<Begin Segment 8>

AL: What, what was daily life like there?

AS: Well, of course, Miss Stuart had her elderly mother. And then she would give us a task like washing dishes or doing gardening. So I was washing dishes on a stepstool in the kitchen. Or washing or drying, probably drying the dishes.

AL: Did you get an allowance for that or that was...

AS: Oh no, no allowances.

AL: What did Celeste do?

AS: I believe, I don't remember what she did. She might have done some yard work.

AL: Uh-huh. Celeste sounds like she was a very lively child.

AS: Oh yes. Very lively.

AL: What do you, what do you remember about Celeste?

AS: Well she spoke her mind. She was very, she could con her way into or out of anything. Yeah, very quick on the mind. And outspoken which is, which is good in a way because she stood up for her, her own rights or own self.

AL: Right. And I know we're gonna be doing an interview her. Richard's gonna be interviewing her later today. But, could you give us just a very, very brief sketch of what you know of her background?

AS: Well, I believe, well, she must have had some kind of Japanese blood in her because she ended up in the camp. And I met her mother once 'cause she took her, she, her mother called herself Mrs. Young and she had long straight, coarse black hair. And she took us out I think to some kind of, like a ostrich farm which is not too far from us. And then that's all I remember about her. And Celeste said she didn't want to see her, her mother again.

AL: Was her mother Japanese American?

AS: I thought she was Chinese but she must have had some kind of Japanese in her because if a person had one drop of Japanese blood they were sent off to the camp.

AL: Uh-huh.

<End Segment 8> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.