Densho Digital Archive - Chiyoko Yano Interview (denshovh-ychiyoko-01-0005)

<Begin Segment 5>

MA: And where did you attend grade school or grammar school?

CY: Where'd I go grammar school? Oh, my first one was in, it was a schoolhouse on Riverside Road, (called Railroad School).

MA: Oh, that's okay.

CY: And then the next one was in Hill, they call Hill School, and that was way out in the country where we had to walk about five miles to go. Because there were no buses those days, we have to either walk, or you can't go, somebody would have to take us. But we used to all walk together. And the next was, I came into town, I mean, we lived outskirt of Watsonville, so we went to school, they called (Watsonville grammar school). It's in town. I did the, I went to grammar school there, and then Watsonville High School.

MA: So you went to three different grammar schools before...

CY: Three, three grammar school and then Watsonville High School, yes. I graduated class of '38.

MA: So I'm curious about the grammar schools like the Hill School and the one on Riverside. What were the facilities like?

CY: Well, the one I remember, Hill School, it was like one school with one teacher that had eight classes, all the classes from first grade through eighth grade, and she took care of everybody. And so when I went, came to Watsonville, it was about sixth grade, I was behind. I didn't know a lot of fraction because they didn't teach at the other school. So it was kind of hard for me until I caught on. (Narr. note: Railroad School I don't remember too much because I was there only in the first grade.)

MA: And how many, at Hill School, for example, how many students were in your class?

CY: Gee...

MA: Was it like ten?

CY: Maybe about thirty.

MA: Thirty?

CY: I'm not sure. That's a long time ago. [Laughs]

MA: And who was this teacher? Was she a Caucasian lady?

CY: Yeah, Caucasian lady, uh-huh. Can't even remember her name.

MA: It's okay. [Laughs] The area where you grew up, who were your neighbors and what was that area like? Were they mostly Japanese American?

CY: No, they were, Hill School had all nationality, but it's only Caucasian and Japanese. Because I never knew there were Mexicans in those days. They're all Caucasian, they're all people that live out in the country, you know.

MA: Doing farming?

CY: Mostly, yeah, farm family. But when I came into town, they were from, people that lived in town and the country, like, I had to walk to come into town because I live in the outskirt of Watsonville.

MA: How long would that take you, to walk into town?

CY: Thirty minutes, I guess.

MA: So did you help out on the farm at all when you were growing up?

CY: (Yes, but very little. I was a baby sitter for my brother and sister.)

MA: Did you help out on the farm or help your dad?

CY: Yes, uh-huh. We had to work in the farm.

MA: So what types of things did you do?

CY: Pick berries, I think, yeah, when we were little, (watch the irrigation).