Paul Kusuda’s column
RELOCATION CENTER TO CHICAGO
RELOCATION CENTER TO CHICAGO
Part 2
On May 26, 1943, I was able to leave the Manzanar Relocation Center to establish residence in
Chicago. For the first time in my life, I lived outside California. I never returned although I
received West Coast job offers later in my life.
The first place I lived was different from any I’d experience before. It was dormitory living in a
small one-bedroom space on the third floor. Actually, it was a dormer built into the attic area. It
had a window facing 57th Street and the University of Chicago campus—cramped a bit, but I
didn’t mind at all.
The shower and commode were on the floor below. In all, I think there were ten or twelve men
at the Meadville Theological Men’s Dormitory, a friendly little community. We all had lunch and
dinner together each day in the dining room on the first floor. Ms. Helen Parrish sat at the head
On May 26, 1943, I was able to leave the Manzanar Relocation Center to establish residence in
Chicago. For the first time in my life, I lived outside California. I never returned although I
received West Coast job offers later in my life.
The first place I lived was different from any I’d experience before. It was dormitory living in a
small one-bedroom space on the third floor. Actually, it was a dormer built into the attic area. It
had a window facing 57th Street and the University of Chicago campus—cramped a bit, but I
didn’t mind at all.
The shower and commode were on the floor below. In all, I think there were ten or twelve men
at the Meadville Theological Men’s Dormitory, a friendly little community. We all had lunch and
dinner together each day in the dining room on the first floor. Ms. Helen Parrish sat at the head
of the table and made sure we were civil, friendly, and polite. We minded our manners because if we didn’t, she would
give us a cold look. She didn’t have to say a word, her look was sufficient. When an extra dessert was available because
one or another of the group was not present to eat, we had a finger-counting method to vie for it.
After about two weeks or so, I left my temporary quarters when I found a one-room apartment in Westside Chicago close to
public transportation. In Chicago, it was excellent and affordable as it was in Los Angeles. In LA, all public transportation
in the 1940s was surface—electricity-run street cars. In Chicago, there were buses, electricity-run street and subway cars,
and elevated trains. Fares were affordable, and after awhile I had no trouble getting anywhere I wanted to go.
Finding a job was easy, but each had much to be desired. The beginning pay was about the same all over; $0.50 to
$0.625 per hour. Some jobs offered more than eight hours per day or 40 hours per week, thus promising time-and-a-half
incentive.
My first job at 50 cents per hour was a bummer, so I worked for only a short time. Women assembled pages and glued on
covers to pocket-sized New Testaments. My job was to supply pages and covers for those who did the assembly and
gluing work. Responsibilities were clear; I had to keep supplied a group of about a half-dozen ladies, clear their
completed booklets from their small work areas, and place them on a table where men packed them into cartons and
piled them on wooden skids. Women and men had different job assignments.
Whenever I became behind in supplying materials or in clearing away completed booklets, the women would let me know
because (I found out later) they were on piece-work; their pay was based on production. Their getting my attention was
understandable, and I was sorry I couldn’t keep up with their work efficiently. What bothered me was the boss yelling at me
while I was trying to figure out the best way to make things work smoothly.
-2-
The pages and covers were not depleted at the same rate, completed booklets were ready for pick-up at differing intervals
depending on the speed of the workers, and I had to account for time-breaks taken by workers including myself. The first
day was both confusing and tense. The second was no better. About the middle of the third day, I asked for my pay and
quit.
Other jobs were available. All I had to do was wander around factory areas and look for “Help Wanted” signs. One job I
found, and didn’t hold for too long, was in a leather glove-making factory. The good part was that a fellow job applicant was
a Nisei classmate when we were students at the Los Angeles City College. He had been sent to a different Camp than I
and recently relocated to Chicago. We both worked for awhile at the same factory for $0.625 per hour with the promise of a
raise in a month. (We didn’t work there long enough to get a raise.)
He helped men who cut pieces of leather into glove shapes in such a way as to minimize waste. His job was to haul
stacks of leather hides and take away glove shaped pieces. My job was to deliver the pieces, by type of leather, to women
who sewed the pieces together. They were fast workers, probably paid on a piece-work basis. I also had to take sewn
gloves to men who used metal forms to turn the seams inside the gloves, some of which had linings. There were more
women sewing gloves than men turning them outside in.
I had to keep the women supplied, keep their work areas clear of completed products, take the gloves to the men, and
make sure that both women and men had their materials available for their work input. The logistics were not easy
because everyone worked at different speeds, and probably all were on piece-work pay. The men who hauled the skids of
finished products were probably hourly workers as I was.
My friend also ran into problems with his assignments. His job required keeping men supplied with leather hides that
came in heavy piles, moving the cut glove pieces away from work areas while keeping matching sizes together (e.g., small,
large, type of leather, and other differentiations). Anyway, after a couple of days after comparing notes, we decided to look
elsewhere for work. We got our pay in cash and didn’t even ask about Social Security deductions. We figured they were
made because our pay was less than the amount we calculated by multiplying the number of hours and pay per hour.
give us a cold look. She didn’t have to say a word, her look was sufficient. When an extra dessert was available because
one or another of the group was not present to eat, we had a finger-counting method to vie for it.
After about two weeks or so, I left my temporary quarters when I found a one-room apartment in Westside Chicago close to
public transportation. In Chicago, it was excellent and affordable as it was in Los Angeles. In LA, all public transportation
in the 1940s was surface—electricity-run street cars. In Chicago, there were buses, electricity-run street and subway cars,
and elevated trains. Fares were affordable, and after awhile I had no trouble getting anywhere I wanted to go.
Finding a job was easy, but each had much to be desired. The beginning pay was about the same all over; $0.50 to
$0.625 per hour. Some jobs offered more than eight hours per day or 40 hours per week, thus promising time-and-a-half
incentive.
My first job at 50 cents per hour was a bummer, so I worked for only a short time. Women assembled pages and glued on
covers to pocket-sized New Testaments. My job was to supply pages and covers for those who did the assembly and
gluing work. Responsibilities were clear; I had to keep supplied a group of about a half-dozen ladies, clear their
completed booklets from their small work areas, and place them on a table where men packed them into cartons and
piled them on wooden skids. Women and men had different job assignments.
Whenever I became behind in supplying materials or in clearing away completed booklets, the women would let me know
because (I found out later) they were on piece-work; their pay was based on production. Their getting my attention was
understandable, and I was sorry I couldn’t keep up with their work efficiently. What bothered me was the boss yelling at me
while I was trying to figure out the best way to make things work smoothly.
-2-
The pages and covers were not depleted at the same rate, completed booklets were ready for pick-up at differing intervals
depending on the speed of the workers, and I had to account for time-breaks taken by workers including myself. The first
day was both confusing and tense. The second was no better. About the middle of the third day, I asked for my pay and
quit.
Other jobs were available. All I had to do was wander around factory areas and look for “Help Wanted” signs. One job I
found, and didn’t hold for too long, was in a leather glove-making factory. The good part was that a fellow job applicant was
a Nisei classmate when we were students at the Los Angeles City College. He had been sent to a different Camp than I
and recently relocated to Chicago. We both worked for awhile at the same factory for $0.625 per hour with the promise of a
raise in a month. (We didn’t work there long enough to get a raise.)
He helped men who cut pieces of leather into glove shapes in such a way as to minimize waste. His job was to haul
stacks of leather hides and take away glove shaped pieces. My job was to deliver the pieces, by type of leather, to women
who sewed the pieces together. They were fast workers, probably paid on a piece-work basis. I also had to take sewn
gloves to men who used metal forms to turn the seams inside the gloves, some of which had linings. There were more
women sewing gloves than men turning them outside in.
I had to keep the women supplied, keep their work areas clear of completed products, take the gloves to the men, and
make sure that both women and men had their materials available for their work input. The logistics were not easy
because everyone worked at different speeds, and probably all were on piece-work pay. The men who hauled the skids of
finished products were probably hourly workers as I was.
My friend also ran into problems with his assignments. His job required keeping men supplied with leather hides that
came in heavy piles, moving the cut glove pieces away from work areas while keeping matching sizes together (e.g., small,
large, type of leather, and other differentiations). Anyway, after a couple of days after comparing notes, we decided to look
elsewhere for work. We got our pay in cash and didn’t even ask about Social Security deductions. We figured they were
made because our pay was less than the amount we calculated by multiplying the number of hours and pay per hour.
So, off we went. Having a companion made the
experience somewhat of a lark. Those days,
unemployment was not accompanied with
anxiety or worry about getting the next job.
Costs seemed to be reasonable and bearable
with the small amount of pay we earned. We
could afford to pay our rent on time and buy
enough food to keep us from being hungry. We
were relatively young and happy-go-lucky. AND
this was when we were in the middle of World
War II. Now, it seems strange, but then, it was
the norm!
