Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Marianne West Interview
Narrator: Marianne West
Interviewer: Alice Ito
Location: Klamath Falls, Oregon
Date: July 2, 2000
Densho ID: denshovh-wmarianne-01-0009

<Begin Segment 9>

AI: Now, at the time you left camp, you must have been about how old?

MW: I was, I think I was nineteen. I turned twenty right after I came out of camp.

AI: And then about that time, you mentioned in our earlier talk that fairly soon you met your husband-to-be.

MW: Yes, uh-huh.

AI: Can you tell me about that?

MW: Yes. I was in this restaurant. And he was a military policeman, and he would come in and make sure that any servicemen in there were on their best behavior. And that's how I met him.

AI: Had you had any trouble previously with some servicemen?

MW: Well, a lot of times they'd come in in groups. And they finish eating, they don't want to leave or something like that. And if he came around, he would get them out for us.

AI: And what was his name?

MW: Clarence West. So we have been married for fifty-three years, and we have seven children and a host of grandchildren and a few great-grandchildren.

AI: Well, now, tell me, tell me about Clarence, because this was an unusual relationship in some ways for the times.

MW: Yes because he was, he was a black. And he was from Florida. And he was stationed in Spokane. When we got married I think it caused some commotion among the community.

AI: What kinds of things were people telling you?

MW: That if we had children, they wouldn't amount to anything, and that I'd be abused, and he would leave me. Oh, I think I had someone even tell me I was bringing shame on my family. But the very same persons that told me that ended up with their children in biracial marriages, too, so it shows how the world has changed.

AI: What about your own family's response?

MW: My father was negative in the beginning, but it wasn't long before he came around.

AI: And did you ever, were you able to meet any of his family?

MW: Yes, uh-huh. We went to Florida several times. When his, he was the baby of the family, and when his sisters got sick, we went down quite often to check on them, too.

AI: How did they receive you as a different person in their family?

MW: Right after we got married, his father came up to visit us. I think he had to come up and see what was going on. And we got along very well. And his sisters all accepted me, and it was a good relationship.

AI: Now, as you were saying, in those times, many people did have negative attitudes toward interracial marriages...

MW: Uh-huh.

AI: ...and children who had mixed heritage. Did you and Clarence have any concerns for your children, or what they might face?

MW: I think our prime goal was to make sure they got an education, because I felt if they were educated, that they would be able to avoid the pitfalls that I walked into and they would be aware of what they were entitled to and they would be able to meet with different people and get along. That was... but I felt education was the main thing. And so I really stressed education. And once they got started in school, it was fine because they're very competitive among themselves. So they studied and they did well in school.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2000 Densho. All Rights Reserved.