Luis Valdez’s play ‘Valley of the Heart’ takes on new life as immersive, educational multimedia
The California State Library has turned Luis Valdez’s play “Valley of the Heart” into a free multimedia curriculum on the WWII incarceration of Japanese-Americans, developed with TomKat Media.
A scene from Luis Valdez’s play, “Valley of the Heart.” (Photo courtesy TomKat MeDiA/Teatro Campesino)
By Brooke Binkowski
Times of San Diego
Published July 26, 2026
How do you make history truly come alive?
It’s a question that’s perplexed teachers as long as there have been students. But it is generally agreed that the best way to teach history is via primary sources — through the voices of the people who lived through it.
One such project, just released, has created an immersive online historical curriculum for California students — using the Luis Valdez play “Valley of the Heart” to illustrate the history of the federal government stripping property from Japanese-Americans and putting them into camps as “enemy combatants” during World War II.
The play now has been transformed into a multimedia educational module that can be accessed free of charge and used to teach history to California students from fourth through eighth grade. The curriculum guide features historical photographs and context, suggested activities and a podcast styled like an old-time radio play.
“Our goal was to make history come alive in a way that we could illuminate through a broad outreach,” said Marcela Davison Avilés, a cultural consultant and managing partner with TomKat Media, a media group founded by former gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer and his wife, Kat Taylor. The group focuses on educational multi-platform initiatives that support, in its own words, the common good.
To read the entire article, please visit Times of San Diego.