<Begin Segment 14>
AL: Just to go back a little bit to Miss Stuart. When you were talking about enrolling for college you said she referred to you as her daughter?
AS: Yes, foster daughter.
AL: Foster daughter.
AS: Uh-huh.
AL: Did you consider her your mother?
AS: Well, I considered her my foster-mother. We always referred to as foster daughter, foster mother.
AL: Okay. What were the qualities that you most admired in Miss Stuart?
AS: Well the fact she had all seven of us, of us and she took care of elementary, she took care of her mother, elderly mother, and she taught kindergarten fulltime.
AL: Did, what do you remember about her personality-wise? I mean, was she stern, was she funny, was she serious, was she... I mean, how would you, for those of us who don't know her, how would you paint a picture of Miss Stuart?
AS: To me she was kind and she was strict. She did not, she did not allow us to roam the neighborhood. She did not allow us to go to other kids' homes. They had to come to our home. They didn't do that very often. And at least we had clothing and, and food... well, of course, the welfare helped a lot too. And then a lot of food. Yeah, she, she fed us adequately.
AL: Did you, did you have like social workers coming to visit and check on your status?
AS: I'm sure they did.
AL: Uh-huh. Do you know how much she received per child back in those days?
AS: I don't know. She, had seven foster kids so whatever the going rate.
AL: Uh-huh. What do you recall of her mother? Did you have any interactions with her elderly mother?
AS: Well, her elderly mother had Alzheimer's. But she liked to go out in the yard and just dig around the yard and hard worker, hard... I just remember her pushing a wheelchair full of stones and just dumping them out and, and that was her healthy outlook. 'Cause she was very anemic and of course she had Alzheimer's, was forgetful. And if she were allowed to go out the door she'd go down the street yelling, "Help me, help me." Yeah. I remember that.
AL: About how old was she, the mother?
AS: She was in her eighties and she died when she was about ninety, ninety-two, ninety-six.
AL: Do you recall her name?
AS: It's Ella C. Stuart. E-L-L-A and the middle initial is C, for Clark, and then Stuart, S-T-U-A-R-T.
AL: Okay. Do you know if that Clark had an E on the end of it? Or was it just Clark?
AS: No, it's just Stuart, S-T-U-A-R-T.
AL: How did, how did Miss Stuart make it with seven kids and an Alzheimer's mother and a fulltime job?
AS: Oh it kept her busy. So she didn't have a lot of time to socialize or to allow us to, she was very strict because she, the government, she had to account to the government. But then they all left so soon after Celeste and I arrived so it wasn't like she had 'em very long, all seven of us. She didn't have us all together very long.
AL: Was there a time when she had just you and Celeste?
AS: Yes, uh-huh. Just for a short time.
AL: Uh-huh.
AS: About a year, year and a half.
AL: That must have been a big difference when all the kids... you had so many kinds and then just two and then just one.
AS: Correct, yeah.
AL: How did, how did your life change?
AS: Well, with Celeste gone... when I was in, when I was in junior high I was a little bit, not incorrigible, but you know, when you're at that sensitive age and you don't have any father or mother, you know like a structure, and you had these friends at high school and you want to go out with them and she'd say no.
AL: What are the qualities that you least admired in Miss Stuart?
AS: Being strict.
AL: So you think that she was strict just for practical reasons or religious reasons or, I mean...
AS: For practical reasons. Yeah.
AL: Uh-huh.
AS: She didn't want my to get, my getting hurt or, you know, by other people or I guess she was afraid that I would not be kidnapped, but she didn't want me roaming around and getting into trouble like drugs or boys or whatever. [Laughs] She didn't like my going out with boys.
AL: Uh-huh. So she didn't date herself?
AS: No, she never dated, unfortunately.
AL: Do you know why?
AS: Her mother was kind of controlling. And then she took so much of her time to, she didn't have time to date.
AL: Uh-huh. Did she have siblings?
AS: Yeah, she did but they, they died. She like had seven siblings and they all died in infancy except for two sisters.
AL: Were those two sisters involved in her life or your life?
AS: Yes, they were both schoolteachers.
AL: Were they married?
AS: No. Except, I take it... the middle sister married a Chinese, and they just lived up the street from us. Yeah.
AL: What were the sisters' names?
AS: Elizabeth or, and then, was the first one. And then my mind is a blank regarding the other one, the other sister... Alice. Yeah, she's the one that passed away.
AL: Okay. Would that be unusual at that time for a Caucasian to marry a Chinese?
AS: Yes. In fact, her middle sister didn't, told her, the father, she met him on the bridge when he was coming home from work and said, "I married a Chinese." And she disappeared. I mean, she was gone like for a couple weeks and they were so worried. They thought maybe she was in a den, you know, the opium den, got kidnapped?
AL: Uh-huh.
AS: But they accepted him and he took such wonderful care of her 'til the end when she passed away.
AL: What do you know about Miss Stuart's father?
AS: I never met him. But I understand he was very kind. He was a minister for many years. And then when he retired, you know, to take care of Miss Stuart's mother, he passed away because he was crossing the street and the, and the dirt and he got tetanus, tetanus infected wound. And he passed away from lockjaw. But they took care of him at home.
AL: And that would be, do you know about what year?
AS: Probably, oh, that must have been in, before I was even born, in the 1930s.
AL: Do you recall his name?
AS: It was William Stuart.
AL: Okay.
<End Segment 14> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.