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MN: So you were basically just talking to anybody you can while you were going up there. Now, during the President Bill Clinton's administration, you, on the fortieth anniversary of the school desegregation, you went to Arkansas and you were able to visit Rohwer. Was that your first time back at Rohwer?

RO: That was my first, first trip.

MN: How did that feel like, going back?

RO: Well, it was... first, I have to say, it was a very special occasion to be invited to be a part of the administration's delegation, was something that I was very, very pleased about. Our agency that I headed up at that time was the Race Mediators for the Central High case. It had been hung up in the courts and stalled, and one of our mediators resolved all the remaining issues. So the, Susan Weber Wright, the judge, had invited us as well. But I used the occasion to do a personal pilgrimage, my first pilgrimage to Rohwer. And it's terrible, I can't remember his name, but there was a Japanese family that was interned in Rohwer, and they decided to remain, and they live in Little Rock, couple of brothers, and they married local gals, and they're very much a part of the fabric of the community. He drove me to Rohwer, and I had lunch with this wonderful woman who has been collecting Rohwer memorabilias. People have been sending it to her over the years, her name is Rosalie Gould, and her family owned land in that area.

MN: Now, what was your thoughts when you went to that camp site?

RO: Well, you have to remember, I was just a very little girl when I was interned. And so I can't say that I have any memories, but I did see the chimney and I saw the railroad tracks and all, but I didn't really have any memories. But I did have a lot of strong feelings that emerged, and that's when I recalled when I was lined up to be named by Rose. And I talked about that earlier, but I think while it was on one hand devastating to your psychic, as I believed, it became a source of empowerment.

MN: Did you wish that Rohwer could have the same status as Manzanar?

RO: Having said... I see Manzanar as the flagship. It's good to see other designations, and I see the efforts by many to preserve and protect their, all the confinement sites. I think that they're not necessarily all suitable to develop interpretive centers and become full, pull parts of, what is it, segment of the Park Service. And that was the determination that was made by the initial feasibility study they looked, to look at all the sites.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.