Leila Kubesch, an 8th grade teacher from Indiana, overheard her students in her class making derogatory remarks about Asians. She made that incident into a teachable moment.

Leila, who is not of Japanese descent, had her students correspond with former veterans of highly decorated World War II Japanese American fighting units. The Japanese American veterans sent the students many artifacts from the war, including uniforms, medals, and parts of a parachute.

Through this process, the students learned much about how members of the 442nd Regiment, the Military Intelligence Service (MIS), and the 1800th fighting units fought for this country while their identity as Americans was being questioned and their families incarcerated in concentration camps..

Eighth graders from two diverse schools worked feverishly over a two year period to tell the stories of the veterans and their families. They created twelve amazing quilts, each 19 feet long and collectively 41 feet wide, which they named the 120,000 Tassel Tapestry. The tapestry is now on display at JAMsj.  
Come view the exhibit, then listen to Leila talk about the experiences in creating the 120,000 Tassel Tapestry at 1:00 p.m on  June 23 at JAMsj. Because of limited seating, please reserve your seat by contacting the JAMsj office (408) 294-3138 or by emailing events@jamsj.org . Regular museum admission rates apply. Members are free.

 
Read more about Leila and the 120,000 Tassel Tapestry on our blog at JAMsj Blog.