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RP: This is an oral history interview for the Manzanar National Historic Site. This afternoon we're talking with Phyllis and John Fechner.

PF: Uh-huh.

RP: Phyllis lives at...

PF: Here you mean? (...) 2400 West Mid-valley, in Visalia, California. And we've lived here about five years.

RP: This interview is taking, is happening on December 15, 2009. The videographer is Kirk Peterson, Richard Potashin is the interviewer. And we'll be talking with Phyllis about some of her memories of growing up in Bishop, California.

PF: Uh-huh.

RP: Also, we want to frame our interview today discussing some of her experiences or her different experiences with the area called Manzanar. Our interview will be archived in the site's park's library. And, Phyllis, do I have permission to go ahead and record our interview?

PF: Sure, uh-huh.

RP: Thank you very much.

PF: Of course.

RP: This is tape one. And let's start right at the beginning. If you can give us your date of birth and where you were born?

PF: I was born in Fullerton, California, on July 8, 1930. And when I was eight months old my parents moved to Bishop March of 1931. And my dad worked for the Department of Water and Power for City of L.A.

RP: What was your father's name?

PF: Roy Frank Carr.

RP: And what, give us a little bit of background about your family starting with your dad. What was he doing in Fullerton?

PF: He was driving a creamery truck. And the favorite story they told was about him coming to pick Mom up for a date and he had an eskimo pie for each of them in his pocket and how he kept that from getting melted I don't know. Maybe he drove the ice cream truck there, but he was working for the creamery for some time. When they got the opportunity to come to Bishop, I'm not quite sure. But they were married in 1927. And they moved there in '31, so... I guess he lived in the L.A. area for several years. (...)

RP: How did they meet?

PF: (...) They were kind of neighbors I believe in Kansas. (Both) the families lived in Ottawa. And my mother was born in Garnett. And so, you know, a lot of farms and stuff and I suppose they got acquainted that way. I don't know, to tell you the truth.

RP: So their relationship actually began in Kansas and then...

PF: Uh-huh.

RP: ...they both came to California.

PF: Uh-huh. And my mother was here... (...) first because she was taking a course of, a secretarial course. And I believe Dad followed her here. She was staying with a woman in -- it's kind of cute -- in Fullerton, Mrs. Vanskoik, and Mrs. Vanskoik always said of Mom, "Marguerite likes any color if it's red." [Laughs] Mom's favorite color was red. And they were married, I believe they were married right there at Mrs. Vanskoik's in the little house that they (then) rented from her. And (...) Dad got the job with the DWP

RP: Is that, was that job something that had already been prearranged?

PF: I believe so. I believe they made some trips up here to visit some friends of theirs who lived here, or lived there (in Bishop) -- I'm thinking I'm in Bishop -- (...) the wife's mother was the owner of the bakery, Schat's Bakery. And I believe that's how Dad got the job. Kind of through Harold I'm sure, Harold Kelly. And I can remember going to the gorge and swimming up there with the Blair girls, and Mr. Blair taking videos of us. And then coming to the schools and showing everybody the movies of the kids playing in the water. And things like that. (...)

RP: And tell us, Phyllis, what did your father do on his city job?

PF: He worked as a mechanic in the shop. And (...) he worked on the fire truck. He went (to) fires out in the edge of Bishop (...). And then (he) would go up the hill -- oh, I can't remember the names of those places -- north of Bishop, up in the mountains to work on a drag line or a, some kind of a big piece of machinery. He worked on heavy equipment. And, and he went to Haiwee. It's south of Bishop quite a ways, (...) quite a few places that he had to travel to work on a piece of equipment.

RP: He had to have a, a bit of a mechanical background, too?

PF: He did. When he was a young man, he and his brother moved to Detroit. And Dad got a job at Cadillac. Did machining. He was so good at it that Cadillac wanted him to go on up the ladder. But his brother worked at Ford. And so they wanted to share a place together so Dad quit Cadillac and went to Ford. That was the biggest regret that he had of his young life. He had to be with his brother and so that job never, never went as far as Cadillac would have, he thought anyway. Probably true.

RP: Can you share a little bit about your father as, as a daughter? How did you see your dad?

PF: Well, I saw him as a strong person. He only went to the eighth grade but he was educated other ways. I remember stubbing my toe one time and just almost tore the end of my toe off. And he took me into the garage where he was working and he took care of it, he bandaged it and said, "You're gonna be all right." And I was. [Laughs] So he was caring. Not so much so after the war. So, I don't like to remember those years. But he taught me to drive out in the back field behind the house, in the jeep.

RP: What car?

PF: A jeep or a tractor or just about anything that was handy. (...) Homes Street, after we moved from May. We moved to Homes Street in 1940. And Mr. Blee had a horse out in the pasture that was right around, kind of L-shaped acreage around the house. And oh, I wanted to have a horse so bad to put in there with Mr. Blee's horse. Then they built the project back there during the war. It could have been before the war. And it was there during the war and there was a Mexican family that lived back there. And he came and asked my mother -- my dad had already gone to the Navy -- and he came and asked my mother if he could have a vegetable garden, a Victory garden. And she said, "Sure." He says, "I will share all of the fruits and vegetables that I grow there and all you have to do is furnish the water." Which she did, gladly. And he came and he did the hoeing and took care of the whole thing, and just used the water. And then brought us fruits and vegetables. That was what I, my first recollection of a victory garden. And I don't know that they ever had any after the war.

<End Segment 1> - Copyright © 2009 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.