<Begin Segment 17>

TI: So I want to get you back to Portland. And so after the war was over, the camps started closing. So when you and your parents came back to Portland, where did you live?

LI: I think we lived at the Chester Hotel, because Arthur Boose was still there at the hotel. And, let's see... oh, the first job that my parents had was with the Russian War Relief. And I don't know how much they were paid, but I wasn't doing much of anything, so they had me working over there, too. And just recently I heard that other people had been there, too. I can hardly remember what it was, but it was like a warehouse, and we would be sorting clothes. And I don't know why we were sending things to Russia, really, but that's what happened.

TI: Well, they were pretty devastated from World War II.

LI: Yes, I guess so, uh-huh. So that happened. And I think after the Chester Hotel, my grandparents had the Amsdon Hotel right in Portland. Well, we were on the... well, not the north end, but this was on the south side, and so after we came back, I don't think we went to the same hotel, I don't know why. But we lived with my grandparents for a while. And I went to Lincoln High School, because I was going to finish my junior and senior year there.

TI: And when you went back to school, or went to Lincoln High School, what was the reception for you and other Japanese Americans?

LI: It was very nice. I remember a lot of my friends were still there. The only thing I felt that was not a good thing was we all went to Jolly Joan's, was sort of a restaurant, a place to go for lunch and whatever, but they wouldn't serve us. There must have been around six or seven of us that all went, we thought, "Why aren't they serving us?" And then the girls said, "Let's go out of here." Because I was Japanese, that they were not going to serve us. That's the only time, I think, that I can remember, "Okay, I'm Japanese, so they aren't liking me."

TI: So you were there with five other... and they were Caucasian?

LI: Yes.

TI: So how did that make you feel when you understood or realized that they didn't serve the six of you because of you?

LI: Yeah, I just felt like, "Oh, I'm a criminal," so they weren't going to serve me, nor the rest of the group that I was with. All I remember is it was on Broadway, and we'd go there from high school. And I thought that was a terrible thing that they were doing.

TI: Do you recall any conversations with your friends about that? Did they say anything about it or to you about it?

LI: Yes, they didn't like it for sure. They said that wasn't fair, and so we all moved to another restaurant. And some of the other restaurants were fine, but this one that most of us had gone to... well, not really before the war, but the other restaurants were okay. I don't know why this one had treated us like that.

TI: Now how much did these friends, these white friends, know about where you were and what you just went through?

LI: They didn't ask a lot of questions. (Probably they didn't know what had happened)... well, they were very friendly to me, so I liked them really well.

TI: Were you aware of the school administration or teachers saying anything to the student body before Japanese Americans came back? Because, I mean, your friends are so nice, it's almost, I'm wondering if people explained to them what happened, and they went out of their way to be friendly, or do you know anything about that?

LI: No, I don't. I think they were very nice girls as far as I'm concerned. And I might have met them a few years back, because I didn't go to school all that much in between except for Minidoka, etcetera. And I knew some of the sisters and brothers of those juniors and seniors, and we just kept on going.

TI: Now when you go to high school in Portland, I guess, how well were you prepared for that? I mean, was the schooling at Minidoka good enough so that you, it was easy to just go into high school in Portland, or did you have to catch up? What was that like?

LI: I don't think we needed to do much to go through high school and all. I know that... oh, there was one very kind thing. Was that Girl Scout then? But anyway, I think it was Marian that Cannon knew real well, and Marian and I had gone to school from kindergarten on up. She and... I think it was myself, with a great big group of... I think it was Girl Scouts (or Girl Reserves), but they had us go over to West something, on the Coast, for a conference, and I thought that was really nice. We got to meet other Caucasian people, too, from other high schools. So that was a really nice thing (and fun, too).

TI: Because they went out of their way to really include you?

LI: I think so. (Westview was the name of the camp).

TI: Yeah, it sounds like people really...

LI: Yeah, they were very...

TI: ...were sensitive and really wanted to make you feel like you were part of the community.

LI: That's right. My junior and senior years were very good. They were friendly, and they took me into various activities, played a lot of basketball. [Laughs]

TI: And how about your parents and grandparents? Did they also feel, in similar ways, that people helped them? Or what was their experience when they returned to Portland?

LI: They all worked at the same hotel. I don't know if the lease of the Chester Hotel was gone or whatever. But they all worked fine together, so that was great. And then afterwards, I don't know if the lease ran out or not, but they got another hotel and my parents got another hotel. And it was on Tenth and Hoyt, and right now, it is so crazy, they built a condominium right where our hotel used to be, and it's called Tenth and Hoyt. [Laughs] I still remember that. It's a very nice condo that they built.

<End Segment 17> - Copyright © 2013 Oregon Nikkei Endowment and Densho. All Rights Reserved.