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DG: And I don't know if at this point -- can you give a little history lesson on Executive Order 9066 and how that came about, what you know about that?

MW: I think it came about pretty much what I've already said, because of certain very racist, biased commentators. Some of the... some of the things that were written about the resident Japanese are disgusting to repeat. And there were things, politicians were saying, "You just can't trust these Japs, they're treacherous. Now, the Italians, you know, we can kind of figure out what the Italians are saying, but there's no way that we can know the Oriental mind." I mean, they were saying things like that which I see similarities today to what some people are saying, because there was a different religion, different customs, people didn't understand and didn't live side by side with them to recognize them as individuals. So that was played up on. There's a long history from the time the Chinese came about 1880 to work on the railroad when they stopped, when the railroad was completed, then they stayed to work in lumber and other areas in the west, and took jobs for less pay than what the European settlers were willing to do. And they were essentially forced out of, pretty much out of the West Coast and there was an end of immigration from China with the Chinese Exclusion Act around the turn of the century.

Then the Japanese came to fill the void, and they became very, very productive. They did take this garbage land, and through the skills that they had learned in Japan, they applied that here, and they were very diligent workers. And many of them had families whereas the Chinese didn't so much, so they became stable elements of the community. And by the time of the Second World War, were producing a great percentage of the small fruits and vegetables on the West Coast, so they were very successful. And tracing back to the Chinese, the Native Sons and Daughters of the Golden West, the American Legion, the unions, were, wanted to push out these new immigrants. And that happens with every, it happened with the Irish, it happened with the Italians when they came. It wasn't exclusive to Asians, but the Irish within a generation can lose the accent, and then it's kind of hard to pick out an Irishman from a German. But you can't change your face, and so it was very easy to continue the racist bias against Asians. And some elements of California in particular, but also the Northwest, we weren't immune from that. There was an article in the Washington Star about 1920, big headline: "Will This Remain a White Man's Land?" I mean, they were very concerned that we were getting diluted with this. And scare tactics: "they're going to come after your women." "They're breeding too fast." I mean, all these bizarre, but enough people bought into that because they didn't know the people, I think. Once you get to know the folks, I mean, that's been traditional in the waves of immigration that have come here, once you get to know them, then people go, "Oh, yeah, they're kind of like me."

But in enough places on the West Coast, they were not integrated into the community the way they were on Bainbridge. Many immigrants, I mean, from Finland and from Croatia and from the Philippines and all around the world came to the Port Blakeley mill to work, and they did have segregated areas where they lived. The Fins lived here, the Native Americans lived here, the Japanese lived here, the Hawaiians lived here, they had their little groups. But when the mill finally closed in about 1920, then people didn't go to, okay, this is now going to be Japantown, they went all over the island. Some went to the north end of the island, some went to the south end, and so their neighbors were Croatians or Fins and not necessarily another group of Japanese. So right from the get go, they were integrated into the community, and the schools were a great source of getting to know your neighbors. And by high school, Mother talked about that a lot because she saw that and she had a very sensitive and thoughtful analysis of a lot of things that she saw. She'd say, "Yeah, they were friends. They did everything together at school, they worked together, there was no animosity. They didn't integrate socially. They would all go to the dances but they didn't go together." She said, "Now, of course, they go together and they get married and nobody thinks anything of it." But at that time they were friends, and but that was the distinction that she made, that there was not this social blending, but that's the next step. But the schools were a great mixing pot.

DG: What did your mom teach?

MW: She taught a number -- I found out she taught a lot. Apparently she was the librarian, she taught sociology, she taught English, and I think something else. But I had no idea she taught sociology. [Laughs]

DG: And what was her personality like?

MW: She was very thoughtful, she was quiet, she was a very gentle woman.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2007 Densho. All Rights Reserved.