Q: I wanted to ask you about your husband. What year did you meet your him?

AH: I was 30 years old when I met him. He was already a very big man. I thought he was over 40, but he was actually 20 with a big build. He looked older. Just to watch him walk down the street, people thought he was past the age to be married. I was 30 and he was 20. Ten years younger than me but he looked 40. I met him first when I worked in a souvenir shop. Then he came in looking for something to send to America. So I helped him find something. He came in several times to buy something. And then I asked him, "Who are you sending this to?" He said, "My mother." I said, "Oh, I'll help you find something." Then to earn more money, I changed jobs to become a dance teacher. I learned waltz, tango, cha cha cha. I so enjoyed dancing. There was an old couple teaching English above the souvenir shop and I learned English from them. The American soldiers would come to dance in the afternoon before they went back to the camp. My husband didn't know how to dance. He just watched and I said, "Come on, I can teach you." But he was heavy! So heavy, tall, six foot tall, 350 pounds.

Then he said, "Let's go live together" before we were married. I said no and he cried. I told him my father would be angry if I lived with him but my father was actually dead at the time.

Q: What did your husband say?

AH: He just cried and I thought maybe he loved me. Then I thought, maybe I'll go to America. So we got married and we moved to the

American military camp. After living there for four years, he told me, "My country's big and beautiful. There are no criminals there."

And I agreed to leave with him. We left with our three-year-old son, John, who didn't speak any English. First we went to Seattle by boat, then we took the train to Montana.

Q: What were your impressions of America before you went there?

AH: My husband showed me a picture of a house in Life Magazine and said, "This is what my house is like. His house was actually about 50 years old."

Q: What was your family's reaction to your going?

AH: My brother loved it. My father was already dead. My cousins and uncles hated the idea. They saw so many good Japanese men die in the war. Why would I go to America? Why would I marry him?

Q: What did you say to them when they said you shouldn't marry this man?

AH: I didn't say anything. I just had a big smile on my face and said goodbye. There were a lot of Japanese war brides crying when they left Japan. I was happy. I was smiling. I didn't cry. I hoped that America would be a wonderful place. I was very happy. Then after a difficult boat ride over, we made our way to the mountains of South Dakota. There was only one streetlight in the whole town: Deadwood, South Dakota.

Q: Your husband's name was Archie Hill. And his family was there?

AH: Yes.

Q: And how did they receive you? Did they treat you well?

AH: Everybody was nice to me. I was a dutiful, Japanese daughter-in-law. My [mother-in-law] told her neighbors and friends that Archie had brought home a wonderful Japanese girl. She's beautiful and helpful. I was very happy, but my husband wasn't an attentive father.

Q: And what about your father-in-law?

AH: He treated me very, very well. Better than my mother-in-law.

He was partially paralyzed and I shaved his face for him. He said

I was the best shaver in the family because I never hurt him.

Q: Were you the only Japanese person in this town?

AH: I was the only one; although there was a farmer in a neighboring town who lived with his mother there. My husband drove me there one Sunday afternoon. She had a basement filled with Japanese records, with a famous pop singer from my time. This woman worked from dawn to dusk in the fields. She was an amazing woman.

Q: Did you feel comfortable in Deadwood?

AH: Yes. Everyone was so nice to me. My in-laws introduced me to their friends and neighbors. They'd say this is Archie's wife. She's a wonderful girl. And everyone in the community embraced me.

Q: And then you had two more daughters?

AH: Yes, then Amy was born. And then I had Mary. I was really happy for a long time after that. I made friends and took care of the household. A neighbor advised me not to start milking the cows because then I'd have to do it 365 days a year. So I stuck to taking care of the cooking and cleaning.

Q: How did your children fare in school coming from a mixed family?

AH: John did very well in the town's small school. There was one teacher for ten students who taught the first to eighth grades. He also taught me how to read and write English from his books and lessons. At a certain point though, I asked my husband to move out of that small town, because I felt my son would never have a chance to go to college.

We moved to Seattle when John was about 10 years old. There were incidents after we moved, when John suffered through some roughhousing from other kids because of the way he looked.

Q: What about your daughters Amy or Mary?

AH: Amy was four when we moved. Amy learned a lot of arts like tap dancing and singing.

Q: Was America what you dreamed it would be?

AH: After coming to America, I became a Christian, and every day I would thank God for bringing me this wonderful life.

Q: Did your husband ever learn any Japanese?

AH: He didn't really learn it but he came to recognize it, so if I called him "fat" in Japanese, he would know what I was saying.

Q: What about the clash of cultures? Was it difficult being married to an American?

AH: In Deadwood, everybody had guns. One day my son came into the kitchen while I was doing the dishes and he picked up a gun off the kitchen table. He said, "Stick 'em up Mommy." And he didn't know that it wasn't a toy. And I told him that he should never do that again but I was afraid.

Q: Did you have trouble reconciling your husband's Finnish background

with your Japanese heritage?

AH: We were married for 32 years, and it was a difficult marriage all in all. But my greatest happiness was with my three children. There were many times when I wanted to say something to him, but I kept my opinions to myself. Even though my husband died about 20 years ago, I'm very lucky to have children who continue to look after me. I have a very good life. Even though there were parts of my married life that were difficult, there were so many others, including my in-laws, who were so kind to me, that they made up for the hard times.

Q: What do you think of Amy's career?

AH: I am proud of her.

Q: Did you ever worry about your Amy's future because she was of mixed race?

AH: I was never worried about Amy because she always laughed and had a great sense of humor and was bright and cheerful.