<Begin Segment 12>

TI: So what were you thinking? So before you got to Chicago what were some of your ideas in terms of what you would do in Chicago?

KY I had no idea. I had no idea what I was going to find. At least I had a place to stay, and there were people who I knew would be there to help, but that's about it.

TI: So describe going to Chicago and what you found when you got there.

KY: Well, as I said, because of my friend's sister and husband, they were... you felt a certain sense of security in that you knew you would have a place to stay. And so I felt it wasn't like we were just going to be in the city and then we didn't know where we were going. So in a sense there was a feeling of security.

TI: And at this point when you went to Chicago, was there any support from the WRA?

KY: No, actually we didn't have, we didn't. The WRA really didn't help us with finding a job. I don't know how I found the job that I had.

TI: And what job did you eventually get?

KY: Well, I found a job with the Chicago YWCA, and for me in a way it was... it changed my life in a sense that this organization, I went to a very nurturing, caring organization. And I really felt that because of the fact that it was a Christian organization and the people who worked there were very, very supportive and caring and I really felt accepted there.

TI: Were there any other Japanese Americans working there when you got there?

KY: No, not at the time.

TI: But then later on some came?

KY: There were others.

TI: And what was your job?

KY: I was a secretary in the college students, the student Christian movement organization, this is what we worked with.

TI: Were the people at the YWCA, were they aware of where you had just come from and did you have discussions or conversations about that with them?

KY: No, not really, not really. We didn't talk that much about it.

TI: So how did you know that they knew?

KY: Well, it just... it's the way they related to you and how supportive they were. But I really... it was not something that we talked about. In those days I think... and I don't know whether I would've been able to really talk about it, to be honest with you. I mean it was such a difficult and a painful experience.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2011 Densho. All Rights Reserved.