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VY: How long was your family in Minidoka after you were born?

DC: Okay, yes. So I left in October of 1945, October of '45, so I was about a year and a half when we moved to Chicago. And my father, we were one of the last to leave, and I remember my sister, Betty, telling me that she was really upset because everybody had gone and they were practically the last ones to leave, but my father was holding out with the notion that he might return to Oregon. But none of my brothers and sisters wanted to go back because there were these headlines that said, "Japs not wanted here," it was very, very racist. And so he realized that if he wanted to stay with the family, he would have to go to Chicago where Dorothy and her husband had already purchased a building and Ruth had followed with her husband. So it felt like it was a logical choice for him (my father) to make, however, he never liked the jobs he had there, he always talked about Hood River and how beautiful it was, so I think there was this great longing for it in his life.

VY: What kind of jobs did he have to take in Chicago?

DC: I think he worked making bamboo furniture, or rattan, rattan was the word they used, rattan furniture. And it was in a factory, and, of course, Chicago is concrete. I mean, there are parts of the city that are absolutely beautiful, but it's the architecture, it's not the natural world unless you go to Lincoln Park or Grant Park at that time, and the lake. So I think he felt very much out of place there, and I don't think he was a very happy person. And then my mother eventually went to work, and she worked in an insulation factory. And she got there by mistake, and somehow they were hiring, so she was hired there. And she became a very influential figure there in the factory because Mr. (Thomas C.) Russell, who was the owner, and who had invented this kind of fiberglass insulation, was having a hard time making ends meet. And so I believe it was for two weeks that my mother worked for free. Now that is so Japanese, right? I mean, like, who would do that, right? And so he became very indebted to my mother. And so she hired, she helped him hire many Issei from the Japanese American community. And they went to work there, and, of course, you know, Asians work hard. And then eventually my dad went to work there. And so my brother, Junior, also went to work there, and Mr. Russell really liked my brother, Junior, wanted my brother, Junior, to stay on, to manage the place for him, and Junior said, "No, I don't want to work here for the rest of my life." And so Mr. Russell told my mom, "Well, if he wants to go to Northwestern" -- and Mr. Russell was an alumnus of Northwestern -- "I can get him in." And so he got my brother into dental school, and that's how my brother became a dentist. And it was all really due to my, I mean, obviously my brother had to complete the studies and everything, but it was really due to my mother's stoic nature that this happened for our family, and they (Mr. Russell and my mother) remained friends for all their lives. She was given money by Mr. Russell on a yearly basis that helped support her church. My mother became a very devout Christian and a pillar of her church.

VY: Was she brought up a Christian?

DC: No, this is the interesting thing because she was Shinto and my father was Buddhist. And she would always go to church, she really liked it. That was part of the community in Chicago, was going to church. It (Japanese Church of Jesus Christ) was an Issei congregation, and Reverend (Andrew Yoshimatsu) Oyama was, I think, the first to be their minister. And she had many friends there, and it gave her a great sense, I think, of satisfaction, that she was able to help her church by Mr. Russell giving them this money on a yearly basis. So he was honoring her dedication to his business.

VY: Oh, that's interesting. So your mom made quite an impact once she was living in Chicago.

DC: Yes, independent of the family in a way, and certainly, to my great unhappiness because as soon as we landed in Chicago, she was out in the world, and I was stuck at home with this eighty-year-old man who was my grandfather.

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