo Sakamoto, resided at the Finch home and were informally adopted as sons. Along with later housemate Bernard Pahee, of Hawaii, the "sons" remained Finch's closest relatives and were heirs to his modest estate. These arrangements led to speculation in the press, and later by historians, of Finch's homosexuality. Finch never addressed the rumors about his sexuality, and his sons gave conflicting accounts after his death.

Earl Finch spent his life amassing no fortune and holding no public office. Yet his tireless efforts on behalf of a scorned and disadvantaged people left an indelible mark on the lives of those around him. He died of a heart attack in Honolulu.

Earl Finch's life has been treated in only two published texts. The Earl Finch Story: One Man USO (2000) by Mark Santoki is available in English and Japanese. The circulation is minimal, as it was self-published by Seiji F. Naya, and few copies were printed. John Howard's Concentration Camps on the Home Front: Japanese Americans in the House of Jim Crow (2008) deals with Finch's life as part of a larger discussion of the Jerome and Rohwer concentration camps in Arkansas.