Abstract
Throughout history, music has powerfully influenced social justice movements and attitudes in every corner of the world. But the human race continues to struggle today with prejudice and unfairness manifested in many forms, around the globe, and music still has a role to play in facing this great challenge. This project therefore asked: how can music education in an American school help to develop not only better singers and instrumentalists but more tolerant, compassionate, historically informed, socially enlightened students? Over the course of eight weeks, this project taught the history and music of America’s Underground Railroad and of the Civil Rights movement to children in first through fourth grade, to see how those studies might positively affect children’s attitudes towards social justice and their behavior towards other people. I observed responses to the historical material, to the music studies in class, and to the mixed-media assembly shared with our school community. Though striking attitude and behavioral changes were not widely obvious in the short-term, students and adults alike responded thoughtfully and enthusiastically to the project. Long-term benefits are expected.