<Begin Segment 4>

HH: At what point did you leave Cambridge to come to Philadelphia?

MW: We came to Philadelphia in 1950, September. Actually, I had finished my doctorate, got married, and Warren had a job in Philadelphia and that's why we came to Philadelphia.

HH: Oh, now you mentioned Warren.

MW: Yes.

HH: Okay. When did he enter your life?

MW: He entered my life in probably the year '48 to '49, because he was at MIT as a postdoc working with, postdoctoral fellow, working with one of the professors at MIT. And actually, we met, which is a subsequent question, at a meeting of the Japanese American Citizens League Boston. And now I've been forgetting to repeat your question.

HH: That's okay. I see. And was there any special circumstances involved in your meeting? Was it a natural easy meeting between the two of you? Or did you know of each other from California?

MW: Actually, did I know my husband-to-be at that time when I went to the JACL meeting? I did not know him. I am told -- and he may tell you this when you talk to him -- I understand that he knew Jin Kinoshita, a friend, and he asked, I guess he asked about other people who were in the community, so he knew of me. And he decided that was when he was going to come to the meeting. [Laughs] That's what he says, anyway. So for me it was just chance, and I went to the meeting and there he was.

HH: What is the year that you got married?

MW: 1950. What is the year in which we got married? 1950, September.

HH: That's about the same time you moved to Philadelphia?

MW: Yes, that is about the same time we moved to Philadelphia.

HH: And you've been living in Philadelphia since then. Was that a difficult decision to make, to move from Boston, from Cambridge, to Philadelphia?

MW: Was it a difficult decision to move to Philadelphia? Actually, it was not a difficult decision. There were very few options and jobs in September 1950. It was just at the time of the Korean War, jobs were not that plentiful, and I think Warren had two possibilities, Philadelphia or somewhere in Cumberland, Maryland. And we decided coming to Philadelphia was better because then both of us would have a better chance of getting... he had his job assured. But I was fairly sure that I could get one in Philadelphia, and I wasn't sure about Cumberland, Maryland.

HH: After you graduated from San Jose State, sounds like you had your mind set on doing your graduate studies in the east even at that time. Is that correct?

MW: After I graduated, or while I was about to graduate, then I had my mind set on coming to the East. Herb, I'm not sure that that would be the case, because I think that that decision probably came about because I knew I couldn't go to graduate school on the West Cost. And so the choices shifted. And were influenced by the professors that I had.

HH: Then if you were to speculate, had it not been for the war, chances are that you may have remained on the West Coast?

MW: No. If I were to speculate, were it not for the war, would I have remained on the West Coast? I cannot really be sure of that. I would say probably fifty-fifty. I'd say fifty-fifty because I think there was a very, there was a professor who was quite influential in my life, and he had already decided I was going to go to the University of Wisconsin or someplace else anyway. But I'm not really sure, because I think after all, that was a big move.

<End Segment 4> - Copyright © 1994 JACL Philadelphia. All Rights Reserved.