Densho Digital Archive
Manzanar National Historic Site Collection
Title: Massie Hinatsu Interview
Narrator: Massie Hinatsu
Interviewer: Richard Potashin
Location: Portland, Oregon
Date: July 22, 2010
Densho ID: denshovh-hmassie-01-0015

<Begin Segment 15>

MH: We're diverting again.

RP: Oh, that's all right. It's more effective than... can you describe your educational experiences in camp, Massie?

MH: Right, one whole block, Block 22, was part of the junior high school complex. And they were just barracks. The barracks were not changed except putting a wall in between if they had two classrooms or whatever. And the teachers that I had as a seventh grader, she was, her name was Miss Tharp. And I, you know if I remember correctly, she was a missionary in Japan at one time. They were all educated. They all had degrees to teach and the other teacher was Miss Grimm and she was much more strict. Poor Miss Tharp had a hard time with the boys. They just were so horrible.

RP: Wild?

MH: Oh, I mean, you know, they would throw things and etcetera. And she had... she didn't have very good control, okay. But, you know, they really tried to teach us. I don't really know if I learned. I don't know what I was supposed to learn in seventh and eighth grade anyway, okay. We had a pretty good math teacher and it was a he. We had good PE facilities. They always had baseball, all kinds of stuff for us to do. And finally, and finally they did build a big gym which was very nice. And I think they built it maybe when I was in the eighth grade. 'Cause I can still remember otherwise I wouldn't have remembered since I was already gone. I can remember walking to school and my friend, she lived in Block 39. And we lived in Block 32 and I could hear her coming down, "Clump, clump, clump, clump." Because she wore these clog-hoppers we called them. And I knew when she was coming. And we'd join up and, and then we'd go up after another girl, Mary, and we'd all walk together, to school together. So those were my two good school chums and, and whether it was cold, windy, whatever, I just can remember it being so cold that, you know, you get little icicles in your nose and your cheeks would get fire-red because it was so cold in the wintertime. And we all walked. There was transportation. You could, I guess catch a truck or something if you had to.

<End Segment 15> - Copyright © 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.