Densho Digital Archive - Yosh Nakamura Interview (denshovh-nyosh

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SY: So I'm sorry about the time running out, but I really want to talk a little bit about your life postwar and all your accomplishments from...

YN: Sure. Okay.

SY: And we have very little time to do it, but I know that you ended up going to college after the war on the GI Bill, right?

YN: Yes.

SY: So you got a degree from where and when?

YN: Okay. Well, I got my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and my Master of Fine Arts degree from USC, and I would say that I think I may be one of the first to feel the impact of affirmative action before it was even known as that. When I went to UCLA to request to become part of their teacher training program in the summer, and Dr. Bond, who is a compassionate fellow, said, "You know, we don't usually do this to people from USC, but we'll make an exception here. And besides," he said, "you folks have gone through a lot." So he let me come in on a summer program to finish my teacher training, student teacher training.

SY: And your major was art?

YN: Art, yes.

SY: So your goal was to be in art?

YN: Yes, I got my Master of Fine Arts degree and at the same time I was getting enough units to qualify for a credential, and I needed one more semester of teacher training -- practice teaching -- so I was able to go to Emerson Junior High School and be part of the UCLA program. So I'd say probably the strongest affirmative action program at that particular time was to allow an SC student to take part in something like that where there was limited enrollment in the teacher training program.

SY: And did you have trouble finding a job then?

YN: Yes, I did. You know, there was still some resentment of Japanese Americans, so there were a few places where I went where they liked me but there were people higher up that didn't want to hire a Japanese American. There was one place where I went, the administrators, the teachers, all the people who interviewed me said they want me there, but when they presented my name to the board, one or two members, maybe more, had problems with it. So they had to renege on any offer that they (made). But it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Grace mentioned to you that one of them happened to be the superintendent of the Whittier Union High School District, and he was a very broadminded, compassionate person. When I applied, they interviewed me. The principal, who was a new principal, he liked me. So I was hired. When I reported for work I was really pleased that Wally Leonard, as I mentioned, he was a friend since Columbia School days and El Monte High School days, was a counselor at Whittier High School, and Paul Gardner, who was my glee club director, was a counselor, or psychologist, for the district. So I felt very much at home, and the teachers treated me very well. In fact, in 1960 I was elected teacher's club president. That same year there was no Teacher of the Year awards by districts at that time, but the Whittier Women's Club wanted to honor a teacher. So my name was brought up and they selected me to be the Teacher of the Year for Whittier area, and then I got that. Then they nominated me for San Gabriel Valley and I got that. And I was nominated for the state and someone else got that, and that person, who was from San Bernardino, went on and became the national Teacher of the Year, so my hat's off to her.

SY: But the majority of your career was spent at Rio Hondo College?

YN: Well, yes. I was at Whittier High School for eleven years and established a very good reputation. My hiring president, Dr. Phil Putnam, said there is something about teachers, there is an aura that develops, nobody knows how it happens, but said it happens and when that happens, he said, "As an administrator, we're lucky to get into that well." And he said, "You seem to fit that description." So Morris Bergen, who was vice president, and Phil Putnam, the president, and the board hired me, and I was the first faculty member (to sign a contract at) this new community college. It was called Whittier Junior College at the time. I had to sign a contract with the college. Being the first faculty member to sign a contract and being an artist and being Japanese American, there are two historic things that happened because usually you might think that, well, there might be more at the end of the line, but they have treated me very well.