<Begin Segment 11>

JF: We lived there at the church for, until 1952, I believe, when my parents were now able to move and find another place.

VY: Yeah, so what happened there? Did they purchase a home?

JF: They did. They purchased a home three doors down. I don't think my mother would have it any other way, she had to be close to the church. They purchased a home three doors down from the church, and growing up, my mother had a Caucasian friend, her name was Winnie Hackett, and she happened to live in that home three doors down from the church. They went through grammar school together, and probably high school. Grammar school in those days went from K through 8, so it was a long time to make friends and relationships. So when it got time for the Hackett family to move, Mrs. Hackett, Winnie's mother, told her that she would like to offer to sell the home to my mom and dad, because she knew them for many years. So Mom and Dad made some kind of arrangement, they probably had to borrow money to come up with a down payment. But through the generosity of Mrs. Hackett, they were able to buy the home that still is our Takeda home in Alameda. We still have that house, we all grew up there.

VY: Were they able to purchase the house in their own name?

JF: By that time in 1952, I believe they did, they did. I had heard that Mrs. Hackett was willing to buy it or to sell it to my parents under the, not under the table, but, you know, there was certain redlining in Alameda at that time. But it was legal.

VY: And you still have the home.

JF: We still have the home.

VY: Okay, so you all moved into this new home? And what was life like in your new home, like how big was it, how many bedrooms?

JF: Oh, gosh. And by that time, there were five children, and my grandparents and my parents, so that's nine. And then my youngest sister Carol was born. So the house had three bedrooms. It's a large house, it's a two-story home, it has a basement and then the second floor. But three bedrooms, only three bedrooms, a large kitchen, one full bath and a half bath. So can you imagine? Most people can't imagine, ten of us. My grandparents had the first, the French bedroom, they got the bedroom to themselves. In the middle bedroom, we, my sister Jo and I, and my brothers Kent and David, shared that room, and there were two double beds in that room with a very narrow space in between for us to walk. In the third bedroom, that was for my mom and dad sharing again with Susan and Carol, the two youngest. So two double beds and two bedrooms with my grandparents in the front. So it had to be difficult, but we thought nothing of it. I mean, that's what we knew, right? I guess living together in close quarters, even at the church, we just didn't know any different.

VY: And it was a little bigger than what you had been before?

<End Segment 11> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.