<Begin Segment 5>

HH: Do you remember how old you were when you arrived in Philadelphia?

LI: Thirty-two.

HH: Thirty-two. How would you describe the economic condition of your family when you were growing up in San Juan Bautista?

LI: My father was a farmer, so I think we had a good life there while we were growing up.

HH: But your father had his own farm?

LI: He was leasing the land there in San Juan Bautista.

HH: Around Gilroy, they grew a lot of garlic.

LI: Yes.

HH: Is that the kind of crop that your father farmed?

LI: Right.

HH: How did you come about to decide to Philadelphia as your East Coast destination?

LI: Well, my husband being an engineer, he couldn't find a job in California in his line of work. And my brother-in-law was living in Philadelphia, and at that time he was working here, and he wanted my husband to come out here and find a job here in Philadelphia.

HH: Wow. Can you give a brief account of what your life was like when you first arrived in Philadelphia and how you settled in?

LI: It was, I remember we spent Thanksgiving on the train with all my children and my father-in-law and my invalid mother-in-law. It was a real hard trip coming out here, especially it was in November, and the weather was so bad. I remember when we got to Chicago, and so two foot of snow there, and I didn't think I was going to survive through all the weather condition here in the East Coast.

HH: Do you remember where you first lived when you arrived in Philadelphia?

LI: Yes, we lived with my brother-in-law and my sister-in-law in West Philadelphia.

HH: How long did it take your husband to find work?

LI: It took a long time. He did get a job with Westinghouse, but they were on a long strike, so he had to find other jobs. And he didn't know too much about the mechanic, but he even went there and did some work at the mechanic, being a mechanic for, oh, about two or three months. And finally...

HH: Was he an auto mechanic?

LI: Yes.

HH: When you arrived in Philadelphia, was the Second World War still in progress?

LI: Yes, it was. Uh-huh.

HH: All right. And did you have any difficulties being a Japanese American in a city that was, a part of America that was at war with Japan?

LI: No, I didn't find that it was here at the East Coast. I think everybody really treated us very well.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 1994 JACL Philadelphia. All Rights Reserved.