<Begin Segment 10>

BN: So you end up in Des Moines, and you mentioned you lived in the hostel. What do you remember about the hostel? The living conditions, where you were, what sort of room you were in, that kind of thing?

WS: Well, it was kind of nice, because, first of all, they're all Japanese Americans there. And got to know people and learned the food.

BN: I'm sorry, learned...

WS: Learned about new food. That was kind of nice.

BN: Were you in, were you and your parents all together in one room?

WS: Yeah. I don't remember, but we were in the hostel for a while, then we got an apartment.

BN: So from the hostel you moved out to an apartment?

WS: Yeah.

BN: And then the hostel, this was run by the American Friends, right?

WS: Yeah.

BN: Were there other kinds of activities or... because you had mentioned help with getting jobs and so forth?

WS: Yeah, I helped to get furniture and stuff for people.

BN: For when they moved to their own place?

WS: Yeah. So they were very nice people.

BN: Was there much interaction with the local community in Des Moines?

WS: Not that I know of, no.

BN: Do you remember the, I think the Wilburs, do you remember them?

WS: Who?

BN: The Wilburs, Ross Wilbur and Lily? They were kind of the managers of the hostel.

WS: Oh, Wilbur, name was Wilbur.

BN: Yeah.

WS: Ross Wilbur.

BN: Yeah, do you remember them?

WS: Oh, yeah.

BN: What do you remember about...

WS: Oh, they were very nice and they helped people find furniture and stuff like that, find jobs, they were good people.

BN: Do you remember about how long you were there?

WS: Hmm?

BN: Do you remember about how long you were at the hostel?

WS: Hostel? Not too long, but everybody would go back on the weekends and so forth and meet new people and have dinner together and everything, it was nice.

BN: Even after you'd moved out, you'd kind of socialize?

WS: Right.

BN: How nice. Now, you now are continuing your schooling, so you were going to school in Des Moines also. What do you remember about that, or can you tell us about that?

WS: Oh, it was okay. We had one friend, I think, that's about it. I don't know. How long were we there anyway?

BN: Were there other Nisei kids that you went to school with, or were you the only one?

WS: No, I was there, but what's her name? What's her name? Hohri. Hohri, his wife went to the same school. I don't know her too well, she was in the same school.

BN: Is this William Hohri?

WS: Hmm?

BN: William Hohri?

WS: Yeah.

BN: His wife?

WS: His wife.

BN: Was also at your...

WS: North High School.

BN: In Des Moines?

WS: Yeah.

BN: They weren't married at the time?

WS: No. And then she moved to Chicago, I guess.

BN: How about the other kids? Did they treat you okay?

WS: Yeah, okay, it was, we didn't really make a lot of friends or anything, no. I had one friend, that's about it. We weren't really integrated, in a sense.

BN: So what kind of work did your parents do while you were in Iowa?

WS: I don't know.

BN: Yeah, 'cause you weren't there that long.

WS: No. Any kind of work, any kind of job they could get, I guess.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2019 Densho. All Rights Reserved.