Immigration and Civil Rights Sites of Conscience Network

Stimulating Conversation on Immigration and Related Issues
This network of immigration history museums across the United States and Europe came together in August 2008 to foster a new national and international conversation on immigration. Today the Network also includes cultural history museums and sites that remember the history of the American Civil Rights movement.

Network members are committed to use historical perspective in order to stimulate on-going local and national conversations on immigration and its related issues, promote humanitarian and democratic values, and treat all audiences as stakeholders in the immigration dialogue.

Network members are developing new public dialogues on community immigration issues at each of their sites and conducting training in contemporary immigration issues and dialogue programs.

Read about the latest activities of this and other networks here.

Participants

Angel Island State Park
Contact: Dave Matthews, Superintendent, California State Parks
P.O. Box 318
Tiburon, CA 94920
Tel: (415) 435-8339
Email
Website: www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=468

Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF)
Contact: Eddie Wong, Executive Director
50 Francisco St., Ste. 110, San Francisco, CA 94133
Tel: (415) 262-4430
Email
Website: aiisf.org

Located in San Francisco’s North Bay, Angel Island State Park is home to a number of historical sites. From 1910 to 1940, the island processed hundreds of thousands of immigrants, the majority from China. Because of the laws restricting immigration at the time, immigrants at Angel Island were process within hours, or kept weeks, months or even years. Because of the long stays, numerous carvings and writings in several languages have been found on the barracks walls, including over 130 poems written in Chinese. During World War II, the site was used to hold prisoners of war and as a temporary deportation center for Japanese nationals returning to Japan.

The Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation (AIISF), in partnership with California State Parks and the National Park Service, promotes a greater understanding of Pacific Coast immigration and its role in shaping America’s past, present and future. Educational programs will focus on themes of inclusion, exclusion, and the American immigrant identity.

Arab American National Museum
Contact: Anan Ameri, Director
13624 Michigan Avenue
Dearborn, MI 48126
Tel: (313) 624-0200
Email
Website: www.arabamericanmuseum.org

The first museum in the world devoted to Arab American history, the Arab American National Museum brings the voices and faces of Arab Americans to mainstream audiences and dispels misconceptions about Arab Americans and other minorities. The Museum, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, brings to light the shared experiences of immigrants and ethnic groups, paying tribute to the diversity of the United States.

Arizona State Museum
Contact: Beth Grindell
The University of Arizona
P.O. Box 210026
Tucson, AZ 85721
Website: www.statemuseum.arizona.edu

Birmingham Civil Rights Institute
Contact: Priscilla Cooper, Vice President of Institutional Programs
520 Sixteenth Street North
Birmingham, AL 35203
Tel: (205) 328-9696 x 203
Email
Website: www.bcri.org

Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum
P.O. Box 12874
Austin, TX 78711
Tel: (512) 936-8746
Email
Website: www.thestoryoftexas.com

The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in downtown Austin, Texas, tells the “Story of Texas” with three floors of interactive exhibits. A 35-foot-tall bronze Lone Star sculpture greets visitors in front of the Museum, and a colorful terrazzo floor in the Museum’s rotunda features a campfire scene with enduring themes from Texas’ past. The Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum engages the broadest possible audience to interpret the continually unfolding Story of Texas through meaningful educational experiences.

Le Bois du Cazier
Contact: Christelle Dethy, Chargée de projets
80, rue du Cazier
6001 Charleroi – Belgique Belgium
Tel: +32(0)71 88 08 56
Email
Website: www.leboisducazier.be

On August 8th, 1956, a fire spread through the Bois du Cazier coal mine in Marcinelle, claiming the lives of 262 men of 12 different nationalities. The disaster was the largest industrial fire of its kind in Belgian history, leaving in its wake hundreds of widows and orphans. More than half of the 262 victims were immigrants from Italy, who filled the need for laborers in Belgium’s former economic heartland. The tragedy put an end to a treaty Belgium and Italy had signed in 1946 to encourage Italian workers to come to Belgium to work in the mines and led to stricter safety regulations for coal miners across the nation. A visit to the Bois du Cazier encourages visitors to question the costs and benefits of industrialization and consider issues of workplace safety. It also offers visitors the opportunity to reflect on the lives and past contributions of immigrants in Belgium and the factors influencing immigration policy today.

Le Bois du Cazier looks forward to working with other European museums interested in exploring immigration through their programs and histories.

Cambodian American Heritage Museum & Killing Fields Memorial
Contact: Charles Daas, Museum Director
2831 West Lawrence
Chicago, IL 60625
Tel:(773) 878-7090
Email
Website: http://cai.maaillinois.org/museum
Cambodian American Heritage Museum and Killing Fields Memorial is one of the Chicago Cultural Alliance (see below) core members working with the Immigration Sites of Conscience Network. The museum raises awareness of the Cambodian genocide and celebrates the renewal of Cambodian community and culture here in the United State, featuring revolving exhibits that explore the history of Cambodia, the Killing Fields genocide and the journey of Cambodian-Americans.

Chicago Cultural Alliance (CCA)
Contact: Rebeccah Sanders, Executive Director
5211 N. Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60640
Tel:(773) 275-7004
Email
Website: www.chicagoculturalalliance.org

Incorporated as an independent 501(c)(3) organization in 2006, the Chicago Cultural Alliance is a consortium of Chicago-area ethnic museums and cultural centers whose mission is to effect social change and public understanding of cultural diversity through first voice perspective. The Alliance increases the visibility and impact of Chicago’s ethnic assets by leveraging partnerships between member organizations and major institutions. The Alliance assures the long-term efficacy of its public education, marketing, preservation, and social service programs by providing organizational development assistance to its core members.

The CCA works closely with The Field Museum’s division of Environment, Culture, and Conservation (ECCo).The division of Environment, Culture, and Conservation (ECCo) fulfills the museum’s pledge to sustain wild landscapes and cultural vitality. ECCo translates biodiversity science into conservation action, while identifying and catalyzing intrinsic capacities of human communities for social change. ECCo has demonstrated concrete results by focusing on the assets — both cultural and biological — that work in diversity’s favor.

Environment, Culture, and Conservation (ECCo) at The Field Museum
Contact: Rosa Cabrera, Public Involvement Manager, Sr. Urban Anthropologist
1400 S. Lake Shore Drive
Chicago, IL 60605-2496
Tel: (312) 665-7470
Email
Website: www.fieldmuseum.org/ccuc

International Civil Rights Center & Museum
Contact: Amelia Parker, Executive Director
134 South Elm Street #303
Greensboro, NC 27401
Tel: (336) 274-9199
Email

Jane Addams Hull-House Museum
Contact: Lisa Yun Lee, Director
The University of Illinois at Chicago
800 South Halsted Street, MC/051
Chicago, IL 60607
Tel: (312) 413.5358
Email
Website: www.hullhousemuseum.org

The Jane Addams Hull-House serves as a dynamic memorial to social reformer and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Jane Addams (1860-1935) and other resident social reformers whose work influenced the lives of their immigrant neighbors as well as national and international public policy. The Museum and its programs make connections between the work of Hull-House residents and important contemporary social issues. The Museum preserves and develops the original Hull-House site for the interpretation and continuation of the historic settlement house vision, linking research, education, and social engagement.

Japanese American National Museum
Contact: Lisa Sasaki, Director, Program Development
369 E. First Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Tel:(213) 830-5678
Email
Website: www.janm.org

The Japanese American National Museum is the only museum in the United States dedicated to promoting understanding and appreciation of America’s ethnic and cultural diversity by preserving, interpreting and sharing the experiences of Japanese Americans. The Museums’ latest addition, the National Center for the Preservation of Democracy, is an educational institution that partners with educators and community-based mentors to inspire youth to become active, informed participants in shaping democracy in America.

Levine Museum of the New South
Contact: Janeen Bryant, Youth & Family Coordinator
200 East Seventh Street
Charlotte, NC 28202,
Tel: (704) 333-1887
Email
Website: www.museumofthenewsouth.org

The Levine Museum of the New South is an interactive history museum that provides the nation with the most comprehensive interpretation of post-Civil War southern society featuring men, women and children, black and white, rich and poor, long-time residents and newcomers who have shaped the South since the Civil War. The Museum presents opportunities for life-long learning about this history for the benefit, enjoyment and education of children and adults, and provides historical context for contemporary issues and a community forum for thoughtful discussion. In response to a 600% growth in Latino immigration over the last decade, the Museum is developing a major exhibit on immigration and seeks to create a space for all sectors of the city to come together and come to terms with their new social landscape and the issues it raises.

Louisiana Civil Rights Museum
Contact: Turry Flucker, Louisiana Civil Rights Museum Project Director
P.O. Box 2448
New Orleans, La. 70176
Tel: (504) 568-6970
Email
Website: www.crt.state.la.us/museum/

Lowell National Historic Park
Contact: David Blackburn, Chief of Cultural Resources and Programs
67 Kirk Street
Lowell, MA 01852
Tel: (978) 970-5055
Email
Website: www.nps.gov/lowe

Lower East Side Tenement Museum
Contact: Annie Polland, VP for Education
91 Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002
Tel: (212) 431-0233
Email
Website: www.tenement.org

The heart of the Tenement Museum is its landmark tenement building, home to 7,000 people from over 20 nations from 1863 to 1935. Located in a neighborhood that is still home to many new immigrants, the Museum’s mission is “to promote tolerance and historical perspective through the presentation and interpretation of the variety of immigrant and migrant experiences on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a gateway to America.” The Museum’s public tours, dialogue programs and English for second language learners programs engage new immigrants and longer-rooted Americans alike in discussions of immigration issues today.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic Site
Contact: Judy Forte, Site Superintendent
450 Auburn Avenue, NE
Atlanta, Georgia 30312
Tel:(404) 331-5190
Email

Mu.MA – Instituzione Musei del Mare Galata
Contact: Anna Dentoni, Project Manager
Calata de Mari 1
16126 Genova
Italy
Tel: +39 010 2514760
Fax: +39 010 2543908
Email
Website: www.galatamuseodelmare.it

This maritime museum explores the history of Genoa’s waterfront: its shipping, trade, and boat-building industries, and how they have affected the city and Italy. A new section of the museum also explores the great migration of people out of Italy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as they left to find employment in America and elsewhere. The museum takes a cue from its past to explore how immigration is affecting Italy today by offering dialogue programs for teens and other community groups.

Museum of Tolerance
9786 West Pico Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA
Tel: (310) 553-8403
Email
www.museumoftolerance.com

National Center for Civil and Human Rights
Contact: Doug Shipman, Executive Director
50 Hurt Plaza Grand Lobby
Atlanta, GA 30303
Tel:(404) 658-1877 x245
Email

National Civil Rights Museum
Contact: Barbara Andrews, Director of Education and Interpretation
450 Mulberry Street
Memphis, Tennessee 38103
Tel: (901) 521-9699
Email

National Hispanic Cultural Center
1701 4th St. SW
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102
Tel: (505) 246-2261
Website: www.nhccnm.org

New Mexico History Museum
113 Lincoln Avenue
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Tel: (505) 476-5200
Website: nmhistorymuseum.org

University of Texas El Paso (UTEP)
500 West University, Burges Hall – Room 415
El Paso, Texas 79968-0532
Tel: (915) 747-5238
Email

Pauli Murray Project at The Duke Human Rights Center
Contact: Barbara Lau, Director
John Hope Franklin Center
2204 Erwin Road
Room 235 Box 90403
Durham, NC 27708
Tel:(919) 613-6167
Email

Red Star Line
Contact: Luc Verheyen
Antwerp, Belgium
Email
Website (English): www.redstarline.org
Website (Flemish): www.redstarline.be

Between 1873 and 1934, the legendary Red Star Line transported more than two million European passengers to America. At the port in Antwerp, Belgium, emigrants in steerage class underwent disinfection and medical examinations while clerks scrutinized their documents. Today three warehouses stand as a testament to this emigrant experience. In 2012, Red Star Line / People on the Move will open a new museum at this historic location. It will be a place of remembrance, experience, debate and research into international mobility, both past and present.

Skirball Cultural Center
Contact: Sheri Bernstein, Director of Education
2701 North Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90049
Tel: (310) 440-4500
Email

The Skirball Cultural Center, which opened to the public in 1996, is dedicated to exploring connections between four thousand years of Jewish heritage and the vitality of democratic American ideals. The Skirball welcomes and seeks to inspire people of every ethnic and cultural identity. Guided by our memories and experiences, the Skirball aspires to build a society in which all can feel at home.

The Cultural Center advances its mission through:

The museum’s core exhibition, Visions and Values: Jewish Life from Antiquity to America, includes multimedia installations, rare artifacts, photographs, interactive computer stations, and sound recordings that lead visitors on the Jewish people’s journey through history, culminating with the experiences of Jews in the United States. Changing exhibitions always relate to the mission of the Skirball and often support the notion that American identity has been strengthened by the contributions of immigrants and their descendants, and by the values and ideals of justice, liberty, and freedom.

Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island
Contact: Danelle Simonelli, Park Ranger, Education and Interpretation Division
National Park Service, Statue of Liberty National Monument
Liberty Island, New York, NY 10004
Tel: (212) 363-3206
Email

Ellis Island Institute
Contact: Jessica Cameron-Bush, Curator of Education
500 International Drive, Ste. 350
Mt. Olive, NJ , 07828
Tel: (973) 347-8400
Email
Website: www.saveellisisland.org

Opened on January 1, 1892, Ellis Island became the nation’s premier federal immigration station. In operation until 1954, the station processed some 12 million immigrant steamship passengers. The island’s Main Building was restored after 30 years of abandonment and opened as a museum in 1990, operated by the National Park Service. Today, more than 40 percent of America’s population can trace their ancestry through Ellis Island.

The mission of Save Ellis Island, Inc., the official fundraising partner of the National Park Service, is to raise the private funding necessary to rehabilitate, restore, and put to beneficial reuse the currently deteriorated and unused buildings of Ellis Island. In cooperation with the National Park Service, Save Ellis Island will develop the un-restored buildings on the island’s south side as the Ellis Island Institute and Conference Center.

Wing Luke Asian Museum
Contact: Cassie Chinn, Deputy Executive Director
719 South King Street
Seattle, WA 98104,
Tel: (206) 623-5124
Email
Website: www.wingluke.org

The Wing Luke Asian Museum is the only pan-Asian Pacific American museum in the United States, and the first Smithsonian Institution affiliate in the Pacific Northwest. It has redefined the role of museums by pioneering a model of community-based service that embraces the stories of immigration populations that have enriched and strengthened the American experience.

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