<Begin Segment 9>

BY: Okay, then you moved to Eugene, your husband was going to school and then working. You had, then, three kids, young kids.

CH: Yes, indeed.

BY: So what did you do in Eugene?

CH: So this is where I got really involved, because there was the Asian American Student Union. And there was also a class that designed an Asian American Cultural Center organization. And the person that taught that class, John Beckwith, wanted to actually make an Asian American Cultural Center. So some people reached out to me because they had heard about me. Said, "Do you want to be involved with this?" and so I said yes. And so a handful of us really built this Asian American Cultural Center in Eugene, and that's where we were, you know, really exploring our identity even in a deeper way. We had reading groups, we had women's groups, we organized with the student union, all the student unions, in fact, at that time. They were African American, Native American, Hispanic, all there on the campus, all extremely active. And so our organization included people on campus and off campus. So then I got a chance to meet a lot more people, and a lot more Asian Americans from all different ethnicities, and my education just grew and grew during that period of time of activism and Asian American identity. I founded a program called Children's Day, and every Saturday we brought all of our kids down to this building near the university, and taught them what it meant to be Asian American. So really my children helped me. I was like, well, what am I going to teach them about their identity? Their identity is not my identity, but it's my identity and my husband's, so I need to know more about who I am.

BY: So the children sort of sparked this search for your own identity?

CH: Oh, definitely, yeah.

BY: And what was it like being a biracial family in Eugene in the late '60s, early '70s.

CH: Yeah. In Eugene, it didn't seem so strange, because everybody was kind of strange. [Laughs] But like I said, I met lifelong friends during that time of organizing this, all around Asian American, learning about ourselves, creating this organization, doing fundraisers together, doing event planning, all of this, I learned a lot during that period of time.

BY: And was your husband also involved in student activities and that kind of thing?

CH: Oh, yeah. He went down there to run a program that was to service African Americans first, and then he was -- I'm reaching way back now -- the director of, it's called the Studies Skills Program. So anyone that, particularly students of color that needed additional help or a place to go to ask questions about the university, he was in charge of that program.

BY: So it sounds like it was then a pretty supportive environment for your family, then.

CH: Oh, yes, I feel that it was, definitely.

BY: So quite a contrast to Des Moines, then.

CH: Uh-huh. And I was still taking some dance classes and taking art classes, and would get my kids involved in different kinds of arts that I was interested in, too. Took pottery and gymnastics and all kinds of classes.

BY: So you were able to integrate your arts interest in with your community activism and the activities with your children then. At that point, were you thinking about how do I meld these two things? Or were they kind of separate, or what was your thinking?

CH: Which two things?

BY: Arts and community activism.

CH: It just was always a part of everything that I did. I mean, even raising my kids, they had their art corner set up, and I'd have everything set up for them to draw and paint and sculpt and play in the water, whatever it was, it was just a part of what I did with them, and then being close to the university, I still studied some drama and took a sculpting class, sculpture class.

BY: Were you dancing at that point?

CH: I took dance classes. I took dance classes at U of O.

BY: Okay, great.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2023 Densho. All Rights Reserved.