<Begin Segment 16>

RM: What do you think the influence of Ralph Merritt coming to Manzanar right before that riot?

MS: Very... well, that was so early, that was December, the place only started in September, October, November... he was very good. They couldn't have had a better one.

RM: What was he like?

MS: He was a very nice man, his wife Virginia was very nice. She was a chain smoker, I remember her, she was a nice little lady, they were very friendly. I had been in their home a number of times, and I don't think they could have had a better director.

RM: Did you, could you describe what his home was like in the administrative area at Manzanar?

MS: What, his home?

RM: Yes.

MS: Well, no, I really can't, it had to be a barrack, and it was little more pretentious, maybe, because they were a middle aged couple, and they brought what they could, probably a little more roomy. But it wasn't luxurious or anything like that.

RM: Do you remember the staff offices on First Street when you first went into the camp and there were those white buildings that had administration offices in them? Do you remember any of those?

MS: Well, I remember the... what would you call him, the fiscal guy? He was there for quite a while and then he left. I had a note from him once, too.

RM: I'm going to remember his name as soon as this interview's over. [Laughs]

MS: Isn't that funny? I can see him, but I can't remember. But he was very good, and I remember Salisbury, I forget his first name, he was a funny guy, funny little guy.

RM: Oh, you mentioned David Bromley, could you tell me about him?

MS: Well, he often... where did he live in Independence? Either Independence or Lone Pine, but he often came down, and he was a poet and I think he had a little book of poetry. And I believe I have one here. And he was a very, very nice man, middle aged man. He was concerned about the people at Manzanar. And also Ansel Adams used to come down, you know.

RM: Did you meet him?

MS: I never did. I saw him, but I don't remember... because he was always busy going around taking photographs. He was very interested in the place.

RM: Did you have a camera of your own when you were there?

MS: We didn't take pictures. I had a little Brownie camera, and I had very... I don't really have any. No, I was not a picture taker.

RM: Uh-huh. Did you ever remember meeting any other photographers there?

MS: No.

KL: Did you go to the exhibit of Ansel Adams' photographs of Manzanar?

MS: You mean last year?

KL: No, in the 1940s there was an exhibit of his photographs of Manzanar.

MS: Of Ansel Adams.

KL: Mostly portraits.

RM: It was in Block 8.

MS: I don't remember whether I did or not.

RM: Well, there's... I wanted to ask you about a building specifically, because it was going up in the beginning of 1944, right after you got back from Mexico, I guess, and that would be the camp auditorium. Do you remember that being built just to the north of Block 7?

MS: I don't.

RM: Okay, and it's the building that we now house all of our [inaudible] and everything, yeah.

MS: Yeah, I know. I know after it was built, but I don't remember its building.

RM: How did the camp change once it had that big space to hold events in?

MS: Well, I think people could come together more , and it was used a lot, and the high school used it a lot for their plays and their musicals. It was a meeting place.

RM: Do you remember going to any of the events in there?

MS: I went to all of them. I think the teachers went to all of them, because what else was there to do?

RM: Do you remember any memorial services in there like Frank Arakawa's?

MS: I'm sure I went to some of them, but I don't know. And occasionally I would go to one of the blocks, if it was somebody that I knew, like somebody's father and grandfather or somebody. And I do remember going to one of their churches there.

RM: Oh, one of the churches that was inside of Manzanar?

MS: Uh-huh.

RM: Yeah, there was a Buddhist church, a Catholic church and a Protestant church. Do you remember which one you went to?

MS: Well, I probably went to all of them for one reason or another. Not on a regular basis, but...

RM: Yeah. What did you think of the way that the churches were set up?

MS: Well, I thought they were set up just fine.

RM: Did you get to know any of the ministers?

MS: I didn't.

RM: Well, Kristen, I want to ask if you have camp questions.

KL: I actually do. The first one is I wondered if you attended a church regularly while you were in the Owens Valley.

MS: I really didn't. I went to church frequently there, but I didn't go every Sunday. To tell you the truth, I probably slept in Sunday morning because of the dance on Saturday night. Well, you know, it would be late, and by the time you got back, it would be in Independence, by the time you got a ride back to camp... oh, I lived in, what am I talking about? I lived in Independence then. But by the time I got back to Mary Savage's house, I just felt like sleeping in in the morning.

KL: When did you move to Independence?

MS: You know, I can't remember. I think right around the first of the year.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2015 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.