WWII Japanese Incarceration Swing Bands, a new exhibit in Orwig Music Library curated by Ethnomusicology PhD student Julian Saporiti, shines a light on the 75th Anniversary of the Japanese American Incarceration. On February 19th, 1942, President Roosevelt bowed to racist, anti-Japanese hysteria and signed Executive Order 9066 which removed 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry, most of whom were citizens, from their homes on the west coast. They were relocated to concentration camps, under armed guard and behind barbed wire.
The exhibit also pays tribute to the musicians who, of their own accord, formed swing bands and performed at weekly dances in almost all of the ten camps to boost morale among the young people in the camps. The Brown Music Department hopes that by focusing on this tragic and sadly relevant part of our American history, those who visit this exhibit to will be encouraged to heed the words of many of those who lived through it: “Do not let this happen again.”
Dates: February 19 – May 19, 2017
Time: Orwig Music Library Hours
Location: Orwig Music Library, 1 Orchard Avenue, Providence, RI