{"id":9209,"date":"2023-04-19T17:43:20","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T17:43:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/?page_id=9209"},"modified":"2023-06-19T21:54:27","modified_gmt":"2023-06-19T21:54:27","slug":"s-e-juliet-kossman","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/s-e-juliet-kossman\/","title":{"rendered":"S.E. (Juliet) Kossman"},"content":{"rendered":"[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_spacing=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][divider line_type=”No Line”][vc_column_text]\n

S.E. (Juliet) Kossman Oral History<\/span><\/h1>\n[\/vc_column_text][divider line_type=”No Line”][page_submenu alignment=”center” sticky=”true” bg_color=”#008542″ link_color=”#ffffff”][page_link link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/manuscripts-and-guides\/” title=”Manuscripts & Subject Guides<\/strong>” id=”1681925595100-2″ tab_id=”1681925595100-1″] [\/page_link][page_link link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/guides-to-the-collection-page\/” title=”Collections Portal<\/strong>” id=”1681925595107-3″ tab_id=”1681925595108-9″] [\/page_link][page_link title=”Visit<\/strong>” id=”1681925605718-4″ tab_id=”1681925605719-4″ link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/departments\/archives-museum\/visit\/”][\/page_link][page_link title=”Make a Request<\/strong>” id=”1681925606363-0″ tab_id=”1681925606364-3″ link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/departments\/archives-museum\/requests\/”][\/page_link][page_link title=”About Us<\/strong>” id=”1681925607044-10″ tab_id=”1681925607045-5″ link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/departments-archives-museum-about-us\/”][\/page_link][page_link title=”Yearbooks Online<\/strong>” id=”1681925607908-1″ tab_id=”1681925607909-8″ link_url=”https:\/\/www.deltastate.edu\/library\/departments\/archives-museum\/yearbooks-alumni-magazines-delta-state-histories\/”][\/page_link][\/page_submenu][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” column_direction=”default” column_direction_tablet=”default” column_direction_phone=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” row_border_radius=”none” row_border_radius_applies=”bg” overlay_strength=”0.3″ gradient_direction=”left_to_right” shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_tablet=”inherit” column_padding_phone=”inherit” column_padding_position=”all” column_element_spacing=”default” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” gradient_direction=”left_to_right” overlay_strength=”0.3″ width=”1\/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” bg_image_animation=”none” border_type=”simple” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]Kossman, S. E. (Juliet) Tape 1 of 1 5\/2\/00<\/strong>
\nBy: Jennifer Mitchell<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is an interview of the Chinese in the Mississippi Delta. The interview is being recorded with<\/em>
\nMrs. S. E. (Juliet) Kossman on May 2, 2000. The interviewer is Jennifer Mitchell.<\/em><\/p>\n

JM: This is Jennifer Mitchell. It is May 2, 2000 working on the Mississippi Chinese Oral History
\nProject. Today we are talking with Mrs. S. E. Kossman. She is going to tell us of their
\ninvolvement with the Chinese community. Tell us a little bit about how you became involved
\nwith the Chinese community.<\/p>\n

JK: Well it started when we came to Cleveland. Our business of course was across from Main
\nStreet. There was a Chinese grocery right across the street. You know how men like to drink
\nCoca-Cola. He would go over there. He got to be friendly with them. Then we got to be friendly
\nwith the ones that were out in the color section, John Wong and his family. We just liked one
\nanother. We would visit in their home, and they would visit in ours. Because I got to liking them
\nso much, and liking Chinese things, I went to Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

JM: Oh wow, when did you go to Hong Kong?<\/p>\n

JK: The first time I went to Hong Kong was in 1965.<\/p>\n

JM: You have a beautiful home.<\/p>\n

JK: Thank you.<\/p>\n

JM: How many times have you been to Hong Kong?<\/p>\n

JK: I would hate to tell you.<\/p>\n

JM: (Laughter) Well you have too.<\/p>\n

JK: About sixteen times.<\/p>\n

JM: Oh wonderful<\/p>\n

JK: People would say why do you want to go back, and I will say well I feel at home. I like it.
\nThere is always something to see.<\/p>\n

JM: When did you and your husband move to Cleveland?<\/p>\n

JK: 1941<\/p>\n

JM: 1941, so when you all were here. You mentioned a little bit earlier about your children going
\nto school together. So your children went to school after the Chinese community had integrated
\ninto the public school system?<\/p>\n

JK: Yeah right<\/p>\n

JM: Some of the ideas that have been expressed by some of the Chinese people is that after
\nWorld War II when a lot of people had been to other places and seen other people and other
\nthings. Attitudes toward the Chinese and different other communities that were in the delta
\nchanged. There was a bit more open arm attitude than before.<\/p>\n

JK: Right and I always have thought it was nice to know other people. See their different style of
\nlife than ours. They were such good people. Whenever there were a drought or anything, because
\nthey knew Ed liked Chinese. He was the one that would call them. They were always very
\ngenerous about everything.<\/p>\n

JM: Did you have opportunities to go to some of the weddings and funerals?<\/p>\n

JK: Oh yeah<\/p>\n

JM: Could you describe a wedding to me?<\/p>\n

JK: I don\u2019t think I was ever at the wedding, but the banquet they had afterwards. They had
\nwonderful food, and so many people you wouldn\u2019t believe it. I don\u2019t know how they ever got all
\nthat. That started me liking Chinese things.<\/p>\n

JM: I know they would have nine course meals.<\/p>\n

JK: Oh you just don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

JM: How long would the banquet last?<\/p>\n

JK: It was just wonderful. Once you eat Chinese food, I don\u2019t know how you can not like it.<\/p>\n

JM: Were there some delicacies or things that . . .<\/p>\n

JK: Yeah, I have eaten Bird Nest Soup. That is a real delicacy. Then when I was in Hong Kong,
\nthis jewel that I had to patronized. They were always lovely to us. You always had tea for dinner
\nand lunch or something like that. They took us to a place. Mr. Shin said, \u201cYou are always ready
\nto try anything.\u201d He said, \u201cWill you try something if I tell you about it.\u201d I said, \u201cWell it all
\ndepends on what it is.\u201d I said, \u201cwhat is it?\u201d He said, \u201cSnake soup.\u201d I said, \u201cYeah, I will try
\nanything once.\u201d It was absolutely delicious. It was the most delicious thing I have ever tasted.<\/p>\n

JM: Do you cook Chinese food too?<\/p>\n

JK: No, I don\u2019t know how too. Poor John Wong tried to teach me. He didn\u2019t get very far.<\/p>\n

JM: That is fine. Well did you ever attend any funerals?<\/p>\n

JK: Yes, yes.<\/p>\n

JM: What were they like?<\/p>\n

JK: They are very much like ours. Only they gave you a coin as you went out. I don\u2019t know why
\nthat is. You were always given a coin.<\/p>\n

JM: Yesterday at one of the interviews we had, they explained that to us. That is the first time
\nthat anybody had said anything about that. They said it was to represent the richness in your life
\nfor having known that person.<\/p>\n

JK: Then when Joe Im, I think he was part owner in the modern food place, market. It was right
\nnext to Kamiens, I think. He decided he wanted to go into the import and export business mostly
\nimport. He asked Ed if he would go to New York, my husband Ed to help him get settled. He
\nwould always laughed and said, that he was the man with the shortest name. His last name was
\nIm, and the Empire State building, the tallest building in the world.<\/p>\n

JM: That is funny, you can\u2019t miss it. Something that I am curious about, this is probably before
\nyou all became involved with the community. Maybe you can tell, how did the Chinese
\ncommunity start to become a little bit more involved with the larger community? Was it with the
\ncollaborations with between some of the families?<\/p>\n

JK: Well, I think at first. People you know are like well they are the Chinese. They stay over
\nthere, and we will stay over here. Some people when you get to know them. They are people just
\nlike all of us. When you get to be friends, you try to get them involved in the things that you are
\nin. All they would have to do is just ask to them. They were glad to enter into everything.<\/p>\n

JM: How do you think the Chinese community got so involved with the Baptist Church?<\/p>\n

JK: I don\u2019t know. I often wondered why they chose that.<\/p>\n

JM: Okay they chose the Baptist Church?<\/p>\n

JK: Yeah, well I think maybe because it was because of the minister.<\/p>\n

JM: They were welcomed to him. When was the Chinese school established, do you know?<\/p>\n

JK: No I don\u2019t, and that was here when we came.<\/p>\n

JM: It was still in operation when you came in \u201941.<\/p>\n

JK: Yes<\/p>\n

JM: So by the time, when were your children in school?<\/p>\n

JK: Well, let me see they went to Delta State at first to Dem. School. That was a school where
\nthey went like a kindergarten.<\/p>\n

JM: Oh and the Chinese went there?<\/p>\n

JK: No, no Chinese were there. Then I know in high school they were together.<\/p>\n

JM: Something that I wondered about, and I never really have asked them or never really thought
\nto ask. There is a lot of documentation about violence with in and against the black community
\nto maintain separation. Do you know if anything like that ever occurred to the Chinese
\ncommunity before people started to change their attitudes?<\/p>\n

JK: I don\u2019t think there was any violence that I know of.<\/p>\n

JM: I have not heard any.<\/p>\n

JK: I have never have heard of anything.<\/p>\n

JM: It seemed to me perhaps that they were very conscience of the structures, the social
\nstructures in the Delta and tried to maintain themselves with in that.<\/p>\n

JK: Well they all had nice homes. They were people just like me.<\/p>\n

JM: So most of the people that you know didn\u2019t live behind or above their stores?<\/p>\n

JK: Yes some of them did.<\/p>\n

JM: They were very nice. They were gracious kind.<\/p>\n

JK: They were nice. Then well John Wong, they lived in the back of their store. Then they
\nbought a home. It was a real nice home. Then let me see, it has been several years now. Their
\ngrandson got married. They moved to Houston. They called and asked us would we come to the
\nwedding. So Chester and I went. I felt like I was treated just like royalty. They were so lovely to
\nus. I saw Chinese people that I haven\u2019t seen in years that had moved away. It was like a
\nhomecoming.<\/p>\n

JM: Did they have the banquets?<\/p>\n

JK: They had the banquet. We asked where to stay. You know so where we wouldn\u2019t be too far
\nfrom where we were supposed to go. Everything was different there. I thought that was lovely.
\nWe didn\u2019t want that. They said know that was there present. I had flowers to wear everything.
\nHotel room was taken care of. Everything, it was just. It made me feel bad though. I didn\u2019t want
\nthem to do that.<\/p>\n

JM: So you enjoyed doing that.<\/p>\n

JK: When you are their friend, there are no friends like them.<\/p>\n

JM: Give me another example of that.<\/p>\n

JK: Well when I went to China the first time. I went with the sister of a husband of Frances
\nWong. Do you know Frances Wong?<\/p>\n

JM: Yes, we sure do. We interviewed her.<\/p>\n

JK: She is one of the most wonderful people that I have ever known. Did you know that she
\nwalks all of the time, and she picks up Coca-Cola cans? Do you know how much she has given
\nto her church selling cans?<\/p>\n

JM: No<\/p>\n

JK: Ten thousand dollars<\/p>\n

JM: You are kidding.<\/p>\n

JK: No I am not kidding.<\/p>\n

JM: That is a lot of money and a lot of Coca-Cola cans, wow.<\/p>\n

JK: She works up at the hospital. She volunteers. She does all kinds of wonderful things. You
\nwould never know it.<\/p>\n

JM: She is very humble. She was the first or second person that I had an opportunity to
\ninterview. As you can imagine it was a wonderful experience<\/p>\n

JK: She is so nice. I am crazy about Frances.<\/p>\n

JM: She was a lot of fun. I am not surprised with anything that you are saying.<\/p>\n

JK: She really is. I don\u2019t know how to say what I am trying to say. She embodies goodness to
\nme.<\/p>\n

JM: Do you find that is true of a lot of the Chinese friends you have?<\/p>\n

JK: Yes, yes they are much nicer and more forgiving and outgoing than we are. I think. I guess
\nthey have been pushed down so much.<\/p>\n

JM: Talk a little bit more about that. I kind of sensed that also with this just a depth of
\nforgiveness. They have the lack of malice or something.<\/p>\n

JK: I don\u2019t know. They just. When they do things, they do it from the heart. It seems to me. A lot
\nof times we do things because we think we ought to, but not them. They are just good people.
\nThey have goodness. I wished I had some of it. No, I mean that. If you were sick, Frances would
\ncome in and stay with me if I was sick, and take care of me. I know she would. Her husband was
\nso good such a nice man. This sister of his was the leader of a group. I went over to China with a
\nChinese group. It was four Americans. I wouldn\u2019t take anything for that. It was just wonderful.<\/p>\n

JM: Were they from this wonderful?<\/p>\n

JK: Oh no, they are mostly out in California.<\/p>\n

JM: Where did you all go when you went to China?<\/p>\n

JK: Oh I don\u2019t remember the places. They would try to give the few of us Americans, American
\nfood. I said, \u201cI don\u2019t want that. I want to eat just what you are eating.\u201d We had some of the most
\npeculiar things at the most peculiar times. It was great. We went to places that I don\u2019t think they
\nwould take an American group through years yet because it was very primative.<\/p>\n

JM: How do you mean primative?<\/p>\n

JK: Well I mean the hotel weren\u2019t like ours. It was so cold. I slept in my clothes and my coat.
\nYou didn\u2019t mind it because you were seeing things that you wouldn\u2019t have seen otherwise.<\/p>\n

JM: What are some of the ways that people dealt with that coldness there in China? Did they
\ndrink a lot of hot liquids?<\/p>\n

JK: Yeah hot tea that is the thing, and it does help too. I don\u2019t know. I look back on that, and I
\nthink what a wonderful experience that was.<\/p>\n

JM: When was that?<\/p>\n

JK: I don\u2019t know. I would have to go back and find all my notes. It has been a long time ago.
\nJM: Did your husband go with you also?<\/p>\n

JK: No, he was dead. It was a wonderful trip. I am glad I went that way instead of going on an
\nAmerican tour.<\/p>\n

JM: Sure<\/p>\n

JK: Because you saw things that you didn\u2019t see otherwise. That was going to be a real good
\nChinese restaurant that we could go to.<\/p>\n

JM: When did it open? How Joy from Greenville?<\/p>\n

JK: Yes, I don\u2019t know how Ed got to know him, but he ask when he opened. He asked different
\npeople from all over the delta to come as their guest. You never saw such a thing. There was so
\nmuch food so much stuff.<\/p>\n

JM: Was that the first restaurant, first Chinese restaurant to open in the area?<\/p>\n

JK: I think so. Now there were some in Memphis, and we went to that one a good bit. It was
\nfunny. I haven\u2019t seen the man that owned it for a long time. I was in a grocery store in Memphis.
\nI said to my daughter, \u201cThat looks like Jack Wong.\u201d She said, \u201cIt sure does.\u201d I said, \u201cWell I don\u2019t
\nwant to make a fool of myself.\u201d So I went up to the back of him, and I just said a kind of little
\n\u201cJack Wong, I haven\u2019t seen you for years.\u201d He turned around and he said, \u201cMs. Kossman, what
\nare you doing here?\u201d We got to talking. He bought a car from Chester. He had always bought
\nfrom my husband. I don\u2019t know it is just those people are so nice. I remember once we were in
\nNew York. Joe Im had a party. He owned a Chinese restaurant there too. He had all kind of artist
\nthat did stuff for newspapers and things. He had us all there one night. It was wonderful. I think
\nthe Chinese people here have done well and have been good citizens.<\/p>\n

JM: How so, how have they been good citizens?<\/p>\n

JK: Well they enter into anything less than for the good.<\/p>\n

JM: What does the first memory of that sort of civil involvement?<\/p>\n

JK: You know when they get up money. You know how they collect for different things for the
\ntown and for national stuff and all of that. They ask different people in town to take names.<\/p>\n

JM: I wasn\u2019t aware of any of that.<\/p>\n

JK: Well Edward would always be giving the Chinese mainly because they knew he knew us.
\nThey always responded. Always.<\/p>\n

JM: I am not sure that I understand. So you are saying with the Chinese community would raise
\nfunds for different things?<\/p>\n

JK: Well like he would go to see this John Wong. He would give him money. He would go see
\nanother one. They would donate just like we do. I don\u2019t know why they thought maybe they
\nwouldn\u2019t, but all you had to do was ask.<\/p>\n

JM: When did you notice Chinese restaurants starting to develop. I think when Chinese first
\ncame they were laborers.<\/p>\n

JK: Yeah they worked on the farm.<\/p>\n

JM: Then they involved into the Chinese stores.<\/p>\n

JK: Then they had the grocery stores.<\/p>\n

JM: When did they get to change grocery stores? Do you know?<\/p>\n

JK: Well, when we first came here they had two or three stores in the colored section. Then John
\nWong had one on the main little Modern store. It had been there for years. Then he opened
\nanother smaller store.<\/p>\n

JM: When you say modern store, what do you mean?<\/p>\n

JK: That was a grocery store called a Modern Grocery Store next to Kamiens.<\/p>\n

JM: Oh yes you mentioned that. Did they have the people standing behind the counter and get
\nand retrieving the items that you needed?<\/p>\n

JK: Yes<\/p>\n

JM: When did the Modern Grocery Store close?<\/p>\n

JK: Oh it has been close a good while. I am trying to think what is there now. I guess it may have
\nbeen. Well it wouldn\u2019t have been where Jay\u2019s was. It was right in there. I remember during the
\nwar when things were hard to get. John Wong would wait there. He would come up to me with a
\nvery straight face and say, \u201cBananas?\u201d and if I would have shake my head. He would run to the
\ncounter and gets some bananas for me. He didn\u2019t get a whole lot of stuff. They didn\u2019t put it out.
\nSo they were trying to see that there good customers got it.<\/p>\n

JM: That is great, bananas. That is funny.<\/p>\n

JK: I know it. I can see him right now.<\/p>\n

JM: So would the Chinese stores have more of the things that were hard to come by than some of
\nthe other stores?<\/p>\n

JK: I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n

JM: A lot of the Chinese men went to the war?<\/p>\n

JK: Oh I am sure some of them did.<\/p>\n

JM: From different families, we help with the store?<\/p>\n

JK: Yeah<\/p>\n

JM: Back to the question that we didn\u2019t answer because I went to something else. When were the
\nChinese restaurants, when did they start to open?<\/p>\n

JK: I don\u2019t remember when that was. Now the first real one that we had here was the Pagoda. I
\ncan remember when Sally and Jack when that first came. The little store on the corner by the
\ncollege, Jack Chow owned that. He owned the grocery stores. He worked for him. Then they
\ndecided that they would open their restaurant. It was good. He was an excellent cook. She used
\nto call me their mama. Sally was so good. She gave away more than she sold. They live in
\nMemphis now.<\/p>\n

JM: Their children are through with Delta State?<\/p>\n

JK: Oh yeah, there children all have excellent jobs.<\/p>\n

JM: What is the youngest ones name? She was a<\/p>\n

JK: Eva<\/p>\n

JM: Eva, okay she is also in Memphis, or is she somewhere else?<\/p>\n

JK: No, yes Eva is in Memphis. One is in Monroe. I can\u2019t remember their names now.<\/p>\n

JM: Is there a much noticeably smaller population of Chinese people here in the Delta?<\/p>\n

JK: Yes, I think so. Now there are two more restaurants here now.<\/p>\n

JM: Now<\/p>\n

JK: Smaller restaurants.<\/p>\n

JM: They are also, well I think they are pretty good.<\/p>\n

JK: Yeah, I have been to both of them. Of course they are not the size of the other ones, but their
\nfood is excellent. Family means so much to the Chinese people. They take care of their family.
\nThey don\u2019t put old people in homes. They take care of them. They think that is their privilege.
\nWhen a daughter comes into home, she comes in as a daughter. It is just wonderful.<\/p>\n

JM: You mean when a son married someone.<\/p>\n

JK: Marries, yes<\/p>\n

JM: So do they do that? Do they go? When a young Chinese couple gets married, do they go
\nwith their father\u2019s? Wait what am I trying to say.<\/p>\n

JK: Go with the father\u2019s family?<\/p>\n

JM: Yes<\/p>\n

JK: Well, they try to have a home of their own.<\/p>\n

JM: I mean go with the husbands?<\/p>\n

JK: They are a family. You know how Americans are. They fuss and carry on a lot. I don\u2019t think
\nthey do as much.<\/p>\n

JM: How many generations can you find within a Chinese home? Like three generations?<\/p>\n

JK: I think nowadays they don\u2019t do as much as they used to. They are getting too Americanized
\nunfortunately.<\/p>\n

JM: Right<\/p>\n

JK: I don\u2019t know two maybe and sometimes part of the third generation. Now they all have their
\nown homes like we do.<\/p>\n

JM: That is some of the two that we interviewed yesterday. That was pretty much what they
\nexpressed each generation has gotten more and more Americanized. One of the things that they
\nsaid that was the idea of the work. How their parents worked all the time. They never even
\nthought about having a vacation or anything like that.<\/p>\n

JK: No<\/p>\n

JM: Then the generation that we were talking to, which would be the generation above me. They
\nare going to Italy. They are looking forward to it. That is very different.<\/p>\n

JK: Yes, and well I will tell you something else. Chinese children studied. They were always
\nexcellent scholars because it wasn\u2019t. They did what they were supposed to do.<\/p>\n

JM: Why do you think that is so?<\/p>\n

JK: Because I think they appreciated and getting to have a good education.<\/p>\n

JM: Do you think that was instilled from their parents?<\/p>\n

JK: Yes because I don\u2019t think their parents had the education they have. They didn\u2019t have the
\nopportunity. You will find nearly all Chinese students are smart.<\/p>\n

JM: They are excellers.<\/p>\n

JK: I am not kidding you. That is true.<\/p>\n

JM: So the Chinese generation that owned the grocery stores were not educated people?<\/p>\n

JK: I wouldn\u2019t say they were real educated.<\/p>\n

JM: They certainly ran the store very good.<\/p>\n

JK: But they knew how to run that store.<\/p>\n

JM: Well what about men and women? It seems like women did a lot of business work?<\/p>\n

JK: Yes<\/p>\n

JM: Was there any other distinctions like that?<\/p>\n

JK: No, the men and women both worked. I mean they didn\u2019t have anybody to take care of their
\nfamily. If something happened, we always had family to call on. A lot of them came over, and
\ntheir family was still in China. So they had to work.<\/p>\n

JM: Did people express some interest in going back to China, or did they express interest in
\nstaying here? Or did they even they say?<\/p>\n

JK: Well now Frances Wong is going to Hong Kong this summer. She is real excited about going
\nback.<\/p>\n

JM: Has she been back before?<\/p>\n

JK: Oh yes, but she is real excited about this. Did you talk to her at all about this?<\/p>\n

JM: We did, it was like in February or January some time ago. I can\u2019t remember what she said
\nabout that. I think I remember her talking about going back to her home like her roots where her
\nfamily. Some people have talked about that whether or not the home the original home was still
\nstanding. Have you had an opportunity? Well I think a lot of Chinese that are here came from
\nCanton. Have you had an opportunity to go there?<\/p>\n

JK: I have been to Canton, yeah.<\/p>\n

JM: The reason I ask is, one of the things that someone said about the banquets, wedding
\nbanquets, that the food in some ways sort of characterized where they came from in China.<\/p>\n

JK: What they would have to serve you mean?<\/p>\n

JM: Fay Dong for instance, came from a fishing village.<\/p>\n

JK: They would have more fish than the person living inland.<\/p>\n

JM: Right, did you see any parallels like that?<\/p>\n

JK: No, I really didn\u2019t notice that.<\/p>\n

JM: What is Canton like? Is it?<\/p>\n

JK: It is just a big city.<\/p>\n

JM: Okay, so it is an urban area? I had my mind that it was . . .<\/p>\n

JK: Well it is out from Hong Kong. Hong Kong you can\u2019t believe the people it is so many.<\/p>\n

JM: Is it an agricultural area?<\/p>\n

JK: Out of Hong Kong is, but it is more crowded than New York City. It is an interesting place.
\nIt has been interesting to me to see how it has changed through the years.<\/p>\n

JM: How has it changed?<\/p>\n

JK: Well the Peninsula Hotel in Hong Kong is the finest hotel in the world. The service is like
\nnothing you ever saw in your life. On each floor there is what you call a houseboy. After you
\nhave been there a day. He knows you, and he knows your room. He speaks to you. He goes and
\nopens the door for you. I mean, it is a beautiful hotel. They always had orchids in your room for
\nyou. Oh we paid for it I am sure. It was beautiful. It is so crowded. You just wouldn\u2019t believe.<\/p>\n

JM: Are there as many cars and busses?<\/p>\n

JK: Oh goodness yes, my son laughed and said. I took them all to Hong Kong one year, and he
\nsaid, \u201cYou know what I would like to have. I would like to own all the neon lights in Hong
\nKong. I would be a billionaire.\u201d<\/p>\n

JM: You can see them from ten miles away too.<\/p>\n

JK: Right<\/p>\n

JM: What about health related issues with Chinese? For instance, did when Chinese women have
\nbabies, did they go to the hospital? Did they have midwives?<\/p>\n

JK: I don\u2019t know, but I will tell you one thing that did happen when we were in China. I took my
\ndaughter with me. She said, \u201cDid the mosquitoes bother you last night?\u201d I said, \u201cNo.\u201d The next
\nnight she said, \u201cYou still.?\u201d I said, \u201cThere are no mosquitoes in this room?\u201d I said, \u201cWhat are
\nyou talking about?\u201d She showed me all these whelps. I said, \u201cI am calling the house doctor. That
\nis not mosquito bites.\u201d So I called him. Of course he didn\u2019t speak English. Such a time did we
\nhave, so he showed them. He drew a picture of a shrimp.<\/p>\n

JM: She was allergic to shrimp.<\/p>\n

JK: She was allergic to seafood.<\/p>\n

JM: That can be so horrible.<\/p>\n

JK: So we were getting ready that morning we were getting ready to go to another place. So he
\ncalled in an interpreter. He said, \u201cIs it all right for me to give her a shot?\u201d I said, \u201cYes.\u201d So he
\ngave her a shot and gave her some medicine and told her what to do. I ask for the bill because we
\nwere leaving. It was thirty cents. That is what he charged. So I ask the interpreter, I said, \u201cIs it all
\nright if . . .\u201d He was a doctor, I didn\u2019t want to do anything wrong. I said, \u201cIs it all right if I leave
\nhim something.\u201d He said oh don\u2019t do that. He would lose face. Thirty cents.<\/p>\n

JM: Are there things like that here in the Delta like he would lose face? Are their things like
\nthat?<\/p>\n

JK: I imagine so among them. I don\u2019t think we would ever know.<\/p>\n

JM: So were there sort of . . .<\/p>\n

JK: I think they are more private than we are. I think they strictly tend to their own business not
\nlike we do. We but into things that are none of our business. As I say, a Chinese friend is the best
\nfriend in the world you can have. They are not just your friends in good times. They are there
\nwhen you need them.<\/p>\n

JM: Do you feel like there is sort of a sense of social control among and within the Chinese
\ncommunity?<\/p>\n

JK: Well I think at first, I don\u2019t think there was as much mixing as there is now. I think you
\nknow how Americans just run into just go head low. I don\u2019t think they are like that. I don\u2019t think
\nthey want it to be, so they kind of held back. They are much more out going now.<\/p>\n

JM: Oh okay, so this generation is more out going than the previous generation.<\/p>\n

JK: Right<\/p>\n

JM: When you say out going you mean?<\/p>\n

JK: Mixing like, if they were invited to a party. Like on my 80th birthday, my children gave me a
\nparty. I wanted all my Chinese friends, and they came. It was just fine. I am trying to think.<\/p>\n

JM: We are sort of looking at some of the things that you have here. The screen has the
\nembroidery on either side.<\/p>\n

JK: I don\u2019t know what that stands for. They have it to rotate. So you can see the back and front.
\nYou see that there is not difference.<\/p>\n

JM: It is really lovely.<\/p>\n

JK: This screen came from Japan. When my husband went out as National President of the
\nAutomobile Dealers, they said do you want something for yourself. Or would you want
\nsomething that your wife would like? I said I want something that my wife would like. They
\ngave us that. I have all the papers on it. It is from the seventeenth century.<\/p>\n

JM: Wow<\/p>\n

JK: They do not allow them out of Japan anymore. They are called national treasures. So I am
\nvery lucky to have that.<\/p>\n

JM: It is beautiful.<\/p>\n

JK: Even little ordinary things, they just make so beautiful.<\/p>\n

JM: Do you see craftsmanship like that here?<\/p>\n

JK: You mean do the Chinese do it?<\/p>\n

JM: Yes<\/p>\n

JK: No, I haven\u2019t seen any. In fact I haven\u2019t seen any Chinese embroider.<\/p>\n

JM: Oh okay<\/p>\n

JK: You want everything you see. It is terrible. That little pot over there. That is what they roll
\non the streets on rollers in Bangkok. They roll that. They have fire underneath that bottom part.
\nThey cook. They sell food on the street.<\/p>\n

JM: Oh wow, I wouldn\u2019t have thought that.<\/p>\n

JK: I saw it at somebody\u2019s house. I nearly had a fit over it. She was an American with it over
\nthere. She said, \u201cWell hurry up, I will take you where you can get one.\u201d So we brought them on
\nthe plane with us. The back tables over there were wedding presents to my mother. So I did have
\na love for Chinese stuff way back yonder.<\/p>\n

JM: I wonder how she, how somebody just gave that to her?<\/p>\n

JK: Gave that to her as a wedding presents. The big vase on this end a Chinese gave it to my aunt
\nin Greenville. When she died, her son gave it to me. \u2018 Cause he knew I liked those kinds of
\nthings. The doll sitting on there. A Japanese friend brought on the plane with him from Japan for
\nme.<\/p>\n

JM: I guess he would have to. It looks very delicate.<\/p>\n

JK: This chest, I have had it repainted. John Wong brought when he went over to get his wife.
\nWhen he came back he brought some stuff. He brought that to us.<\/p>\n

JM: Did people do that a lot? Did husbands have to go back and get their families?<\/p>\n

JK: Yeah, they went back to get their wives or to get somebody there to marry.<\/p>\n

JM: Oh so they would go back and marry somebody. Then they would come back to the states.<\/p>\n

JK: Yeah<\/p>\n

JM: What year was people doing that? When did people stop going back to China to retrieve
\nfamily members or to have a wife?<\/p>\n

JK: I don\u2019t think much of it was done after we came. Most of them here were all ready married.<\/p>\n

JM: We talked a little bit about in Greenville, and your family in Greenville. They were involved
\nwith the Chinese community also?<\/p>\n

JK: Yes, the Chinese people liked my cousin, Jerome Adams. He was a very well known lawyer.
\nAny time that they had to have a lawyer. He was always their lawyer.<\/p>\n

JM: What sort of things among the Chinese community, or just . . .<\/p>\n

JK: I don\u2019t know just whenever they needed a lawyer. They would have him represent them. Mr.
\nI don\u2019t know I guess he is Dr. Quon.<\/p>\n

JM: Mr. Quon<\/p>\n

JK: Mr. Quon was one of the first people to get the Kossman award at Delta State. I was pleased
\nabout that.<\/p>\n

JM: He has been a lot of help on this project that we have been doing.<\/p>\n

JK: He seems to be a very nice person.<\/p>\n

JM: When did Chinese people start going to Delta State.<\/p>\n

JK: I don\u2019t know. I remember we have gotten engaged. We came to Benoit to a ballgame. It was
\na baseball game. Ed saw Dr. Kethley there. I don\u2019t know if you remember him. That was before
\nyour time. I can hear him right now. He said, \u201cKethley, how is your school coming.\u201d He said,
\n\u201cEd it is just wonderful. We have the largest enrollment than we have ever had. We have a
\nhundred and fifty students.\u201d I will never forget that.<\/p>\n

JM: That is so funny a hundred and fifty.<\/p>\n

JK: A hundred and fifty students. He was high. It is wonderful to have seen that school grow like
\nit has, and get the respect from other larger colleges.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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