Oral History Interview with Hideko Deki Seto

Nisei female, born September 24, 1918 in Berkeley, California. Hideko earned her master's degree in social work from the University of California, Berkeley in 1942. She was hired by the U.S. War Relocation Authority to travel in California to help fearful residents, including many who did not speak English, understand the program and prepare to move to internment camps. At the end of her contract, she was forced to join internees at the Tule Lake Relocation Center. She served as a medical social worker at the camp hospital, where she met Dr. Masaharu R. Seto of Sacramento and married him in 1943. She also participated in community events and dances to help ease the hardship of life amid spartan conditions. She and her husband left the camp after he joined the Army and was sent as an officer to Hawaii to treat Japanese prisoners of war. They moved in 1948 to Sacramento, where she spent a career as a social worker for the Children's Home Society, Travelers Aid, and the state's adoption services program. Her husband, who established a medical practice, died in 1985. Hideko was a donor and volunteer for community groups, including the Japanese American Citizens League and the Matsuyama-Sacramento Sister City Corp. She served twelve years as president of the ladies auxiliary to Nisei VFW Post 8985.