<Begin Segment 7>

BY: And so when did your family return to Seattle? When was it when they got the new dry cleaning business, do you know?

HH: When did the war end?

BY: '45.

HH: '45, so we must have gone about '46.

BY: Okay. And so you moved back to Seattle and your parents opened a dry cleaning business?

HH: Right. And we lived in the back and upstairs.

BY: Okay, all right. And then you started school in Seattle. And where did you go to school and what do you remember about that?

HH: St. James Cathedral, which was just about three blocks from where we lived. And I was in second grade by then.

BY: Was that the logical school for you to go to, or your parents make an intentional choice for you to go there?

HH: Yeah, it was an intentional choice. They wanted us, my sister and I to have a Catholic education because of the reputation that a Catholic education had at that time for good education versus the public schools.

BY: Did they have to pay tuition for you to go to there, do you know?

HH: Uh-huh. My tuition for that year, or at the cathedral was, I think it was eighteen dollars a year for non-Catholics. For Catholics it was nine dollars a year.

BY: So was that stretch for your family or not?

HH: Yeah, I think it was, a little bit.

BY: And did your sister also go there?

HH: No, she was in Washington school, Washington Middle School.

BY: Okay. So she did not go to the Catholic school then?

HH: Right, but she did go to a Catholic high school after that.

BY: Interesting. And what was school like for you?

HH: Fun.

BY: Okay, so you liked it?

HH: Oh, yes.

BY: What did you like about it?

HH: I think everything. I was the only Nihonjin in the whole school, I think. But I didn't feel any prejudice or anything, everybody was very kid-like.

BY: And who were your friends? Do you remember a particular friend or two?

HH: Yeah. Some are still living and we do talk, get together, have reunions. So I do remember a number of things.

BY: And they were all hakujin or white?

HH: Hakujin, Filipino, Black, American Indian. And I think that covers it.

BY: So very diverse, it sounds like.

HH: Yes, uh-huh.

BY: Was it a really diverse school? I don't really know much about it.

HH: I'd say so, yeah.

BY: And how many kids were in your class, would you guess?

HH: Probably about average, thirty for all eight classes, eight years, I mean.

BY: And you said you liked everything about it. What did you think of your teachers? What were your teachers like?

HH: They were fun. One was very strict, that hardly anybody liked, but she was a really funny person, I enjoyed out of class, she was a really fun person to be with.

BY: And what did you do out of class or after school or on weekends?

HH: Play. [Laughs] After school, yeah, basically played. The neighborhood kids, we'd all get together and go to the empty lot and play kickball or what's the other... kick the can.

BY: And the cleaners you said was on Madison and what?

HH: Eighth. Between Seventh and Eighth.

BY: Okay, all right, yeah, very close to the church then, the cathedral then.

HH: Oh, yes.

BY: And so you would just play in the neighborhood?

HH: Uh-huh.

BY: Was there any particular place that you would play, or games?

HH: Well, there was an empty lot that we played in, and then there was an alley right next to us. There was an old wood panel truck, maybe, panel? Anyway, we'd go pretend like we're driving.

BY: Do you have any particular childhood memories, activities or an event or something that happened in your childhood that really stands out to you?

HH: I can't think at the moment, no.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 2022 Densho. All Rights Reserved.