Evelyn Lulu Quisen and Marie Rivera Yip
Access interview transcript here
Summary:
In this interview, Marie Rivera Yip, a 75-year old Filipino American woman, shares her upbringing and childhood in Oakland, California. Marie was born in 1934 at Charity Hospital in Oakland and grew up near the railroad tracks. She has vivid memories of Franklin Grammar school, where her family members protected her from racial discrimination, especially because there were few Filipinos in Oakland Chinatown at the time. Marie’s family lived through significant historical events, including World War II. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, her mother purchased a dry-cleaning business from a Japanese family that was interned during the war, which became a hub for the Filipino community. Migrant workers as well as local Filipinos used the store as a meeting place, where they entrusted Marie’s mother with their money and often stayed for meals. Marie shares many personal anecdotes, like growing up with an absentee father, the time she narrowly avoided a fight with her own cousin, or when a misunderstanding led her brother’s friend to propose. Despite hardships in her early life, Marie stayed connected to her roots in Oakland Chinatown and maintained close ties with her family and friends.
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