<Begin Segment 10>

RP: And where did you attend grammar school, Nellie?

NM: In Lehi. That little community, Lehi.

RP: Was it a walking distance from your farm?

NM: It was about three miles away. Yes, we walked it in the beginning. Yeah. But there was a ditch that ran alongside the road. So we took off our shoes and walked in the water to go to school. [Laughs]

RP: Pleasant in the summertime.

NM: It was nice in the summer, yes.

RP: And then you attended Mesa Union High School?

NM: Yes. Grammar school I attended Alma school, which was also about three miles away. And we had to walk all the time. And that was in first and second grade. And in third grade I went to Lehi. And later on they had a bus to pick us up. But still we had to walk about half a mile. And I forgot what your question was?

RP: Oh, that's what it was.

NM: Oh, yeah.

RP: School. Yeah. Tell us a little bit about your, your interests in school. What, what subjects did you favor?

NM: Well, I don't know whether I favored any special class or not in my grammar school days. But in the high school I majored in science, physical science, well, I took biology as a minor. And, so science and math as a minor, too.

RP: Were you involved in clubs, any social activities in school?

NM: Well, I guess the, I think in grammar school, I'm not too sure, but I may have been in the orchestra. And in high school I was in the orchestra.

RP: What did you play?

NM: Violin, fiddle. I didn't play it, I just scratched it. [Laughs] But anyway, yes I... and in the orchestra we got to go to different occasions and do different functions and it was fun. And besides that I think I was in the science club. I don't know if I was in one of those, I don't think I was in Phi Beta Kappa, but anyway, one of the education.

Off Camera: That was college. Seems like honor society or something in high school.

NM: Huh?

Off Camera: Honor society or something in high school?

NM: Honor society, yeah. Something like that.

RP: So what was your personality like when you were growing up? Were you shy, were you outgoing, or did you get more outgoing as you...

NM: Well, I got to be very talkative, as you can see now. But in those days I was very shy. I didn't, I was not outgoing.

RP: Did you have any hobbies when you were growing up and during your school years?

NM: Well, I learned how to crochet and knit and that kind of thing. Made jam and things like that. I don't know if you'd call it a hobby or not, but maybe a necessity. Do that kind of thing.

RP: How about your, your parents, did they have a creative side to them that they expressed? Or did they have, maybe not time to do that.

NM: No, they didn't have time to do anything special. Although my father enjoyed fishing and he made a fishing net, fishnet, he used to call it. And, with those little squares but with a heavy string. And that was quite a large one. I don't know what happened to it. But anyway, and my mother didn't have any special hobby that I can recall. But in her younger days I guess she did sewing and things like that. But I know she didn't like to cook 'cause as soon as we were able to cook we had to do the cooking. She would rather go out in the field and work.

<End Segment 10> - Copyright © 2010 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.