What is a Site of Conscience?
• Interprets history through site;
• Engages in programs that stimulate dialogue on pressing social issues and promote humanitarian and democratic values as a primary function;
• Shares opportunities for public involvement in issues raised at the site.
17 Accredited Sites in 10 countries17 Accredited Sites in 10 countries
150+ 150+ institutional/individual institutional/individual
members in 21 members in 21 countriescountries4 Regional Coordinators4 Regional Coordinators
Who Are We?Who Are We?
Accredited Sites of Conscience
• Mednoe Memorial Complex RUSSIA
Memoria Abierta, ARGENTINA
Monte Sole Peace School ITALY
National Civil Rights Museum USA
Terezin MemorialCZECH REPUBLIC
Villa Grimaldi Peace Park CHILE
Women’s Rights NHP, USA The Workhouse,
ENGLAND
Constitution HillSOUTH AFRICA
District Six Museum SOUTH AFRICA
Eleanor Roosevelt NHS, USA
Gulag Museum, RUSSIA Japanese American
National Museum, USA Liberation War Museum
BANGLADESH Lower East Side Tenement
Museum, USA Maison des Esclaves,
SENEGAL Martin Luther King Jr. NHS
USA
Why Work Together?
GOALS• Build a new field: Develop new models for museums to foster
dialogue and civic participation
• Build new capacity: Develop our skills and resources to implement these new models
• Build new support: Legitimize and advocate for a new role and identity for museums as centers for civic engagement
Regional/Thematic Collaborations
South America: Promoting Debate through Construction of Memory of the Recent Past
Russia: Building an Anti-Totalitarian Culture
Africa: Using Histories of Citizen Action to Develop Post-Colonial and Post-Conflict Democracies
Asia: Promoting Cultures of Peace and Pluralism in the Wake of Ethnic and Religious Conflict
North America: • Immigration Sites of
Conscience• Indian Boarding Schools
Bring sites together around shared histories and contemporary concerns
Benefit from new local expertise and experience Support local leadership Amplify public dialogue and citizen participation in
common issue Build capacity of emerging initiatives
Regional/Thematic Collaboration Goals
Immigration Sites of Conscience
PROJECT GOALS
• Open new centers for education and dialogue on immigration past and present
• Build models and resources for history museums to address sensitive contemporary immigration issues
• Raise public awareness of museums’ work and community concerns through national media campaign
Immigration Sites of Conscience
Wing Luke Asian Museum
Angel Island Immigration Station
Japanese American National MuseumNew Americans Museum
Paso al Norte Immigration Museum
Jane Addams Hull-House Museum Center for Cultural Understanding and Change
Arab American National Museum
Levine Museum of the New South
Lowell NHP
Tenement MuseumEllis Island
Museum Survey Results
• Responses largely varied depending on the cities museums are located in and audiences surveyed.
• Museums in border cities like San Diego and El Paso consistently ranked “enforcement” and “national security” as top concerns,
• Teachers working with the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles ranked “enforcement” and “national security” last.
• Issues of “assimilation,” “language,” and “citizenship” were found to be top concerns of all museum visitors, no matter what museum they visited or their background.
Museum Survey Results
Visitor Ideas for museum programming
• Visitors expressed interest in learning about “how groups of immigrants have come to the US in waves over the years;”
• Generational differences between immigrants and their children;
• First-person immigration experiences; and
• Seeing immigration in a global context.
Museum Survey Results
Visitors indicated interest in seeing museums offer:
• Debates and forums on difficult issues related to immigration;
• Art and cultural programs that bring diverse communities together (community events and festivals);
• Videos of immigration stories or issues; • Database and archival materials that contain
oral histories of diverse immigrant groups; and• Lists of local organizations addressing
immigration and ways people can get involved.
Immigration Sites of Conscience
Year 1 (2008-2009)• Design, pilot, evaluate
our programs• August Seminar
– Workshops in today’s imm. issues– Workshops in dialogue facilitation– Design/refine dialogue program and
eval plan
• Small grants for pilot programs/staff exchanges– Up to $10,000 available after October
15– Competitive peer review
Immigration Sites of Conscience
Year 1 (2008-2009)• Provide ongoing
support for program and staff development from peers and experts
• Workshops for front-line staff– Focus on dialogue facilitation, local/regional
immigration issues, program design– October, Chicago and Los Angeles– December, New York
• Quarterly conference calls– Discussions of common challenges– Questions for immigration policy experts and
dialogue facilitators
• Organic communication and support among sites
Immigration Sites of Conscience
Year 1 (2008-2009)
• Publicize dialogues
• Collaborate on national media campaign
• Launch Seminar: Brainstorm national media strategy
• Implement national media strategy
• Design web area with programming and immigration resources
Immigration Sites of Conscience
Year 2 (2009-2010)• Dialogue programs at sites
• Disseminate program designs
• Expand web resources
• Publications for the field– Public Historian– New Press book– Alta Mira Press book
• Expand the network: US Civil Rights Museums– National Civil Rights Museum, TN– Martin Luther King Jr. National
Historic Site, GA
Global partners on immigration, migration,
xenophobia• European Sites of
Conscience (June 2008)– Wansee Conference Center,
Germany– Monte Sole Peace School, Italy– Gernika Peace Museum, Spain– Bois du Cazier, Belgium
• African Sites of Conscience (August 2008)– Constitution Hill, South Africa– District Six Museum, South Africa– Workers’ Library Museum, South
Africa– Special Court, Sierra Leone
Immigration Sites of Conscience
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Crafted a mission/vision statement for the unique role our sites have to play in galvanizing civic engagement in contemporary immigration issues.
• Developed 13 new program designs that use history and heritage to inspire understanding and action on the most pressing immigration issues in our communities;
• Identified specific ways we will combine our strength to help each of us succeed individually – and shape a new national conversation on immigration.
Immigration Sites of Conscience
PRESS COVERAGE
• “Museums to address immigration” Associated Press, picked up by International Herald Tribune, August 12, 2008
• Press Clip Channel 17 (TV) in Chicago, August 12, 2008
• “Museums focus on immigration issue” Chicago Tribune, August 22, 2008
• “Museums aim to stir debate on modern immigration” LA Times, August 25, 2008
Charlotte, North Carolina 5th–fastest-growing among
large U.S. cities Fastest-growing city on the
East Coast, 25% of residents moved here less than 10 years ago
600% growth in Latino immigration over the last decade
Suburban center for immigration
Racial tensions were already running high between African Americans and whites -- the city was ranked second to last in the nation in interracial trust in Robert Putnam’s study.
Levine Museum of the New South
Levine Museum of the New South
Levine Museum explores southern history Post-Civil War to present
COURAGE traced the story of Rev. J.A. De Laine and his brave African American neighbors in rural Clarendon County, SC, who filed the first of the five lawsuits that became the landmark Supreme Court desegregation case BROWN V BOARD OF EDUCATION. 2004
Original exhibition in Charlotte in 2004. Traveling exhibit starting in 2008 to Atlanta, NYC, DC
The exhibit became the springboard for a very effective Knight Foundation supported civic dialog that involved over 1700 local leaders in discussions of education + diversity.
Levine Museum of the New South
Conversations on COURAGE
* Civic dialog
* Funder – John S. & James L. Knight Foundation
* 50 “intact management teams”
* Visit exhibit together, then have facilitated discussion on issues of race, education, and social justice today
Levine Museum of the New South
Conversations on Courage Faciltaor Guidelines
Agenda and Guidelines• Let them know that this is a
only a taste of the 1 ½ hour dialogue process called
• “Conversations on Courage. Explain that next 35 minutes will go as follows…
Feeling word/phrase of response. Ask: “What word or phrase would describe your “feeling” in viewing power point and video clips?”
We invite you to take 5 minutes to reflect on and respond to the 2 questions on the handout.
• Then talk with someone sitting next to you about your responses to the questions for 8-10 minutes.
• We’ll then have a dialogue for about 15 minutes as a full circle.
Levine Museum of the New South
We ask that they commit to the following guidelines for this process: – Listen to understand. – Be open to different
perspectives/feelings & honest about your own.
– We have a very short time. Share “air time”
Process• Sharing in Pairs• Full Group Dialogue• “Check Out”
Questions for Reflection Please think about the following
questions, write some brief responses and be willing to talk about them with someone else.
1. What image or statement stands
out most for you from the photos or video about the historical experience documented in the “Courage” exhibit? It could be something that surprised you, brought back a memory or simply stirred you emotionally.
2. What is in your own personal
experience about courage as it relates to race? This could be something that you were directly involved in, observed, heard or read about.
Levine Museum of the New South
CHANGING PLACES• Use history to build community• Explore, compare, contrast
aspects of cultural histories of• Native southerners (black &
white)• Newcomers from elsewhere
in U.S.• Immigrants from around the
globe• Create a 3500 square foot
exhibition, public TV special, programs & civic dialog, 2009.
• Gather and archive oral history and other records of this fast-growing urban region at this pivotal moment.
Levine Museum of the New South
Dialogue Program Description
Program Design:
• Immigration Simulation (1 hr ) to be developed with Charlotte Mecklenburg Relations Committee, the Latin American Coalition and other community partners
Dialogue Topic:
• Understanding the immigrant experience
Audience:
• Museum visitors, general public and intact groups
Settings:
• At the museum or off-site locations
Levine Museum of the New SouthDialogue Program Description
Key Questions:
Simulation debrief (20min):– How did you decide to stay or leave?– What factors did you consider when deciding
where to settle?– What challenges did you face in relocating?– What factors eased your transition?– What did you learn from the immigration
simulation that you did not know before? How hoes this connect with your personal story or your family’s?
Levine Museum of the New SouthDialogue Program Description
Community Implications:
• What do you believe is the experience of immigration like for those who are immigrating to the Charlotte region?
• What is the experience like for those who are receiving new immigrants into the Charlotte region?
• What will you or your organization do differently as a result of participating in today’s program?
New Americans Museum
NTC Promenade, Liberty Station, San Diego
U.S. / Mexico Border• The San Diego / Tijuana, Baja California region is the
largest bi-national metro area in the United States– The San Ysidro Port of Entry/Puerto de Mexico is the busiest
land border in the Western Hemisphere– Over 250,000 people cross everyday
• Documented vs. Undocumented immigrants • Race/ethnicity/national origin is the number one reason
for bias-motivated hate behavior with 64.6%, followed by sexual orientation with 18.8%, and religion with 15.7%.– Source: California Attorney General’s Office
• The number of hate crime offenses reported in San Diego County increased by 23 percent from 2005 to 2006 – Source: California Attorney General’s Office
Dialogue Program
-Dialogue Topic: Stereotyping of Immigrants Exhibition: Caricatures in Immigration (traveling
exhibition), leading to a Dance Performance-Audience: Students, 14 – 18 yrs. Groups of 15.-Setting: Museum or Dance Place
Dialogue con’t…
- Key Questions: 1.What kind of dance do you enjoy? 2.What is your experience with dance? 3.Use one word to describe the performance.4.What is your experience with stereotyping
immigrants?5.How would you describe the state of
stereotyping immigrants today vs. the past?
Questions for Discussion
• What topics and issues would I like to explore with other immigration museums?
• What type of resources would I like to
see on the Immigration Network website?
• What are other ways we involve the Tenement Museum in the work of the Network?
Ways to Be Involved
Identity New Sites• If you see other sites,
tell us about it
Spread the Word• Tell other sites about
the Coalition
Share What You Know• Welcome observers
on your tours; share your expertise
• Tell us about breakthroughs in your programming – what you’ve learned