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TI: Okay, so let's go there, Milwaukee to go to college. And this is, which college did you go to?

HL: I went to, at that time it was a state teachers' college, Milwaukee State Teachers' College.

TI: And how did you find out about this place?

HL: I think it was through the American Friends.

TI: And how would you, how would they contact you or let you know about these things?

HL: What they used to, what, they would have, when we were in camp they would give you places, like when I was thinking of going to Wichita, I was thinking of going there because I wanted to be an engineer. But then I got to thinking, what do I want to be an engineer for? And so, and then at that time I found out about Milwaukee State, and so I thought, well, I'll go there and that's as good as anywhere else.

TI: Okay. And so it's kind of interesting, here you actually had quite a bit of teaching experience by the time you got there. Did you find yourself a lot more experienced than, say, your classmates when you first got there?

HL: Well, I wouldn't, I don't know, I really, it never occurred to me. Let's put it that way. See, when I first went there I was gonna go into elementary school teaching, but then when I got there I worked for my room and board with this family and she was head of the Head Start program for Milwaukee, and so she said to me, "You know, Hannah, with your background, why don't you go into special education?" And I said okay, I'll go and talk to whoever's in charge and see what they have to say, and when I went to talk to him I thought, oh, that's kind of interesting, maybe I'll go into special ed.

TI: Now, what was it about your background that she said you'd be a good match for special education?

HL: Because I had already been to camp and had been teaching and taught under weird circumstances kind of thing. It wasn't just a plain classroom teaching, but she felt that with my past experience that I would make a good special class teacher, so I said okay, I'll give it a try. And I found that I liked it.

TI: Now, were there any other Japanese in Milwaukee during this time?

HL: There was two other people, two other girls that were in college with me, Betty and Amy. And then there was, I think, oh, I'd say probably about ten or so Japanese outside of college that was living in Milwaukee at that time.

TI: So did you ever get together as a group to do anything?

HL: Not too much. We pretty much stayed on campus. I did stuff with the two girls that were there. And then

TI: In Milwaukee were there any issues about being Japanese with whites or anything like that?

HL: No, but the thing is if you're different and if you make a good reputation your first year in college, boy, you got it made. [Laughs] Like I said, if you establish yourself as a good student, that stays with you so that even if you're not that good they give you the benefit of the doubt.

TI: So first impressions are really important. [Laughs]

HL: Yep.

TI: Yeah, that's, who's told me, I think my dad says the same thing. Okay. So how long were you in Milwaukee before you finished?

HL: Well, I graduated college in three years and then I taught in Milwaukee for, let's see, just for a year, no, two years, two years. And then I went down to University of Illinois.

TI: Now, was, were you in Milwaukee when the war ended or was it later on?

HL: Yeah. No, war ended when I was in Milwaukee. When I got there, see, I started school in '44, that's when, shortly after that.

TI: Okay, so this is, most of the time is then postwar.

HL: Yeah. That's when all the vets started coming in. When I started there was eight hundred girls and four boys. By the time I was graduating it was a good half and half.

TI: Oh, interesting. Even, I wouldn't have guessed such high numbers of men going into teaching back then. I still think of it more as a woman's occupation during that period.

HL: No, there was quite a few, in your secondary schools, of course, and then in special ed there was quite a few.

TI: Before we continue with your career, your parents. So the war ended, what happened to youf parents?

HL: They were in camp until the camp closed and they went to Spokane, 'cause my sister was in Spokane. And so they went into Spokane and then they stayed there, and I'm not too sure exactly what they were doing, what they did, and then they went back to Seattle. When they went back to Seattle they bought the Evergreen and then they were there until they retired.

TI: Do you have a sense of how hard it was to sort of restart a business in Seattle after the war for your parents?

HL: Well, the times were good. Times were booming at that time, so it wasn't too bad, but it was starting from scratch.

TI: And so this is the hotel on Maynard and Jackson, right, right there. That's the one I remember growing up as a, as a kid, because of the Chinatown parade right, right in front.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.