<Begin Segment 29>

AI: Well, so then as you got settled there in Chicago and you were getting used to being back in school at, in a public school, and getting caught up with your studies, then, and also your little sister, by that time she was what, about two years old or so, a year and a half?

BS: About three, yeah. Oh yeah, a year, she left when she was a year and a half.

AI: Right, right. Well, so then, then what happened with your family? Did you stay in the apartment building or did you move out to another location?

BS: No, we lived in that apartment building. And then, then, of course, my mother had to go work, had to go work. So she, you know, she always worked on the farm and that. So, and she didn't speak English well. She understood but she didn't speak it well. But, so she went to work where all the other former internees went, like lot of 'em went to, I think she went to work at Hart, Shafter & Marx 'cause she knew how to sew. So they, lot of Japanese, Isseis were working there. And then, so then other people could interpret for her. And she worked there for a while and then my grandfather became the babysitter for my little sister because we went to school. And then she, I know she went to work for ShenYu, which was a cosmetic place. And eventually she, I think she, she went and looked for employment in this one building. And then she went in the wrong entrance and she went to the wrong place and so they said, she said she was looking -- I don't know how she said it -- but she said she was looking for such and such. And they said, "Oh, well, we're also looking for workers, too." So, because it was after the war and the men were gone and they, and most of the people were, it was women working and in that company it was handicapped people like deaf-mutes. And so -- the men were deaf-mutes. And so they said, "We're looking for work," and so they hired my mother. And she was such a good worker he asked her to bring other people. So my mother would bring other Japanese there and then she would bring people from the church. And he appreciated how, how industrious these Japanese were so he was very good to them. He gave them bonuses and he appreciated 'em and it was, through the years, he was, he would donate to the church and he really appreciated my mom and her bringing in all the people.

AI: What kind of work were they doing there?

BS: It was, it was called WrapOn Company. And I know they made insulation and then they, I think they made things like thermostats and I know my mother worked with fiberglass and things like that. Sometimes she would bring work home so we could do it and help her.

AI: And then what was your father doing at this time?

BS: At that time he was still, well, he was working on the farm, our friend's farm. And then later the following year they came and joined us. And then he was working, I think he was working for a furniture... oh, why he worked for a furniture, yeah, he worked for a furniture factory. I know he worked as a elevator operator, and then we were going to school and then my two brothers above me would find...'cause they were going to high school, so they worked part-time as busboys or something while my sister, then my sister was working at the YWCA as a, not a waitress, but, 'cause they have cafeteria, she worked in there. And then when I was fourteen then I was able to work at the YWCA, too.

AI: So that would've been, what, 1947 when you turned fourteen?

BS: Uh, yes, yes.

AI: And so then tell me about, there, I got the feeling that there were quite a few Japanese Americans who had resettled in Chicago.

BS: Uh-huh.

AI: And I'm wondering, did you, because you lived nearby so many also, did you have much of a community activity or church activities, or things that... did you start forming another Japanese American community there?

BS: Well, they had the, what they called the Resettlers which became Japanese American service committee, to help the people resettle. And that was very close to where we lived. But we had girls clubs and boys clubs, like the boys had basketball teams and that and so then they became like, have clubs. And the girls would have girls clubs and we'd socialize and have dances, throw dances and stuff. And then there, some were from the north side and some were from the south side. And we were in the north side.

<End Segment 29> - Copyright © 2003 Densho. All Rights Reserved.