LEVINE:

I see. You went to high school?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Where were you when you went to high school? Where did you go to high school?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Well, I'm going to go to school, the school.

LEVINE:

Where were you? In Boston? Were you in this country?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Yeah, college.

LEVINE:

College?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

[Unclear] College, yeah.

LEVINE:

And were you a good student?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Yeah, what was your favorite subject? What did you like best to learn about?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

I don't know. [Pause]

LEVINE:

But could speak Turkish, and Armenian, and English?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

I spoke both of them.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. And who did you speak Armenian with? Did you speak Armenian at home?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Armenian, Turkish, American.

LEVINE:

Yeah.

SAGHBAZARIAN:

A couple of languages.

LEVINE:

Yeah! And you became a citizen?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Yeah. I wrote them, the Presidents.

LEVINE:

You wrote down the names of the Presidents?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. And what makes you feel very proud that you've done, in your life time? What makes you feel good that you were able to do?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

I don't know. I wonder, I met the President, and I gave [unclear]. He took it. He didn't give it to me back. I met him, the President?

LEVINE:

Which President did you meet?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

My son, he didn't give it back. Beautiful, I made it.

LEVINE:

Is this the quilt that you made?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

You made it with the Presidents on it?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. And tell how you got the medal for cooking. Who gave you that medal?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Big Turkish company.

LEVINE:

You mean you were in Turkey when you got the medal?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Medal I have.

LEVINE:

Yeah, you got that medal when you were in Turkey?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Yeah, my cooked.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. Do you remember what you cooked that won you the medal?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

[Laughs] I don't. I got to cook the best one.

LEVINE:

You were the best cook?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Yeah!

LEVINE:

Well, that something to be proud of.

SAGHBAZARIAN:

I teach them.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh, and this was still in Turkey, before you came here?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Uh-huh.

LEVINE:

Do you remember what ship you took when you came to this country?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

I like America.

LEVINE:

Why do you like it?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Freedom.

LEVINE:

How is America different from Turkey? What was different for you when you came here?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Yes, [unclear].

LEVINE:

I'm sorry. Say it again?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

He says, "How do you come?" I says, "We walked."

LEVINE:

You walked?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Yeah, we walked [unclear] America.

LEVINE:

You walked until you came to the ship?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

What ship did you take? Do you know what ship?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

We walked all over.

LEVINE:

Oh, when you were in Turkey, you walked everywhere?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Mm.

LEVINE:

And you said before that you like to sing and dance.

SAGHBAZARIAN:

What?

LEVINE:

You said before you like to sing.

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Oh, that's gone.

LEVINE:

Can you think of any of the songs that you liked? Maybe you could sing one?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

We landed in New York.

LEVINE:

You landed in New York?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Mm.

LEVINE:

And then you went to Ellis Island? Did you stay at Ellis Island?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

We didn't stay long, at Ellis Island. They came to New York.

LEVINE:

What happened at Ellis Island?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

We came here.

LEVINE:

Did you get examined by a doctor.

SAGHBAZARIAN:

We like it here.

LEVINE:

Yeah, you like it here. When you were at Ellis Island, did a doctor examine you?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Yeah, that's then.

LEVINE:

Did you eat anything at Ellis Island?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

No.

LEVINE:

Did you sleep at Ellis Island?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Don't ask me.

LEVINE:

Don't ask you? Okay, okay. So you had a husband and a son?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

What?

LEVINE:

You had a husband and son, one son?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

My son, they gone to school, yeah.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. And your son's name?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Hm?

LEVINE:

What's your son's name?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Mayron. [PH]

LEVINE:

And you have grandchildren?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Yeah, uh-huh.

SAGHBAZARIAN:

New York. Their life in New York.

LEVINE:

Okay.

SAGHBAZARIAN:

My daughter's in New York.

LEVINE:

Your daughter?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh, so you have a daughter and a son?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

Oh, uh-huh, yeah.

SAGHBAZARIAN:

My daughter, that's her. They like the New York.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. Did you ever go to New York?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

I don't like it.

LEVINE:

You don't like it? Where do you like it?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Boston.

LEVINE:

Boston, uh-huh.

SAGHBAZARIAN:

But I'm used to it here.

LEVINE:

You're used to it?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Mm-hm.

LEVINE:

Because you've lived here ever since you came to this country?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

I worked.

LEVINE:

And where did you work?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

[Unclear]. Forty years.

LEVINE:

Forty years?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Yeah.

LEVINE:

That's a long time. Did you like your work?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Well, time has come, you like.

LEVINE:

Well, would you like to sing a song? A song that you remember, that you particularly liked?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

Sometimes I sing when I work, you know.

LEVINE:

Uh-huh. Can you remember some song that you used to sing when you worked?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

[Unclear] [pause] [Sings in Turkish (?) approximately thirty seconds]. Ah! [Recites same words] [Sings in Turkish (?) approximately thirty seconds].

LEVINE:

Well, it seems like you're getting tired, Sara. Maybe tomorrow morning? I'm coming back, and I'll see if you feel like talking a little bit tomorrow morning. Would that be all right?

SAGHBAZARIAN:

All right.

LEVINE:

Thank you. We're going to sign off for the time being, and this is Janet Levine for the National Park Service, and we're going to see if we can resume tomorrow, which would be November 11 th , 1995. END OF INTERVIEW