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