Mitsue Endow Salador: World War II as Experience and Memory

Mitsue Endow Salador

Streaming Media

Interviewer

Wadewitz, Lissa

Interviewer

Guyot, Ruby

Document Type

Video File

Duration

58 minutes 43 seconds

Publication Date

2-19-2019

Disciplines

Cultural History | Oral History | Public History | United States History | Women's History

Abstract

This interview is an oral history conducted by Dr. Lissa Wadewitz, associate professor of history at Linfield College, and Ruby Guyot, Linfield class of 2019, with Mitsue (Endow) Salador, Linfield class of 1945. The interview took place by telephone on February 20, 2019.

Mitsue Salador, a Japanese American woman, attended Linfield College before and during World War II. In this interview, Salador discusses her time at Linfield and the activities in which she was involved on campus in the fall of 1940 and spring of 1941. Salador describes how both the college and the Asian American communities responded to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. She discusses how she was not treated any differently on campus after the incident. Salador details the effect the war had on campus, as well as President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066, which forced her and her parents to be relocated to detention centers. Since Salador was on campus when the order was issued, she was not allowed to travel back home to be with her family. Instead, she was taken with one other Japanese American Linfield student to a facility in Portland for the summer of 1941. She reflects on her experience with relocation, stating, “When I think about it, it really was an outrageous thing to do.” Salador was able to use her connections to a faculty member at Linfield to arrange to attend a small college in Missouri, outside the west coast "danger zone"; as such, she was able to continue her studies during the war, while her entire family was placed in an internment camp. Salador talks about her family and their experiences both during and after the war. Before the war, her parents were unable to become citizens; after the war, they were given the opportunity to become naturalized. Salador concludes by offering advice for today’s students.

Comments

For a time-stamped overview of the subjects discussed during this interview, refer to the Related Resource link.

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