<Begin Segment 12>

AL: So your, you said you enjoyed school. What was your favorite subject?

AS: It was art.

AL: Oh that's right. I'm sorry. You said that.

AS: And then English.

AL: Uh-huh. So did you do drawing?

AS: I did hours. I used to do portraits.

AL: Do you still?

AS: Once in a while. Like when I was a, a nurse and working with a family doctor, when they ever had surgery I would draw a picture in the chart where the lesion were or where the... they got such a big kick out of it. The anesthesiologist and surgeon would see my drawing and they, they really were impressed. I mean, I just did it because it was a fun thing to do.

AL: When did you start drawing?

AS: When I was small like I was about maybe eight years old. I would sit for hours and do portraits, you know, like just a pencil.

AL: Do you still have any of them?

AS: I think I have a couple of them, yes.

AL: Really. I know some people say they do art because it's sort of a form of release. You know, they channel their feelings or emotions or whatever.

AS: Uh-huh.

AL: How would you characterize art for you? Besides just something fun to do.

AS: Well, it probably was a release, too. Because I would sit in the backyard, in Miss Stuart's backyard and draw away the hours under the tree.

AL: Uh-huh. Did you play with the other children there at her place?

AS: To be... I really don't remember playing with them.

AL: Okay. What was the, it sounds like she had children of all different backgrounds?

AS: Yes.

AL: Did you have either there or in school or other places as a child any sense of being Japanese or being different? Were there any... what can you tell us about that?

AS: Well, some of the kids would, would call me "Jap." And then when I was in junior high I think I said in the story, that I went... we were in a classroom and I went up behind a boy and I just, just to be friendly. And he turned around and he said, "What do you want, you Jap?" And, of course I was startled. That really hurt.

AL: What about the other kids at Miss Stuart's? Did they, did they treat you well?

AS: Oh, yes. Uh-huh. As far as I... I didn't get in fights with them or anything.

AL: Did, did I ask you where Miss Stuart lived?

AS: She, oh, she lived in Los Angeles.

AL: In what area?

AS: Well, actually we're living in the house. When she passed away she willed the house to us so we're living in a two story house in the, in our property.

AL: Where is that?

AS: That's in Highland Park, Los Angeles, near south Pasadena.

AL: Okay. Did you have interactions with other kids of Japanese ancestry or other Asian American kids in your area?

AS: Yes, I went to church and that was when I came out of nursing school. I started attending a Japanese church in Los Angeles and then in college. And then when we got married we attended the Japanese church for a while.

AL: Is this Japanese Christian church?

AS: Yes.

AL: Okay.

<End Segment 12> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.