<Begin Segment 5>

HH: At what point in your life did you meet and subsequently marry Marion?

HT: Well, when did I meet my spouse Marion? It was during my medical school. I used to go down to New York City to look up my friends during the holidays. And one of my friends used to know Marion, and we went up to visit her. And it was like a meeting place of a lot of Niseis from the West Coast, because her mother used to have Sunday dinner for a lot of the visitors at her home. So one thing led to another, I guess. Although for a period of time after I left Boston and went to Cleveland and then subsequently to Pittsburgh, I did lose contact with her except for Christmas cards. But once I came back to Philadelphia in 1944, I believe, I did go up to New York again and resumed our friendship. And finally we started to date regularly and we were married in 1951.

HH: I see. So her home is New York City?

HT: Yes. She was actually born in Greenwich, Connecticut. Marion was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, but she was raised in New York City, yes.

HH: I see. And all your children were born in Montgomery County?

HT: Yes, all my children were born in Montgomery County, either in the Collegeville area or in Norristown.

HH: Was it a hard decision for you to make to locate yourself and practice medicine in Philadelphia?

HT: Well, the question is, did I encounter any problem locating myself in the Philadelphia area to practice? It so happened that when I was still in my senior year in residency at Jefferson Medical College, there was a search committee at the Montgomery Hospital in Norristown looking for a pathologist to become the director of the director of the department. And the chief of pathology at Jefferson at the time was a Dr. Booker who accepted a call from one member of the search committee who was a graduate of Jefferson Medical College. And upon his inquiry, Dr. Booker said, "I've got just the man for you." [Laughs] And I was a senior resident at the time, and I did go out to Montgomery Hospital. I liked the hospital, I liked the community, and before I left, I had the position. It was just one brief interview with the member of the executive committee of the hospital, medical hospital board. So my first six months, well, my last six months of my residency, I commuted between Norristown and Jefferson spending my mornings at the hospital and the afternoon at Jefferson, and my chief was good enough to let me do this. So I did start my full-time position at Montgomery Hospital in November of 1947. So as I said earlier, I've been there for forty-six years and just retired last October.

HH: That's impressive. So you were there virtually for your entire medical career after your residency.

HT: Yes, I was there, that's a little unusual, you're right. Because some do a hop, skip and around the country, but as I said, I guess I must have done a pretty good job, and the hospital was good to me and I feel I was good to the hospital. So I had the longevity, you might say, at the institution. But there was one period where I almost left. Since I was offered a position of Professor of Pathology at Hahnemann, after my first four or five years at Montgomery, but I chose not to accept that position. And subsequently, after the war, the Atomic Bomb Commission in Japan was looking for a pathologist, a Nisei preferably, who spoke Japanese and who was interested in hematology. And I fitted the bill because my interest was in hematology, I spoke Japanese, and I was a pathologist. And the Atomic Bomb Commission corresponded with me for a number of months trying to talk me into going to Japan for at least two years. But here again, if I left, I had no idea that I would be able to come back to my same position after an absence of two years. And then that wasn't too long after I was married, so I thought it would be better not to accept the position, but I did consider it seriously.

HH: Do you know whether your children experienced any kind of racism while they were growing up in Montgomery County?

HT: The question is, did my children experience any racism while they were growing up and attending school in Montgomery County. I'd have to say no to that question because I don't recall of any incidents unless it was something minor that they did tell us. But my children, of course, attended, for the most part, a colonial school system in Plymouth Township outside of Norristown, and they all attended school there. And to my knowledge, I do not believe they had any bad experiences that you can call racism.

HH: Is there any, what kind of reaction did you feel to the expression "model minority"? It's a  label that's often used to describe Asian Americans.

HT: The question is how do I react to the Asian Americans being considered as "model minority"? Are you saying Asian as a whole or Japanese?

HH: No, Asians. The term is used to embrace the Asians.

HT: Well, I suppose the term is quite accurate, because in general, the Asian Americans are basically "model minorities." I don't think they get into trouble very much, and they respect the law. They seldom get into a problem with the police, and for the most part, I think they are all honest, upright citizens. So I think the term is quite fitting.

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