Densho Digital Archive - Nancy Iwami Interview (denshovh-inancy-01-0020)

<Begin Segment 20>

MA: And during that time, was Charlie also doing, sort of, manual labor, working in the fields?

NI: Uh-huh, he was working in the field, but he did not go back into barbering, he started to do gardening work, 'cause he always liked flowers. And that's what he did, and he enjoyed it. And good people to work for, they were all good people.

MA: And how many, did most of the Japanese families eventually return to Watsonville after the war?

NI: Well, I don't know if I can say most. But this is what my husband said, though. Said he feels like a stranger in Watsonville, there are so many new people. Lots of new people came because we had strawberries, the big bosses wanted... not, yeah, sharecroppers, I guess. So lots of people. And eventually, they went on their own, too, or the kids grew up. You know, I'm almost proud to say that so many of the third generation, the children all went to school, colleges, the parents were in camp and everything, but their children. And I'm sure they're doing well.

MA: And so after a few years, after the war, what did you, what did you do? What type of work after you finished in the fields?

NI: Oh, I finished, well, when we quit field work, I went into, one person said, "I'm not gonna, I'm not going to work there anymore. Do you want to do domestic?" And I said, "Gee, I haven't done domestic." "Oh, you can learn, it's easy." So I worked for a doctor's family for a long time, and they were real good people, the husband and wife were doctors.

MA: What was the name of the, of the couple?

NI: Dr. Taine Bell and Dr. Janet Bell.

MA: Oh, so the woman was also a doctor?

NI: Pardon?

MA: So the wife was also a doctor?

NI: She was a pediatrician and he took care of the older people. What do we call them?

MA: Geriatric?

NI: Geriatric and heart, and real nice couple.

MA: And did you work just with them?

NI: Just for them. I was, at first I was going here and there and then all of a sudden, just this one place, (...) "Oh, it's not hard, go over there." They had three children, too, so it was not bad. Took care of the kids.