Florence Uchia:
Interned at Poston, Arizona camp
Florence was born on September 20, 1929 in Los Angeles but grew up in Calexico. Her mother was told to give birth to her at Los Angeles because of the hot weather of Calexico. In Calexico, her father was to attend to more than 250 acres of farmland, which consisted of grapefruit, alfalfa and more. At the imperial valley, Florence was about 3 miles away from the city, which mean making friends was nearly impossible. She established a good relationship with her parents and with her many sisters and one brother. Her sister told her about the bombing of Pearl Harbor and was worried about discrimination towards Florence but she faced little discrimination. Once the Executive order 9066 was passed, her parents told her that they had to move and live in a camp; she had no choice but to go along, not knowing the true meaning behind the internment camps. Before she and her family went to go to the camp, they stored all of their household items in a storage room near their house.
Life was grim at the camp in Poston Arizona with the army blanket, the army cot, and the bag of hay that made up her mattress, but Florence, who was 11, quickly started to make some friends, which made her experience there somewhat enjoyable. Family life stayed the same as they all slept under two rooms due to the size of the family (normally, it was only 8 people per room). She also
In this video, Florence Uchia is asked a series of questions about her early life, life in the camp, and life after the camp. She also discusses family relations, activities in the camp, her reaction to the whole situation and much more.
volunteered to work in the mess hall. While working at the mess hall, she was paid very little for her expenses. At one point in the camp, she had a near-death experience while swimming due to her inability to swim at that time.
After the executive order 9066 was overturned in 1944, Florence, who was 14, and her family had to stay at a companion’s farm in Phoenix. Her father went to their old house to retrieve the stored goods, but the owners of the house after Florence’s family was interned also took most of their household items, leaving only a sewing machine
and a victrola. She went back into school and attended Phoenix Union High School as well as Fountain Valley High School for summer school. Once her senior year of high school came, she decided to move out of Phoenix and into Los Angeles, where she stayed and worked at a place called School Girls. At School Girls, She was able to get some money as well as attend to her last year of high school in Hollywood high. One of her more memorable times at School Girls was when she was given the opportunity to visit her family back at Phoenix during the holidays. She was able to give them gifts with the little money she was able to make at School Girls.