Title:
Letter from Paul H. [Kusuda] to [Afton] Nance, 1942 Aug 26
Creator:
Kusuda, Paul H., 1922-
Subject:
Nance, Afton Dill
Japanese Americans-- Evacuation and relocation, 1942-1945
Description:
Handwritten letter from Paul H. Kusuda to Afton Nance, 1942 August 26.
B32 – 3 – 3 War Relocation Center Manzanar, California August 26, 1942 Dear Mrs. Nance:-
The BOX arrived! Oh joy and stuff! Thank you very much, and so forth, etc., et al, and stuff! My gosh, what super duper
cookies! It was indeed a fortunate day that I met you. What super delicious cookies you bake! Gee, they are really good!
Everyone went for them in a big way and everyone enjoyed them. I guess that teachers can cook and bake as well as teach.
When I got home from work, I found two packages on my cot; one was THE BOX and the other was the magazines. Naturally, I
tore open the big package first. pop-eyed mouth agape [drawing] Then, after a long gaze of less than a second,
I began to stuff myself with a handful or two of those cookies. You must have spent hours on them, but the results produced
days and days and day and DAYS of gratitude. After eating a “FEW” cookies, I went to eat supper. Surprisingly enough,
I just didn’t have any appetite. I had Shizuo come over; then, I handed him a batch of your creation. The following is
a direct quotation from him soon after I presented him with the cookies: “Mrs. Nance made them with her own dainty little
hands? Well ----------. They sure look good.” Then, Shizuo went to work. “Nibble, nibble, ummm. Chomp, chomp, bite, chomp
chomp. Mmmmmmmmm. Chomp, chomp, mmmmmmmm.” This “mmmmm” business went on for at least five minutes. Very primitive, but
it shows how much we liked it. To think that if we weren’t evacuated, we wouldn’t have tasted those cookies. Everything
MUST have its good points as well as its bad. At least four families have seen, tasted, and enjoyed the cookies and we
are continuing to enjoy them --- the acme of perfection in cookies! Now, to topics which are not of primary importance.
Two representatives of the National Student Relocation Council came (Fri. Aug. 21) to interview college students in Manzanar
who had filled out and sent in their questionnaires. The two were Mr. Richardson of Los Angeles City College and Mrs. Engberg
of Polytechnic High School. They asked questions in order to supplement the questionnaire coverage. Mrs. Engberg interviewed
those students who were attending colleges at the time of evacuation or those who were on the verge of entering colleges.
Mr. Richardson attended to post-graduate students. Mrs. Engberg asked me why my grades weren’t so high. She wanted an explanation,
but there wasn’t much to offer. Then, she wanted to know whether or not my financial set-up had improved. On my questionnaire,
I had written “less than five dollars”. This time, I told her that I had approximately one dollar. Another question
I was asked was to determine my views on what could have been done prior to the war to alleviate some of the feelings which
came to a head following the start of it. I wonder why they asked the question which they asked. Perhaps they wanted to
place a value or something on our personality or semi-intelligence. By the way, I am inclosing some more notes I took at
a few meetings. Did you ever receive a copy of the entire Tolan Committee hearings? I just received a copy which I can send
to you if you haven’t seen it. I was sent two copies; hence, my generosity. Gratefully as always,
Paul H.
Publisher:
Japanese American National Museum
Date:
1942 August 26
Type:
text
Format:
1 item ( 6 p. letter ) ; sheet 20 x 12 cm.
Identifier:
JANM_091
2001.175.27
Language:
eng
Relation:
Coverage:
Manzanar (Calif.)
Rights:
Copyrighted;
All requests for permission to publish, reproduce, or quote from materials in this collection must be submitted to the Hirasaki National Resource Center at
the Japanese American National Museum (hnrc@janm.org).
Japanese American National Museum
Letter from Paul H. [Kusuda] to [Afton] Nance, 1942 Aug 26