Densho Digital Archive
Densho Visual History Collection
Title: Sue Takimoto Okabe Interview
Narrator: Sue Takimoto Okabe
Interviewer: Alice Ito
Location: Seattle, Washington
Date: December 3, 1999
Densho ID: denshovh-osue-01

<Begin Segment 7>

AI: Well, now, about how long were you in Minidoka?

SO: Oh, very short time. Let's see -- 'cause we left in April of '43 for Denver.

AI: Now, how did that happen? Can you tell me a little bit about that? Because not all families were allowed to leave.

SO: As I understand it from my dad, my mother's younger brother in Los Angeles, who's a Kibei-Nisei, had chosen not to be evacuated, and went to Denver. And they had forwarded some money to him to buy property in Denver. And he bought an apartment house. And as long as he had proof of, of an immediate relative, of a place to stay, the government, for some reason, we were the first family as a family unit, allowed us to go. And that was primarily because my mother felt I was not attending school properly. I wasn't in school most of the time. And she wanted me to go to a regular school in Denver and get a proper education. She thought all that side-tracking was not good for me. My sisters were both out of high school. So this is why we went to Denver.

AI: Can you tell me a little bit about what that was like, leaving camp and taking the trip to Denver?

SO: I didn't want to go because I enjoyed camp so much and I liked my friends. And oh, yeah, I was having such a good time in camp. But yeah, we went to Denver. And the first summer I went to summer school, there was only one summer school at East High School. And that's when I met Justin Walter Brierley, who was a, a typing teacher at that time and also an attorney. And he told my parents that because of Restrictive Covenant Act in Denver, we were only allowed to live in certain areas, and that Manual was the only high school I would be able to attend. So, he took -- he became my legal guardian so that I could attend East High School, which he considered was a better school for some reason. And it probably was a better school. But it was about 3,000 student body. And I think there were three Asians my first year.

And gee, I have a mental block on the dean of women, her name. Did not find it too exciting that I had been, not adopted, but because of the guardianship -- Mr. Brierley taught at East High School as well as practiced law. And she would call me in regularly. Originally -- it started out once a month. Later it became weekly. And, and she would always say, "Frances, why, why don't you go to Manual where all your Jap friends are? Why don't you transfer to Manual?" But the, the students were pretty good. They had sororities, believe it or not, in high school. And I, I joined one called Thalia. They had a dance band. And I sang classically, but I did sing with them. Although the dean of girls did try to stop me, though. And the guys in the band said they would not appear on the program if I didn't sing with them. I remember it was Begin the Beguine.

AI: So it sounds like you had trouble from this dean.

SO: From the dean, and there was a history teacher. Olander, Mr. Olander. He was, he was pretty nasty too. But for the most part, it was pretty good.

AI: And your friends and the other students, it sounds like they stood up for you. They stood by you.

SO: Yeah. But it was not, it was not a happy environment to be going to school. I didn't like it.

AI: And could you tell me a little bit more about your family's relationship with Mr. Brierley? How did, how did he know your family?

SO: He just met me from the typing class. And then he wanted to know more about the evacuation. And he came to our house, talked to both my parents, and he started -- he was quite prominent in Denver. And so he brought a judge and a minister to prove that he was upstanding. And he went through quite a bit to, to verify his stature in the community. And then, I didn't live with him. In the summer sometimes I did, later. We became very close later.

AI: But it sounds like he convinced your parents that he really had your interest...

SO: Yes, he did.

AI: ...at heart.

SO: He did. He decidedly did.

AI: Do you know whether he assisted any other students this way?

SO: Not students, no. But he had other wards, yes. He had -- at that time, there was another young lady who was in her twenties, that she would come and visit.

AI: It sounds like he may have made a key difference in your time there?

SO: Well, yes, he did. Because it was through him I started to study law because he was a lawyer. He did not -- he wasn't thrilled about my music. But I was attending -- at the same time I was going to music school, Lamont School of Music, under the University of Denver, two, three days a week. My sister, Michi, got me into that school. So I was going to school three evenings a week.

<End Segment 7> - Copyright © 1999 Densho. All Rights Reserved.