Dorothy Eng | Interview 1 | June 9, 2011

Oral History Center, UC Berkeley
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00:00:40 - Family history

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Keywords: Asian Exclusion Act; Cantonese; China; Emeryville, California; English as a second language; Great Depression; Guangdong, China; Immigration Act of 1924; Presbyterian Church; San Francisco, California; family history; farming; religion; restaurant

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:06:47 - Growing up in a white neighborhood / Family responsibilities

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Keywords: Christianity; Emeryville, California; English name; childhood; discrimination; identity; language; literacy; protective parents; race; translating

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:11:15 - Daily life during the Great Depression

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Keywords: Great Depression; government assistance; poverty; rationing; restaurant

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:14:09 - Familial political concerns

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Keywords: China; Japanese invasion of Manchuria; Sun Yat-sen; dances; junior high school; parents; politics; war

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:17:02 - Struggling to feel American / Early education

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Keywords: Chinese; H. C. Capwell's; UC Berkeley; childhood; discrimination; exclusion; grammar school; mentorship; music; racism; teachers; women workers

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:21:41 - Assimilation into Oakland's Chinatown / Signing up for the Cadet Nursing Corp

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Keywords: American holidays; Bancroft Library; Cadet Nurses Corps; Chinese holidays; Christianity; Oakland Chinatown; San Francisco, California; TB; UC Berkeley; attack on Pearl Harbor; churches; cultural identity; newsboys; nursing; tuberculosis

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:28:28 - Church communities in Chinatown

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Keywords: Chinese Presbyterian Church; Chinese churches; Easter; Easter egg hunt; Lakeside Park, Oakland; Oakland Chinatown; community; hospitality; socializing

Subjects: Advocacy and Philanthropy; Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:31:45 - Her mother's American citizenship

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Keywords: citizenship; citizenship tests; education; mother; voting

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:34:58 - Hospitality for Chinese soldiers

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Keywords: 1944; Chinese Young Women's Society; Chinese soldiers; Lincoln Playground; Lincoln Square Park, Oakland; Methodist Church; Nan Menker; Presbyterian Church; WPA; Work Projects Administration; World War II; hospitality

Subjects: Advocacy and Philanthropy; Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:42:08 - Motivations and challenges for organizing wartime services

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Keywords: G.I. Bill; education; fund raising; medical office; meetings; racial tension; scholarships; shipyards; wartime jobs; women workers

Subjects: Advocacy and Philanthropy; Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:47:49 - Relationship with the Japanese

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Keywords: Japanese; Japanese Americans; Japanese internment; Japanese students; Pearl Harbor; Rape of Nanking; UC Berkeley; concentration camps; internment camps; racial solidarity

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:49:57 - Conversations with Chinese soldiers about their experiences / Her USO experience

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Keywords: Edna Saake; Pacific; USO; United Service Organizations; dances; racial tension; racism; ships; torpedoed

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

00:54:44 - Participating in the Chinese women's society

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Keywords: Chinese culture; Chinese war brides; Nan Menker; Oakland Chinatown; YWCA; Young Women's Christian Association; community; homemakers' program; hospitality; multicultural; tea; war brides; western culture

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

01:00:10 - Patriotism through letter writing and war bonds

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Keywords: Chinese Presbyterian Church; Edna Saake; Oak-Chi Center; Oak-Chi Newsletter; USO; United Service Organizations; brothers; entertainers; hospitality; letter writing; letters; musicians; patriotism; servicemen; war bonds

Subjects: Advocacy and Philanthropy; Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

01:05:05 - Getting courted by and life with her husband

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Keywords: Chinatown; Chinese New Year's; Treasure Island, San Francisco; cancer; children; courtship; dating; food; marriage; pancreatic cancer; segregation; single mother

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

01:11:47 - Raising her children as a single mother / Travel and time spent in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Keywords: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; children; cross-country travel; family life; segregation; single mother; trains; traveling

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

01:18:43 - A typical Saturday night for the organization

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Keywords: ballroom dance; dance lessons; dances; gambling; hospitality; leisure; socializing

Subjects: Advocacy and Philanthropy; Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

01:22:36 - Recalls the constant possibility of war residing on the coast

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Keywords: Pearl Harbor; blackouts; bomb shelters; bombs; discrimination; economy; ethnicity; gender; housing crisis; housing shortage; race; racism; recognition; war end

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

01:27:07 - Housing discrimination during and after the war

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Keywords: Asians; FDR; Franklin D. Roosevelt; Japanese Americans; San Leandro, California; discrimination; housing; housing discrimination; racism

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

01:31:20 - Repurposing the Chinese Women's Society post-war

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Keywords: Chinese Young Women's Society; Vincent Chen; amusement; enjoyment; founder; fun; fund raising; gender; history; oral history; recognition; scholarship program; scholarships

Subjects: Advocacy and Philanthropy; Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front

01:38:27 - Experiences sharing her life's history / Concluding statements

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Keywords: "We Served with Pride"; Bill Clinton; Oval Office; Washington, D.C.; White House; documentaries; films; history; honor; movies; news; pride; recognition

Subjects: Community and Identity; Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front