George Yamada Segment 32

Family background (ddr-densho-1000-187-1) - 00:05:50
Memories of childhood living at a sawmill camp (ddr-densho-1000-187-2) - 00:05:16
Helping with parents' hotel business (ddr-densho-1000-187-3) - 00:05:51
Description of family hotel: housed transitional workers (ddr-densho-1000-187-4) - 00:05:01
Memories of parents' hotel business: helping to stoke the boiler (ddr-densho-1000-187-5) - 00:03:55
Description of friends, Boy Scout activities (ddr-densho-1000-187-6) - 00:02:33
Activities during childhood: getting in a fight, relationship with Chinese community (ddr-densho-1000-187-7) - 00:08:47
Visiting Seattle, Washington, as a child (ddr-densho-1000-187-8) - 00:05:02
Mother's coping with limited English ability (ddr-densho-1000-187-9) - 00:03:36
Description of Japanese language school teachers (ddr-densho-1000-187-10) - 00:06:44
The role of Christianity in the prewar Spokane community (ddr-densho-1000-187-11) - 00:11:12
Encounters with racism: discrimination at railroad company (ddr-densho-1000-187-12) - 00:08:49
High school experience (ddr-densho-1000-187-13) - 00:01:28
Recreational activities in high school: dances, amusement parks, fishing (ddr-densho-1000-187-14) - 00:09:05
Reaction to bombing of Pearl Harbor: a racist encounter at a movie theater (ddr-densho-1000-187-15) - 00:06:02
Community reactions to Pearl Harbor; fears of FBI arrests (ddr-densho-1000-187-16) - 00:08:34
Encountering a train full of Japanese Americans being transported to an concentration camp (ddr-densho-1000-187-17) - 00:07:52
Being reclassified as an 'enemy alien' by the army: "I really felt betrayed" (ddr-densho-1000-187-18) - 00:04:27
Induction into basic training: two unsettling encounters (ddr-densho-1000-187-19) - 00:06:39
Memories of basic training: experiences with issues of race and discrimination (ddr-densho-1000-187-20) - 00:06:21
First encounters with Japanese Americans from Hawaii (ddr-densho-1000-187-21) - 00:04:45
Working for Headquarters Company (ddr-densho-1000-187-22) - 00:02:05
Serving stateside with the Military Intelligence Service (ddr-densho-1000-187-23) - 00:04:35
Memories of the Military Intelligence Service (ddr-densho-1000-187-24) - 00:04:42
Visiting Minidoka concentration camp, Idaho, during the war (ddr-densho-1000-187-25) - 00:07:53
Visiting Minneapolis while serving at Fort Snelling (ddr-densho-1000-187-26) - 00:02:45
Reactions to the end of the war; preparing to return home (ddr-densho-1000-187-27) - 00:02:57
Hearing of the loss of a childhood friend who was killed in action overseas (ddr-densho-1000-187-28) - 00:05:41
Returning to Spokane postwar: thoughts on changes in community, "new" Japanese Americans arriving (ddr-densho-1000-187-29) - 00:07:57
Deciding to enter the chick-sexing industry (ddr-densho-1000-187-30) - 00:09:05
Description of chick-sexing industry: "it was a fascinating career" (ddr-densho-1000-187-31) - 00:12:44
Working as a chick sexer in upstate New York (ddr-densho-1000-187-32) - 00:07:25
Description of Japanese American community in New York City postwar (ddr-densho-1000-187-33) - 00:04:33
A discriminatory encounter involving the ROTC in college (ddr-densho-1000-187-34) - 00:08:03
Meeting future wife (ddr-densho-1000-187-35) - 00:04:16
Raising a family in upstate New York (ddr-densho-1000-187-36) - 00:10:50
Returning to Spokane, Washington: observing changes (ddr-densho-1000-187-37) - 00:08:33
Thoughts on the evolution of Spokane's Japanese American community (ddr-densho-1000-187-38) - 00:01:54
Reflections on future: spending time with wife (ddr-densho-1000-187-39) - 00:09:30
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ddr-densho-1000-187-32 (Legacy UID: denshovh-ygeorge_2-01-0032)

Working as a chick sexer in upstate New York

This interview was conducted as part of a project to capture stories of the Japanese American community of Spokane, Washington. Densho worked in collaboration with the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.

00:07:25 — Segment 32 of 39

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March 15 & 16, 2006

Densho Visual History Collection

Densho

Courtesy of Densho

ddr-densho-1000-187

George Yamada

George Yamada Interview

04:03:17 — 39 segments

March 15 & 16, 2006

Spokane, Washington

Nisei male. Born November 16, 1923, in Spokane, Washington. Spent childhood in downtown Spokane where parents ran the World Hotel. Father also worked as a mail handler for the Great Northern Railroad. Attended Lewis and Clark High School and Washington State University. During the war remembers seeing train cars pass through Spokane with Japanese Americans headed to Heart Mountain concentration camp, Wyoming. Drafted into the army in 1944 and served at the Military Intelligence Service Language School in Fort Snelling, Minnesota and Presidio, California. After World War II, worked as a chick sexer in upstate New York and surrounding region for thirty years. Returned to Spokane in the mid-1970s and pursued a career in real estate.

(This interview was conducted as part of a project to capture stories of the Japanese American community of Spokane, Washington. Densho worked in collaboration with the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.)

Megan Asaka, interviewer; Dana Hoshide, videographer

Densho

Courtesy of Densho

API