Interviewer
Victor M. Macías González
Biographical Synopsis of Interviewee
American citizen of Japanese and Mexican ancestry; born on February 28,1915 in El Paso, Texas; daughter of a Japanese national/ proprietor of a grocery store in South El Paso; grew up during the Great Depression; attended Bowie High School; married Julio Honda on February 20, 1938, a Japanese citizen residing in Cd. Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico; lived in Cd. Juarez until early 1942, expelled from Cd. Juarez after bombing of Pearl Harbor and incarcerated in Mexico City other Japanese.
Summary of Interview
Recalls her experiences as one of the few non- Mexicans enrolled at Bowie High School; social activities, economic conditions during the Great Depression; El Paso movie theaters; evidence of discrimination against Mexican by Anglos; reaction of Japanese community to bombing of Pearl Harbor; discusses confiscations of her U.S. identification card by U.S. officials during an attempt to cross the international border to visit her parents in El Paso; subsequent expulsion to Mexico city; Reflects on Japanese detainees; private Japanese school in Mexico city; Reflects on Japanese assimilation into Mexican society; views of the Mexican people.
Date of Interview
1-28-1994
Length of Interview
1 hour and 20 minutes
Listen to the Interview
Tape Number
No. 813
Transcript Number
No. 813
Length of Transcript
46 pages
Interview Number
No. 813
Terms of Use
Unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Interview with Rosa Kondo Honda by Victor M. Macías González, 1994, "Interview no. 813," Institute of Oral History, University of Texas at El Paso.