PSU Magazine Spring 1994

First class, first generation n June of 1956, Aiko Dea n stood proudly in th e commence– ment line of Portland S ta te Co llege 's fir t graduating cla s. It had been a long, tough trip from her family's Hood River o rchard through Wo rld War II Japane e American internment camps to the pomp and circum tance in Old Main Auditorium . Dean was one of the 72 members of that clas , and her tory resonates today in th e lives of many PSU students who still ea rn degree by fit and starts, interrupted by famil y demands, politi– ca l uphea val, and the perennia l need fo r money. Dean is a Nise i, a child of the first generation of Japane e immigrants who came to the United rates in the late 19th and ea rl y 20th centuries. In many ways she's typica l of her generation , the so-called "model minority"- Japanese Americans with a strong ethic of achievement and ass imilation , and an ave rsion to making wave . Yet Dea n also attained a stubbo rn independence unusua l fo r America n women of any ethnic background during the 1950s, raising two children by herself and ea rning her own living as an elemen– tary schoolteacher. Dea n is the daughter of Shinj iro and Masa Suzuki Sumoge. Both her parent grew up in Japan. In Yokohama and Tokyo around the turn of the century, the young Shinj iro had heard sto ries of America's wea lth- th at gold and jewe ls were so abundant th ey could 8 PSU Magaz ine be picked up off th e streets. He was a younger on who could not expect to inherit his famil y' property. The lure of America was irres istible, and in 1909 he crossed the sea to eek his fo rtun e. Like many of his predece tW, hinjiro saw himse lf a a Deka eginin– a temporary sojourner. But after working his way down th e Pac ific coa t and up the Columbi a Ri ver in sa lmon canneri es, lumber camp , and ra il road gangs , he found th e stories of glittering jewels and free gold to be a lie. He couldn 't even save enough money fo r his return passage. So he dec ided to stay in the United S tates. The next steps were to find a wife and some land . Shinji ro and Ma a met and married th rough th e "picture bride" system that enabled Japanese men in the United tares to marry women in Japan by proxy. These unions were brokered long-distance and often the parti es knew each other onl y th rough photo– graphs. Ameri can law allowed the wi ve unre tri cted immigrati on to the United ta re , and nea rl y 45 ,000 Japanese women started new li ves on these te rms between 1909 and 1920. Dea n says her mo th er was a bit spo il ed by her wea lthy fa mily and had rejected seve ral sui tors in her home town of hiba nea r T okyo. O ne of the e purned swa ins emigra ted and became fri ends with Shinji ro a they bo th worked the Pacifi c o rthwe t lumber and ra ilroad camps. When he showed Masa 's pic ture to Shinji ro, the latter wanted to marry her. War and internment failed to slow a Japanese-American student determined to succeed. By Valerie Brown STEVE Ill PAOLA Aiko (Sumoge) Dean today In the meantime, a small inc ident occ urred th at led to a long-sta nding famil y joke that the bride had "cost fi ve doll ar ."Although Dean's fath er was a C hristian even before he emigrated, he had given 5 to a Buddhist pri e't who was so li citing donations in a lumber camp , te lling th e priest he'd willingly give more if he had it. Later the priest was able to smooth the path fo r ucces ful negot iations with Ma a's fa mil y through the Po rtland Japane e con 'ul ate. With he lp from o ther Japane e settl ers, the umoges fo und land in the fertil e Hood Ri ver va lley and settled in to ra i e fruit and a fa mil y. A the fifth