Interviews

1. Father's role in starting the Wailea Milling Company

2. Sale of Wailea Milling Company during World War II

3. Growing up with Japanese language and values

4. Gender discrimination in education field

5. Memories of family dinners

6. Symbolic New Year’s foods prepared from scratch

7. Being a tomboy

8. Taking over husband’s orchid farm and nursery

9. Father interrogated by FBI, but not taken away

10. Victory Corps Work during World War II

Margaret Oda

(1925 - 2018) Nisei educator from Hawai‘i

Father's role in starting the Wailea Milling Company

Eventually, after several years [in Hawai‘i], my father was asked by Mr. Cabrino, who had lots of land in Wailea, if he would take over his property and he would lease all of his property to me dad to raise cane. So he took a great liking to my father so my dad did that and my grandfather and grandmother also came to live in Wailea.

One of the things that my dad noticed was that all the independent farm growers had to wait until the very end to have their sugar milled because the sugar plantation gave first opportunity to their own sugar land. And so he went around campaigning and asking if they’d like to have an independent sugar mill. And of course everybody wanted to so they got this Costa family – a Portuguese family – to work with them and they built this Wailea Milling Company and my dad was of course the vice president. My grandfather eventually went back to Japan but we ended up staying because my dad got into this big experience and opportunity to do something for the community.

agriculture farming Hawai'i mills sugarcane industry sugarcane mills United States

Date: May 31, 2006

Location: Hawai‘i, US

Interviewer: Akemi Kikumura Yano

Contributed by: Watase Media Arts Center, Japanese American National Museum

Interviewee Bio

Dr. Margaret Oda was born on the Big Island of Hawai‘i, in Wailea. A Nisei, her parents were Japanese immigrants from Hiroshima. Her father worked on a sugar cane farm where he eventually became the Wailea Milling Company’s vice president.

She received her Master’s degree in Mathematics at Michigan State University, and later her Doctorate of Education from the University of Hawai‘i at Manōa in 1977. She started her teaching career in 1951 rising to positions as vice principal and principal at several public elementary and high schools throughout Hawai‘i. Dr. Oda later served as Deputy Superintendent for the State of Hawai‘i Department of Education for three years and twice served as Honolulu District Superintendent in the 1980s. She remained in the administration realm of public education until her retirement in the late 1990s.

Dr. Oda is known for her philanthropic work in the field of education. She has served on community organization boards such as the Prince Akihito Scholarship Foundation, Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy and Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai‘i. She is the past chair of the Museum's Hawai‘i Advisory Committee. Dr. Oda currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Japanese American National Museum. (April 6, 2007)