Title:
Letter from Paul H. [Kusuda] to [Afton] Nance, 1942, June 6
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, June 6.
B 19-9-2 Manzanar Reception Center Manzanar, California June 6, 1942 Dear Mrs. Nance:
After a long silence, here I am again. Your carbon paper arrived. Thank you very much. Please tell me how much it cost
so that I may send you the money to pay for it. That was really a lifesaver since there isn’t any carbon paper sold at this
camp. You will find with this letter a copy (using the carbon paper which you sent me) of two reports written by the persons
as indicated on each report. At the time the report was written, the food was fairly good ------ now it isn’t. For instance
---- for lunch today I received about a handful of cooked rice, onions cooked with meat (not much meat either), celery, and
one cup of tea. There was bread on the tables, but no butter, jam, or anything to put on it, so I didn’t eat any bread.
Sometimes, butter is served. Now days, I am extremely busy. In fact, I am soooooooooooo busy that I haven’t begun to read
“Reveille in Washington” yet, so I lent it to someone I know. He is almost finished with it now. “The Young Man of Caracas”
was very interestingly written. It shows that the parents of Ybarra were New Englandish and (to coin a word) Venezuelanish
and Ybarra is torn between two places U.S. and Venezuela. It doesn’t illustrate “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” does
it? I hope that the Issei are different. But --- that would be a little like analyzing situations, so I’ll quit. Anyway,
the book was enjoyable reading and I am passing it around to the people I know. It will be a well-worn book very soon, I’m
sure. As I have written before, I think, we have started a system whereby three or four of us former college students were
to tutor some former high school students so that they may resume their studies and eventually receive credit for their broken
semester. (Gad, what a long sentence ---- 44 words!) That plan did not work according to our figuring since the high school
students did not take enough interest to come to us. We, the students and tutors, had previously arranged the time and place
where the tutors were be available. With all that, the people wouldn’t come. On Thursday, Miss Swain sent two outlines
for Life Science 1 and a list of students who were taking the course. So, on Friday morning, I went to each of the students
to tell each person of that fact and that I would be at a certain place at 6:00 P.M. that evening. To my surprize, everyone,
including one extra, came. I expect to turn in the work for each one this Monday. What a lucky turn of events! News traveled
(by some means) that classes were being organized, so about 18 mothers want their children of Junior and Senior High school
age to attend the classes. Now, I have my hands full. Since I am the only person among the tutoring group who hasn’t a full-time
job (I haven’t any kind of paying job), it has fallen into my hands to do most of the negotiating and things. Today, I finally
received permission to use a barrack. A Mrs. Tayama (Chiyo) (wife of Fred Tayama) has been helping a great deal with the
“negotiating.” On Thursday, I tried to get any kind (even office boy) of a job in the forthcoming Education Department,
but since I took electrical engineering which has nothing to do with education, I was not accepted. So far, there has not
been anything much done in the way of education. This piddling around is really disgusting! Thanks for everything again.
Paul H.
Publisher:
Japanese American National Museum
Date:
1942 June 6
Type:
text;
Format:
1 item ( 4 p. letter ) ; sheet 23 x 14 cm.
Identifier:
JANM_062
2001.175.15
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, June 6