<Begin Segment 10>

MA: And tell me about your high school experience. Which high school did you attend?

GK: I started out at Roosevelt High School in Boyle Heights, but then after a year, they encouraged those of us who lived to the east, that since the school was too crowded, we should go to Huntington Park High School, so I transferred there. And I remember I was in the glee club there, and I learned clogging as part of the physical education program. So I remember we had to take a streetcar to get to the high school, which was kind of far. But we enjoyed it. It was a good high school to go to.

MA: What were some of your favorite subjects?

GK: Subjects? I liked music, so I think I was a member of the glee club. And I liked English literature and things like that, and math I did not like. And yes, that's about it. I think English I liked and then History I kind of liked, and then music, too.

MA: I'm just curious about your father's views towards education. He was quite educated himself, and if he encouraged you girls to have careers or to pursue higher education?

GK: Higher education? He certainly did. And especially me, since I was the oldest child, he kept saying, "I hope you'll go ahead and get your graduate degree, get your PhD," and so forth. Yes, he stressed education very much. But we didn't have that chance to pursue education like that, because he died.

MA: And so it seems like, you know, when you were growing up in elementary school in Boyle Heights, that all the different ethnic groups sort of mixed together and socialized. Was that the same? Did that continue when you were in high school?

GK: Yes. Now, when I went to Huntington Park High School, there was not that mixture of nationalities there. It was mostly Caucasian. So it was a little different, the atmosphere was different.

MA: What were some differences that you, some main differences, I guess, going to sort of a, going from a very diverse place to a not so diverse...

GK: Well, I think we were accepted, my sister and I. But I don't remember any outstanding experiences that we had along that line. So I remember we were comfortable in that atmosphere, for which I'm grateful.

MA: And how many, like, Niseis were in your class at Huntington Park?

GK: Huntington Park? Oh, there were none.

MA: Oh, so you were the only ones?

GK: (Yes), right. So I think most of my Japanese friends, they continued on at Roosevelt High School. They stayed in Boyle Heights.

MA: And where was, where was the high school located?

GK: I believe it's east of Los Angeles, Huntington Park.

MA: And at that time, what were some of your hobbies or things that you would do, social things on the weekends or after school?

GK: Well, I used to take piano lessons. So I took piano lessons for several years. And social activities, I don't think I had any special, except that I had my Japanese friends and we would just do the usual thing.

MA: Did your father's mission have, I know he was working mostly with younger children, but was there a youth group or anything, or did you do any activities with your father's mission?

GK: You mean after he changed to the --

MA: Yeah, after he changed.

GK: After he changed, yes. Well, let's see, there were some youth conferences of the other fundamental Baptist churches. So like in the summertime they would have these youth camps on the coast like Pacific Palisades, which was a nice area there near the ocean. So I remember going to some of those youth conferences every summer, which was very nice, and we were accepted and loved, really.

MA: Was there another, was your father's the only fundamental Baptist...

GK: Fundamental Baptist, yes.

MA: ...in that area?

GK: Yes, it was. And I'm sure there were other denominations with a fundamental background, but then among the Baptists, my father's mission was the only one. So it's too bad that he didn't have a chance to really develop it. That's what he was planning to do. Because he wasn't really that old, he was only fifty-six when he died.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright ©2009 Densho. All Rights Reserved.