Guampedia Newsletter August 2019

Guampedia.com August 2019

Know our island. Know our history. Click to know! –– Volume II. Issue VIII.

Liberation Commemoration Ends With Two Memorials New statue unveiled

Father Duenas Memorial School dedicated a new statue on August 5 to honor Father Jesus Baza Duenas, his nephew Edward Duenas, and two others by the Japanese in Ta’i, Mangilao. Duenas, along with Monsignor Oscar Calvo, led the Catholic Church during the Japanese occupation. On July 8, 1944, Duenas was arrested, tortured, and interrogated for information about US Radioman George Tweed.

On July 12, Duenas and the others were moved to Ta’i where they were beheaded. The monument was designed by FD’s Geography Teacher Chito Emmanuel. To learn more about the 75th Liberation Memorial sites and history click here.

Yigo massacre remembered The CHagui’an Memorial site, located in the village of Yigo, marks the largest known single act of violence on Guam during WWII. 45 men were taken from the thousands of CHamorus held at the Manenggon concentration camp and forced to carry supplies to an Imperial Japanese Army command post near CHagui’an, Yigo. Once their task was completed the men were killed to prevent them from providing information to the invading Americans. On August 8, a Marine regiment discovered a Japanese truck loaded with 24 decapitated bodies of CHamoru men. As the search continued the following morning, 21 more bodies were found at CHagui’an.

Father Jesus Baza Duenas Statue, 2019. Guampedia photo.

Community Shares!

VIEW IN OUR ISSUU

Ada Family Photo Collection Explore the Ada family collection contributed to Guampedia by Governor Joseph F. Ada. View their album in Issuu here.

To view photos follow this Flickr link here.

VIEW IN OUR FLICKR

Guampedia Newsletter, August 2019 | Page 2

Two Join Guampedia’s Board of Directors Teresita Perez

Teresita L. Perez, familian Bonio, is a professor of English composition at the University of Guam. Perez earned a bachelor of arts degree in Spanish and a master’s degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), both from the University of Washington.

Her creative writing has been published in both the Microneisan Anthology and Kinalamten Gi Pasifiku. Perez is also the lead editor of Local Voices, a Festival of the Pacific 2016 publication. She is the president of Ta Tuge’ Mo’na, a non-profit collective of writers here on Guam.

She is one of three members of a multigenerational household in Agana Heights.

Alice Taijeron

Alice Taijeron is the president of Guam Housing Corporation. She is a 1986 graduate of Notre Dame High School. Taijeron has a bachelor’s degree in political science from University of Guam and a master of art’s degree in organizational arts from University of Phoenix.

Prior to taking the helm at the Guam Housing Corporation in 2019, Taijeron was a retirement counselor and the director of Empower Retirement.

She has also served as a policy analyst for senators Lou Leon Guerrero and Judith T. Won Pat, and was a congressional aide to the former Congressman Robert A. Underwood.

Taijeron was the chairperson of the Guam Election Commission and a member of the Nuestra Señora Delas Agues Finance Council. She is a writer, as well, having contributed to the Haleta series of books created by the Department of CHamoru Affairs.

She is a resident of Mangilao and the proud daughter of the late Elias Leon Guerrero Taijeron and Maria Mafnas Taijeron, the eldest of six children.

Resources for Educators

As the new school year begins remember a great resource for teachers, librarians and parents: Guampedia’s Educators Portal. Here you will find dozens of lesson plans relevant to the island and Micronesian region, as well as the educational materials Guampedia created for teaching at the Guam Museum. Guampedia also has historical timelines, an activity book from Guam Department of Education, the Life on Guam science workbooks, Guam’s Fish and Wildlife Fact Sheets, and an index of Guampedia entries. Explore these here.

Marianas History Conference

Entries Include Titles & Abstracts

Marianas scholars and researchers will be glad to hear that Guampedia recently added the titles and abstracts of all the papers presented at the four Marianas History Conferences to Guampedia. The papers are much easier to search for now. Read more on the expansion of the MHC entries here.

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