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MN: Let's go back to Manzanar, sorry. Was it the Manzanar Advisory Commission that hired the first superintendent Ross Hopkins, the Manzanar Advisory Commission?

RO: What about them?

MN: Did they hire Ross Hopkins?

RO: No, no, the Park Service.

MN: But you folks had a say in it. Is that correct?

RO: No. Actually, Ross was the first superintendent, and... may I say something about Ross?

MN: Sure, sure.

RO: Ross, his father served in the Pacific War, and he was subject to death threats, and it was affecting his health, and he fought and he hung in there with us. And the national JACL wanted to give him an award, and he doesn't like awards, so I accepted on his behalf. And I was given a minute, and I said that Ross's father served in the Pacific and died, and yet Ross, although he was subject to death threats, could make distinctions on why we fought to preserve, to make certain that this story can be told for generations to come, so that others can learn to make distinctions.

MN: And you also mentioned that Ross Hopkins was not a typical bureaucrat.

RO: No.

MN: Give us an example of what he did that was, you know, didn't go up the chain of command.

RO: Well, you know, he actually didn't come from the interpretive side, I think he comes from the maintenance side. So he was much more of a can-do guy, and not a bureaucrat. And this is where he, when they discovered that there are some valuable artifacts in the dump, then he would -- this is before e-mails -- he would send me scribbled faxes about, "We need to expand the boundary to include that in the designation." So this is when I, we would call Bob Matsui. His office is always open to us, his staff is very responsive, and it was nothing. I just said, "We need five hundred feet expanded for the boundaries," it's done. Bob is not someone that got a lot of credit for redress or any of his support. He sort of low-keyed things, but he was amazing.

MN: Now I'm gonna stop back a little bit, and there's this huge rock that sits in front of the interpretive center, and I understand you are the one that picked that rock, and you're the one that also came up with the wording. Can you tell us the story behind that?

RO: Well, as I mentioned, the Park Service wanted to designate Manzanar as a national historic landmark. And there was a time crunch. And the community has differing views about how we describe camp: "relocation," "concentration," "internment." And so I talked to Manzanar Committee, the JACL, other community leaders, and they came up with all these different points of view. And yet they wanted to pour the bronze, and I needed to make a decision. So I said, "Make it Manzanar." So if you go in front of the interpretive center today, you'll see a rock with the sign "Manzanar." And Dennis Nishikawa, of Councilman David Cunningham's office, worked with me on, on selecting the rock and going with Councilman Cunningham to the dedication. That was awful; the worst ride ever. In a DWP helicopter with him smoking all the way, trying to get into the passage. [Laughs] It was awful.

MN: Okay. Now, by Manzanar's entrance, there's a Blue Star Highway sign. Can you tell us how the idea to have a Blue Star Highway sign came about?

RO: Well, actually, that's Tom Ochi's idea. You know, we go up to the Sierras regularly, and we stop at rest stops, and there's one where there is a Blue Star Highway sign. And it's located in areas where soldiers had volunteered to work in the armed services. So Tom said, "You know, Rose," he said, "nobody, from the beginning, they assumed that there, that those folks that were interned were Japanese, and it never occurred to them that they would be American soldiers." And so he says, "If we just designated it a Blue Star Highway, people will know immediately." So Sue approached the Garden Clubs of America, and they embraced the idea. And in about a year, we had a wonderful pilgrimage. We had American Legions from around the area and from Los Angeles, and it was very visual, that now we have come together, and the community as a whole, not just the supporters, see the benefits of Manzanar.

MN: Now, you also mention Mas Okui a lot. Can you tell me how Mas Okui contributed to Manzanar?

RO: Once the bill passed, then there was, it was a advisory commission to Manzanar National Historic Site. And it was, the legislation kind of laid out representation from different Native Americans, local community, former internees. Mas Okui, at the time, teacher at the L.A. Unified School District, he had been interned as a young boy, and he served. Actually, every year on the pilgrimage, Mas volunteers, and he rides up with the teachers and he shares his experiences. But Mas is very famous in another way. He's a famous fly fisherman. He often donates his services for good community causes.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2010 Densho. All Rights Reserved.