Class Note 1943
Issue
July-August 2023
It is still true: Since five-score years ago, America is still the melting pot of the world. Everyone everywhere wanted to come to the United States of America! And the Statue of Liberty, bearing a torch aloft in New York harbor, beckons with open arms in a warm welcome to the land of the free and the home of the brave.
In all those years, we became a nation of immigrants. My friend John W. Cusick ’57, class secretary, discussed the “roots” of some of the ’57 family. It was of great interest to me as I thought of my mom and dad and their pioneer spirits. At the age of 20, on his own, Dad went to Hawaii and worked in the sugarcane fields and pineapple plantations. He also learned pidgin English! When he returned to Japan, my parents got married—and both decided their next trip would be to America, especially California. As a kid, during family dinners, Dad would smile and reminisce, “WE didn’t want to grow rice all our lives in that hamlet in Hiroshima.” Sao Paulo, in Brazil, was the destination for thousands of Japanese. My mom and dad arrived in San Francisco. Their dream came true. It was year 1908.
It took them more than two months to reach Los Angeles. My folks would stay with farmer friends who lived near dirt roads that would later become U.S. Highway 101. Dad would help in the fields and Mom would help in the kitchen. Fortunately, they had friends who had settled in Moneta, close to Wilmington. They said many Japanese families lived and worked on the hillside in Long Beach. A number of years later, a flat field area known as the Santa Fe district became available. Almost all the Japanese families moved there. Our family was unable to move. I was born on that lot and in 1923 we moved to a nice house on Nebraska Avenue. I went to Burbank Elementary School and was the only Nisei in school. And in the fifth and sixth grades I was the marbles champion! Then I attended Franklin Junior High School and played on the Peewee basketball and baseball teams. Then boom—on March 10, 1933, a huge earthquake devastated Long Beach and Compton. I recall terrible looting caused an uproar, and the U.S. Navy provided short patrols at many intersections. Contractors and builders were arrested for using far too little cement—homes and buildings had moved off their foundations and roofs had collapsed. We were lucky the earthquake hit at 6 p.m. and not during school hours. In September 1933, our family moved to Los Angeles so my sisters could enter the University of Southern California. I went to Foshay High School and graduated in June 1935. Our family finally moved to Japan in August 1935. I was age 15—and the rest is history!
—George Shimizu, 2140 Sepulveda Ave., Milpitas, CA 95035; (408) 930-2488; marymariko@comcast.net
In all those years, we became a nation of immigrants. My friend John W. Cusick ’57, class secretary, discussed the “roots” of some of the ’57 family. It was of great interest to me as I thought of my mom and dad and their pioneer spirits. At the age of 20, on his own, Dad went to Hawaii and worked in the sugarcane fields and pineapple plantations. He also learned pidgin English! When he returned to Japan, my parents got married—and both decided their next trip would be to America, especially California. As a kid, during family dinners, Dad would smile and reminisce, “WE didn’t want to grow rice all our lives in that hamlet in Hiroshima.” Sao Paulo, in Brazil, was the destination for thousands of Japanese. My mom and dad arrived in San Francisco. Their dream came true. It was year 1908.
It took them more than two months to reach Los Angeles. My folks would stay with farmer friends who lived near dirt roads that would later become U.S. Highway 101. Dad would help in the fields and Mom would help in the kitchen. Fortunately, they had friends who had settled in Moneta, close to Wilmington. They said many Japanese families lived and worked on the hillside in Long Beach. A number of years later, a flat field area known as the Santa Fe district became available. Almost all the Japanese families moved there. Our family was unable to move. I was born on that lot and in 1923 we moved to a nice house on Nebraska Avenue. I went to Burbank Elementary School and was the only Nisei in school. And in the fifth and sixth grades I was the marbles champion! Then I attended Franklin Junior High School and played on the Peewee basketball and baseball teams. Then boom—on March 10, 1933, a huge earthquake devastated Long Beach and Compton. I recall terrible looting caused an uproar, and the U.S. Navy provided short patrols at many intersections. Contractors and builders were arrested for using far too little cement—homes and buildings had moved off their foundations and roofs had collapsed. We were lucky the earthquake hit at 6 p.m. and not during school hours. In September 1933, our family moved to Los Angeles so my sisters could enter the University of Southern California. I went to Foshay High School and graduated in June 1935. Our family finally moved to Japan in August 1935. I was age 15—and the rest is history!
—George Shimizu, 2140 Sepulveda Ave., Milpitas, CA 95035; (408) 930-2488; marymariko@comcast.net