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Dee Goto: Today is April 9, 1998, so, we're here in your home. So, tell me how long you've lived here?

Sarah S.: I think '63. We moved here in '63, so this is '90 what, '97... '98? It would be thirty-five years? Is that right?

DG: Something like that.

SS: Yeah. And we lived in the U-district for five years, from '57 until '63. And then, when we went to look for -- because we were at the University student housing -- when we went to MacPherson, no one would come to offer to help us because they had the discrimination. And one of the salesperson came up and told Ken that, "We're not supposed to be showing you any houses." And so we went across the street to Mutual Realty, and they were the ones that helped us find, and we got this old apartment house on 4142 11th Avenue, near the University. We stayed there five years but when Ned started school, it was too dangerous for him to be crossing Roosevelt and 11th Avenue, so we started to look for a house and then well, we came here. And Gorai had a friend who helped them find a house on 97th because of the discrimination. Right? And they didn't have open housing. And she... who was that coach, Grayson lived here. And then when his term ended right here, Virginia came and asked him if he didn't mind selling a house to an Asian family and he says no. And for that reason we were able to move into this house even if they didn't have that open housing.

DG: Did you feel uncomfortable moving...

SS: No, no.

DG: ...into an area...

SS: No, no.

DG: ...without...?

SS: If I did, we wouldn't have the shouji screens.

DG: Now, tell about the shouji screen. How did you...?

SS: Well, Fred Sugita was married to my second cousin, and he was from Japan and he was a very good carpenter. And he did all the Japanese type of carpentry, right?

DG: Because you said you wanted to show...?

SS: So when -- Ken loved to work on wood -- so, I figured we would like something to show people that we were not white. And so Ken and I, Ken says we should have maybe a shouji screen. We asked Fred if he would help Ken. And Fred said, yeah, he would teach Ken how to make the shouji screen, so for that reason we have shouji screen in our living room window and dining room window.

DG: Ken is your husband.

SS: Uh-huh.

DG: And you've raised three children here.

[Interruption]

SS: The family who rented a house two doors down (and) they were walking up the street and they saw (our) shouji screen and so they came knocking on the door and they said, "Oh it must be a Japanese family, if they have a shouji screen." So when they came and we started talk. They said, the husband was with Sumitomo Forestry. So we got to know them.

DG: That's neat. So then, you raised three children.

SS: Three children.

DG: Ned and...

SS: Gwen and Fay.

DG: Fay.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 1998 Densho. All Rights Reserved.