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Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Mary Kato - Frances Kajita Nishi Interview
Narrators: Mary Kato, Frances Kajita Nishi
Interviewers: Barbara Yasui (primary), Tom Ikeda (secondary)
Location: Seattle, Washington
Date: March 17, 2022
Densho ID: ddr-densho-1000-494-5

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BY: So we're going to talk about growing up in Mosier. So we understand that your family moved from Hood River to Mosier in 1925 when Mary was just a baby and Frances hadn't been born yet. Mary, what did your family do in Mosier?

MK: We moved to a Mosier apple orchard, farm, that was owned by Masuo Yasui of Hood River. And so we worked for them and their family. And then, as they said, everybody was raising apples then. But we started by doing the orchard first, and then later as apples were growing and apple orchards would have its day already. So we started raising asparagus, tomatoes, green beans, all the vegetable things that they trucked into Portland to sell at the market. That's what we were doing.

BY: And what do you remember about growing up in Mosier?

MK: I was born in Hood River, but before I was toddling, we moved to Mosier, so I was a real baby when I moved to Mosier.

BY: What do you remember about --

MK: So I grew up all the time in Mosier, Oregon, which was a little town about ten miles up Hood River. And so I went to school, began going to school in 1930 and in 1942 I was supposed to graduate, but we had to move because of the evacuation.

BY: So what do you remember about growing up in Mosier? What activities did you do?

MK: Well, I was growing up, so you know, I grew up all those school kids. In my grade, there was only twelve. [Laughs] So we were a small class. And we grew up doing mostly what kids do, you know.

BY: Frances, do you want to chime in here?

MK: I have to think about what I read...

BY: Well, first of all, tell about, for you, what was it like growing up in Mosier?

FN: When I was growing up, I remember --

MK: Did what most students, kids did, you know. We were farming, so we didn't get to go very many places. But mostly, yeah, 4-H club.

BY: Tell about that.

MK: Then we, for two weeks, we could go to Oregon State at 4-H summer school. So most of us at one time or another got to go Oregon State College for the 4-H club. And Wasco County was a big county, you know, where Mosier was, and when we used to have 4-H Wasco County meeting, we'd get on the bus and go to Wasco County and up on these... which is on the way.

BY: [Addressing TI] Ask her if she ever entered anything in the Wasco County Fair.

TI: At the what fair?

BY: Wasco County Fair. I'm thinking she was in 4-H, that they had a Wasco County Fair, that she was in 4-H, she must have entered something.

MK: Uh-huh, you know, like sewing club and cooking and all that. And so we actually did.

BY: Did you ever win a prize?

MK: Yes. [Laughs]

BY: For what? [Laughs]

MK: Everybody won something one time or another.

TI: Participation.

BY: All right, Frances. You were adding on to some things that you know that Mary did.

FN: Oh, I mean, since it was a small school, she participated in basketball. She was taking violin lessons and things like that.

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