Search Interviews

Hailey Yoshida (16) talks with her great-grandmother, Marye Kimoto (97) about her experience in Japanese internment camps and her life afterward. Marye also talks about what it was like to live during World War II.

My grandfather Ken, who I call "yaya", talks about his childhood in the Poston Japanese internment camp. He speaks about his career in commercial art and how he met my grandmother, whose maiden name was Lynne Swisher.

Join Folklife Director Lesley Schierenbeck as she interviews Long Beach Island beach badge collector and author, Bob Kugel as he discusses his collection of badges that spans over 55 years! Photos show: Some of Bob's Unique Badges, His Book, and...

Tuckerton Seaport Folklife Director Lesley Schierenbeck interviews J.P. Hand of Goshen, New Jersey. JP has been carving traditional Barnegat Bay decoys for the past 50+ years. In this interview, he discusses how decoy carving became a part of his life,...

Llyn talks about her family's experience in a Japanese internment camp. She talks about the impact that had on her family and community, and then the conversation moves on to her personal history as she reaches a huge milestone -...

Eleanor Hertz is 100 years old and has lived in Bremerton, WA her entire life. Eleanor speaks about her early childhood, living in a Navy town during WW2, including Japanese internment, the most amazing technology in her life (radio), and...

I interviewed my grandfather in order to learn more about his experience living in a Japanese internment camp during WWII.

Yoshio Murakawa (76) talks with his daughter Dina Pecceu (46) about his family history and experience during Japanese Internment during WWII. Yoshio shares about where this grandparents and parents are from in Japan and how they immigrated to the US...

Folklife Director Lesley Schierenbeck interviews Mia Naumenko, who is an educator and Folk Artist of Ukrainian History & Educator Center of New Jersey. In this interview, Mia describes her folk traditions of Ukrainian Foodways, as well as upcoming classes at...

Mary Doi [no age given] interviews her daughter Lisa Doi (29) about her work as an organizer at Tsuru for Solidarity advocating for the Japanese American community, the history of the paper crane, the evolution of folk art in the...

Artists and creative partners Fred Villanueva (41) and Darryl Ratcliff (27) talk about their upbringings in the Dallas metroplex, their work at Ash Studios, and the underrepresentation of artists of color in the current Dallas art scene.

Ethyl tells of her experience growing up in California and staying under surveillance in Japan during WWII.

Pam talks with her mom, Joanne, about experience and hardships in the Japanese internment camps during WWII.

Sharon Wakamoto, an OC resident for almost 60 years, but born in Los Angeles spent a few years as a young child, during WW2 in the Japanese internment camp or War Relocation Center as it was called, at Gila Bend,...

Okinawan American talks about growing up in Hawaii in 1930s and 1940s. She also talks about moving to CA to work in a famous hair salon in Beverly Hills called Ménage a Trois. Aunty also talks about her deceased husband,...

Yo Azama: 2020-11-23 19:21:14 Yo Azama (51) talks to his friend and mentor, Ann Jordan (63), about her mother Tei Dacus (97) who moved to the US to pursue her dream in 1950's and began her career as an educator.

My grandmother recounts a life spent between America and Japan, a childhood behind barbed wire, an adulthood of hard work and love. She describes herself as normal, but her story is anything but.

Janet Powell, an 80 year old Japanese American from Seattle, shares pieces of her life story in this interview with her granddaughter. She candidly discusses her experiences as a child detainee in the WWII U.S. government Japanese Internment Camps, her...

Siblings Nikiko Masumoto (34) and her brother Korio Masumoto (28) talk about their experiences as Hapa Americans, growing up on a family farm, and their connection to their family, their Japanese identity, and to their grandparents.

Junko Takamatsu talks about her contrasting life in America vs. Japan.

In this interview, Folklife Director Lesley Schierenbeck interviews Oksana Pasakas of Ukrainian History & Education Center of New Jersey to discuss the traditional folk customs of the Ukraine, and the importance of continued education in the traditional folk arts of...

Deborah’s experiences in theater

I interviewed Chuck Yoneda, my grandfather on my mother's side who lives in Los Altos California. I asked him questions about his childhood on a farm, my japanese great grandfather father during the war, his education at Berkeley, and work...

Mom’s memories growing up around her farming family along the coast of California.

Jadyn (16) and Mags (17), friends for eight years, discuss their own family histories, as well as their own lives. They are both fifth generation Californian, and they talk about the family history they have in common, and the parts...