<Begin Segment 23>

DG: Kiyo, tell me a little bit about your University of Washington experience.

KS: Yes. When I was in high school, I had a wonderful home economics teacher. She used to repeat over and over again, "Kiyo, you've just got to do something for your people. I want you to get a good education and you could be a leader among them." She was very enthusiastic, and so when I entered the University, of course I expected to major in home economics, do some work in the nutrition field. And the world, I felt was limitless. And I think when I first started the University, I was quite excited. The classrooms were wonderful and the choice of subjects were just great. I majored in home economics and I did well in the classroom. Each year, the head of the home economics department would have a tea, an afternoon tea, for any of the majors, in our class, to come to her house and we would talk things over. When she had a tea this one afternoon, I went and each one of us got up and gave our little spiel about what we wanted to accomplish and what we wanted to do. When it came my turn to speak, I told her that I wanted to major in nutrition and hopefully find out new things about food which make everybody healthy. She said those are very commendable goals and she wished me lots of luck. But she didn't think that if I graduated in home economics and in nutrition that she would be able to get a job for me after I had done all my schooling. Of course I was just crushed because she was shutting the door on the future, and I was feeling very sad and it was during that time that I was taking organic chemistry and enjoyed it very much. When I went to my organic chemistry class, I was sitting there, feeling a little dejected, and the rest of the students had left the room and so the professor came up to me and said, "Well, Miss Kamikawa, what's the matter with you?" I told him well, I was a little bit distressed, because I found out that the head of the department isn't going to be able to help me at all when I finished my schooling. And he said, "Oh, that's just nonsense. Why don't you just change your major and become a chemistry major? I'll get you a job, I'll guarantee you one!" I felt so good after that, that I promptly went and changed my major so then in my sophomore year I became a chemistry major.

DG: Why did the teacher say she couldn't get you a job?

KS: Because that's the way it was. Now, every hospital has dieticians, every hotel, any institution, even airlines, hire nutritionists to plan their menus and things like that. But in those days, if there were any, they certainly didn't go to a minority.

DG: Did it have anything to with the fact that you were Japanese also?

KS: She felt it was because I was Japanese that she could never place me anyplace, yes. The chemistry professor felt that in the world of science, there was not that prejudice and if you had ability, you could get work anywhere. And this was, it was the first time really in my life that I felt there was that kind of prejudice in the world and it was a little distressing.

<End Segment 23> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.