Musicmakers
Bands Behind Barbed Wire
Free Workshops on the WWII Japanese American Incarceration for Humanities Teachers Grades 4-12
Musicmakers weaves together music and the story of the mass incarceration of people of Japanese descent to glean a greater understanding of the role of personal expression and social justice inherent in American music. Teachers will investigate the role of music on the identity and culture of Japanese Americans. This workshop looks at how incarcerated Japanese Americans embraced music while living behind barbed wire and guard towers in American concentration camps. It takes a close look at the incarcerated young people as they embraced American jazz and band music during these difficult times.
The compelling question in the workshop’s inquiry curriculum is: How do the stories about music-making in the camps help us better understand the experiences, hopes, and dreams of the incarcerees?
Join Your Colleagues in an Interactive Learning Workshop
Join your colleagues for an open-ended inquiry into the critical historic moment when people of Japanese ancestry were forced from their homes and sent to War Relocation Authority centers in barren and desolate areas.
Teachers will receive standards aligned inquiry lessons. These interactive workshops, (length depends on regional location), explores our topic through examination of primary source documents, case studies, images, and secondary sources in the Musicmakers curriculum.
Teachers will receive standards aligned inquiry lessons.
Workshops are Tailored for Specific Regions
$175 Stipend. Space is Limited.
The subject matter for Musicmakers is being customized to address the unique teaching opportunities in five regional areas:
MINNEAPOLIS, IN-PERSON – November 2, 2024
CHICAGO, IN-PERSON – December 7, 2024
LOS ANGELES – February 1, 2025
SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA – February 22, 2025
VIRTUAL – March 1, 2025
After the Workshop
- Email support for the curriculum is available during the school year.
- There is an optional opportunity to participate in a small online study group for classroom adaption of the curriculum and other teaching implications.
- Participants will be given an honorarium for attending.
For questions about the workshop, please email Grace Morizawa.
Taught by Educational Experts in Japanese-American History
DR. GRACE MORIZAWA is the Education Coordinator for the NJAHS. Previously she was an elementary school teacher in Oakland and principal of Lake Elementary School in San Pablo, CA. Morizawa is a Sansei, a third-generation Japanese American, and her parents were incarcerated in Heart Mountain. Morizawa is a teacher-consultant with the Bay Area Writing Project. She has a B.A. in English from Pacific University, an M.A. in Creative Writing from San Francisco State, and a doctorate from the Leadership in Education and Equity Program at the University of California, Berkeley.
DR. STAN PESICK taught 11th grade United States history in the Oakland Unified School District for eighteen years. From 2008-2012 he coordinated the Oakland Unified History/Social Studies Department. Pesick has worked with the Bay Area Writing Project as a teacher consultant since 1989. He has worked as a curriculum consultant for the NJAHS since 2014. Pesick is currently working with the National Writing Project, the University of California, Berkeley, to develop materials and methods focused on helping students write more effectively for political and civic purposes. Pesick has a Ph.D. from Stanford University.
LYNN FONFA brings over thirty-five years of experience in the field of education. She joined the National Park Service in 1989 and recently retired from her position as Education Specialist for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Since 1995, she directed the K through 12 programs for one of the largest urban national parks. She earned a Master’s Degree in Education, specializing in Environmental Education/Curriculum Design, and a Master’s Degree in Public History, specializing in United States history preservation.
ARACELY MONTERO is the Education Branch Specialist at Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Her role includes developing relevant place-based and curriculum-based education programs, supporting Education Rangers at Muir Woods, Presidio, Marin Headlands, Alcatraz, and Fort Point, and working with partners who support youth programming within the Bay Area. Montero is also a member of the N.P.S. Allies for Inclusion Committee and a trained facilitator to host dialogues in our park around Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Montero received her B.A. in Environmental Studies from U.C. Santa Barbara and attained her Master’s degree in Recreation, Parks, and Tourism with a focus on Social Justice Education from San Francisco State University.
CRISTINA MARTINEZ is part of the Education Branch of Golden Gate National Recreation Area. She leads and develops curriculum-based programs in the Presidio of San Francisco that strive to connect local students to the rich and complex cultural and natural history of the Presidio. She hopes her experience in education and interpretation can provide helpful insights for the development of this future curriculum.
MILES GINOZA is the Program Development Associate at the National Japanese American Historical Society (NJAHS) where he has been on staff since 2023. He is primarily responsible for grant management and assisting Grace Morizawa with the NJAHS education programming. Miles received his BA in English at Oberlin College with a minor in Comparative American Studies with a focus on Asian American studies.
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ROSALYN TONAI is the executive director of the National Japanese American Historical Society, Inc. She was the project director and co-curator of the Strength & Diversity, Japanese American Women exhibition, 1885 to 1990, a groundbreaking award-winning museum exhibition co-produced by the National Japanese American Historical Society and the Oakland Museum of California. Tonai has co-edited four teacher’s/classroom guides, The Bill of Rights: The Japanese Americans and the World War II Experience, Honor Bound, the Story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, Making Peace and Classroom Activities Guide: Diamonds in the Rough, Japanese Americans in Baseball. She graduated from the Getty Museum Management Institute and the Coro Foundation Asian Pacific leadership program. Tonai has an M.P.A. from the Nonprofit Management Institute, University of San Francisco’s College of Professional Studies, and a B.A. Social Welfare from UC Berkeley.
Photo Credits
Inset: A Shakuhachi player and a young girl, Jul. 1945, Topaz concentration camp, Utah. (2020, November 18). Densho Encyclopedia. Retrieved 22:35, September 23, 2024 from https://encyclopedia.densho.org/sources/en-denshopd-i37-00866-1/.
Sponsored By
This workshop is co-sponsored by the National Japanese American Historical Society, the National Park Service, and our regional partners.
The project was funded in part, by the Japanese American Confinement Sites grant, administered by the National Park Service, the JA Community Foundation, and the Chizue and Ernest Iiyama Memorial Fund.
