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TI: So we're going to start. So today is Friday, April 17, 2009, and we're in the Densho studio, Seattle, Washington. Today we're interviewing Peggy Nagae. I'm interviewing, Tom Ikeda, and working the camera is Dana Hoshide. And the purpose of this interview is, it's another life history for Densho. But in particular, we're going to focus on the coram nobis case and your participation. So, Peggy, thank you for being here. And so, Peggy, I'm going to just start with some basic questions. The first one, what was the name given to you at birth?

PN: Same, Peggy Ann Nagae.

TI: And when and where were you born?

PN: Portland, Oregon, July 25, 1951.

TI: So let me first start with your dad. Before we talk about your life, can you tell me a little bit about your dad in terms of where he was born?

PN: He was born, I think he was born in Portland. He grew up in Beaverton, which is a suburb now of Portland. Raised on a farm. When he first started grade school, didn't speak English that well, I think was held back one year because of that. And so they had a farm, his father, my grandfather, I think, taught Japanese classes. They then bought a farm in Boring, Oregon, I think, in 1940, moved out there at that time. My father was the oldest of four children. His mother wanted him to be a doctor, but it was pretty impossible. He went to one year of college, it was pretty impossible to commute from Boring to Portland, which was 25 miles, but back then, it was like, it could have been a hundred.

TI: Okay, so let's talk about... you mentioned your father's parents.

PN: Yes.

TI: How much do you know about them? Do you know, like, for instance, where in Japan they were from?

PN: They came... well, I know my grandfather came from an area around Nagasaki. I don't know my grandmother. My grandfather lived with us. My grandmother fell off a truck and was bedridden, so she died fairly soon after they came back from camp, maybe a couple years, three or four years afterwards, so I don't know much about her.

TI: Well, going to your grandfather, do you know why he came to the United States?

PN: I don't. I mean, even though he lived with us, he only spoke Japanese, and we really didn't talk about early history. I did a project for my master's degree on family history, but I can't remember what was said. I just assume it was what most people came for, which is better opportunity, etcetera.

TI: And when your grandfather came to the United States, do you know what kind of work he did?

PN: I don't.

TI: And so he had, you mentioned, he and his wife had four children, and your father was, you said, the oldest?

PN: Yes.

TI: And your father's name?

PN: Shigenari, S-H-I-G-E-N-A-R-I.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.