<Begin Segment 16>

TI: And what was it like, kind of living on your own in Salt Lake City like this?

FK: Oh, you know, I was, I went away from home since I was eighteen years old, and that was time, so it was, it was not fun, but it was fine. I made my own living.

TI: And so any, any sort of thoughts, in Salt Lake City, you're not in camp anymore. I mean, what type of activities did you do besides work?

FK: Well, you know, those people were never evacuated. There were, there were quite a few Japanese there, too, so I got to know a lot of them. And you know, one thing about Salt Lake City, I never felt discrimination there at all, anything about the war. Maybe because they were Mormons, I don't know. But because I worked in the women's apparel store, and they were all Caucasians, and the customers were all Caucasians, but they were all very friendly towards me. So they'll, I didn't feel any discrimination there. But when I went to Chicago...

TI: Now, so why did you leave Salt Lake City?

FK: Because I wanted to go to a bigger town, I guess, and quite a few of my friends were there already.

TI: In Chicago?

FK: Yeah.

TI: From Minidoka they had gone up there?

FK: Yeah. So I said, "I think I'll try." And one of my good, really good close girlfriend was in Madison, Wisconsin. And she wanted me to work there, but it's harder to get a job in a smaller town. So I went to Chicago, but I really felt discrimination when I started looking for a job. I looked at an ad, and when I went to apply, the minute they saw me, they would say, "I'm sorry, the job is filled," or something like that, and I knew it wasn't. That's the reason I went into civil service.

TI: In Chicago, you got a civil service job?

FK: Yeah.

TI: So what job was that?

FK: Oh, it was called National Labor Board, and they handled discrimination between labor and manage... what was it now? Management, something like that, I can't remember. With the government and labor. And I worked for the lawyer there, attorney.

TI: So how hard was it to get a civil service job?

FK: Well, you have to take an exam, civil service exam, and then if you passed it, then they'll, if there's a job opening, then you get a job.

TI: Okay, so you're in Chicago, and at this point, your mother's still...

FK: In camp.

TI: ...at Minidoka with your older sister. So she's taking care of your sister. So when they start closing the camps, were you in Chicago at this point?

FK: Yes.

TI: And so where did your, your mother go?

FK: She went back to Portland, and she stayed with friends' place, and then she was in an apartment for, you know... and then I think my, by that time, my sister was in a, she was in an institution I think, because it was getting too hard for her. But I went, I stayed in Chicago a year and a, not quite two years, a year and a half. And I decided to come back to Portland because my mother was by herself. And then she was overseas, so I came back to Portland.

TI: So I just want to ask, so eventually your sister was put into an institution. Was it hard to care for her in camp, for your mother? Were the facilities...

FK: No, 'cause she was very, she wasn't... hard to handle or anything like that. She was very quiet, you know.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.