Immigration 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. Network members collaborate to use historical perspective and heritage to open new centers for education and dialogue on today’s immigration issues 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; conducting training in contemporary immigration issues and dialogue programs for front-line staff; and launching a US national media campaign.
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: dmatthews@parks.ca.gov
Website: http://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: info@aiisf.org
Website: http://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: aameri@accesscommunity.org
Website: http://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.

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: c.dethy@leboisducazier.be
Website: http://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.

Chicago Cultural Alliance (CCA)
Contact: Rebeccah Sanders, Executive Director
5211 N. Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60640
Tel: 773.275.7004, email: rsanders@chicagoculturalalliance.org
Website: http://www.chicagoculturalalliance.org/

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: rcabrera@fieldmuseum.org
Website: http://www.fieldmuseum.org/ccuc

Cambodian American Heritage Museum
Contact: Charles Daas, Museum Director
2831 West Lawrence
Chicago, IL 60625
Tel: 773-878-7090, email: lorax64@rcn.com

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.

Cambodian American Heritage Museum and Killing Fields Memorial is one of the Chicago Cultural Alliance 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.

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: lisalee@uic.edu
Website: http://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: lsasaki@janm.org
Website: http://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 ext.224, email: gesquivel@museumofthenewsouth.org
Website: http://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.

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

Tsongas Industrial History Center
Contact: Shelli Turocy, Project Manager
Boott Cotton Mills Museum, 115 John Street
Lowell, Massachusetts 01852
Tel: (978) 970-5092, email: Michele_Turocy@uml.edu
Website: http://www.uml.edu/tsongas

The early story of America’s Industrial Revolution is commemorated at Lowell National Historical Park in the midst of this lively city. Recognizing that Lowell is a city that was built by immigrants, and continues to be transformed by immigrants, the Park does extensive programming with its past and new immigrant communities.

The Tsongas Center is a hands-on history center where students learn about the American Industrial Revolution through hands-on activities and by experiencing history where it happened. Students “do history” by weaving, creating canal systems and testing water wheels, working on an assembly line, role-playing immigrants, or becoming inventors. The Tsongas Center is a professional development provider, offering teachers exciting workshops and great primary-source-based teaching activities. The Tsongas Center is a partnership between the University of Massachusetts Lowell Graduate School of Education and Lowell National Historical Park, who each provide a portion of the funding and staff to operate the Center.

Lower East Side Tenement Museum
Contact: Sarah Pharaon, Director of Education
91 Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002
Tel: 646 755 6180 x 223, email: spharaon@tenement.org
Website: http://www.tenement.org/

The heart of this Museum (the first of its kind in the United States) 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/migrant experiences on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, a gateway to America.” The Museum’s “Kitchen Conversations” public dialogue programs and English for second language learners programs engages new immigrants and longer-rooted Americans alike in discussions of immigration issues today.

New Americans Museum
Contact: Gayle Hom, Executive Director
2825 Dewey Rd. Ste. 102
San Diego, CA 92106,
Tel: 619-255-8908 x201, email: ghom@namuseum.org
Website: http://www.newamericansmuseum.org/

The New Americans Museum offers innovative programs and resources to San Diego, to California, and to the United States. A catalyst for celebration of America’s past and promise, the museum provides inspiring educational and cultural programs to honor our diverse immigrant experiences. The museum also strives to promote understanding and interaction between newcomers and native-born Americans while helping our newest citizens connect with and prosper in their new homeland.

Paso al Norte Immigration History Museum
Contact: Kristine Navarro, Director, Institute of Oral History
University of Texas El Paso (UTEP)
500 West University, Liberal Arts Building – Room 334
El Paso, Texas 79968-0532
Tel: 915.747.5238, email: knavarro@utep.edu
Website: http://academics.utep.edu/Default.aspx?alias=academics.utep.edu/oralhistory

The planned Paso al Norte Immigration History Museum will commemorate the histories of thousands of individuals and families from diverse backgrounds and nationalities who moved northward into the present-day United States. Museum organizers are building on their existing oral history programs and dialogue programs on border issues with elected officials and citizens to open a permanent museum featuring exhibits and educational programs that celebrate and preserve this vital heritage.

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) 363-3206×134, email: Danelle_Simonelli@nps.gov

Save Ellis Island
Contact: Jessica Cameron-Bush, Curator of Education
500 International Drive, Ste. 350
Mt. Olive, NJ , 07828
Tel: 973-347-8400, email: jcameron-bush@saveellisisland.org
Website: http://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 x.131, email: cchinn@wingluke.org
Website: http://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.