<Begin Segment 16>

RP: Did you have any, what are your, what are your recollections, Dorothy shared her recollections of this boarding house that was converted into a hostel --

SK: Oh, yeah.

RP: -- for internees coming out of the camps?

Off Camera: You didn't, you didn't live there though did you?

SK: Huh?

Off Camera: Did you move in?

SK: Oh yeah, uh-huh. Yeah.

RP: You lived in the hostel?

SK: Yeah, right. Yeah. We had our own room.

RP: Did you share a common bath?

Off Camera: We shared with Mary.

[Interruption]

SK: But it was, kind of a family atmosphere because all these people had come out of camps, kind of looked to our mother for guidance like.

RP: Would she do all the cooking or have other people...

SK: No, no. Everybody did their own cooking. They had their...

Off Camera: They had little a...

RP: Hot plates?

SK: Hot plates, I guess it was.

RP: In their rooms?

SK: Yeah, uh-huh.

RP: Oh.

SK: And...

Off Camera: And Mama also worked for Uncle. She went to the shop, too.

SK: Oh yeah, she did, yeah.

Off Camera: 'Cause it was just around the corner.

SK: Right.

RP: So it was a long line of small rooms in the hostel?

SK: Well, there was four, four stories, right?

Off Camera: Four stories.

SK: So...

Off Camera: Four of 'em was on each story.

SK: There were two or three on each floor, I think.

Off Camera: There were four.

SK: Four on each floor?

Off Camera: Four rooms, yeah.

SK: Four rooms. Uh-huh. Are you counting the basement?

Off Camera: No, not counting the basement. Yeah, the basement is, was a big room, too.

RP: Do you remember some of the families that lived there for...

SK: Yeah, I remember the, there was a couple and several single people, men and women. And, I know, I know our mom was really, really good to all of them.

RP: They spent, how long would they stay usually? Probably 'til they found a job and a place to live?

Off Camera: Some were there for the duration, I think. 'Cause after Mama left they were still there.

SK: They were, yeah, some were still there. Uh-huh. That had become home to them.

Off Camera: And no elevator. They had to walk up.

SK: Oh, yeah, walk ups.

<End Segment 16> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.