WK 323 Historical sites: Using the power of place

Sites of past human rights abuses can be transformed into active sites of conscience that encourage dialogue among diverse groups. Historical sites can be powerful places to bring divided people together to shape a better future by remembering the lessons from the past.

Panelists

Featured Tactic:Liz Sevcenko, Tenement Museum & International Coalition of Historic Site Museums of Conscience, USA Complementary Presentations:

• Donald Parenzee, District 6 Museum, South Africa
• Sara Zaker, Liberation War Museum, Bangladesh

Featured Tactic

Using the power of place (historical sites) for human rights education and dialogue Liz Sevcenko, Tenement Museum & International Coalition of Historical Sites of Conscience, USA

• Read the tactical notebook The Power of Place

• Review this tactic in our online database

Recreating an 1897 apartment and dressmaking shop, the Lower East Side Tenement Museum brings together representatives from conflicting sectors of the garment industry to discuss what needs to be done – and by whom – to address the problem of sweatshops today. The Tenement Museum restores apartments where more than 7,000 immigrants lived between 1863 and 1935 and tells the stories of their struggles in America. The museum has created a center where people in the garment industry can exchange ideas about how to solve problems. For its first meeting, it invited representatives from Human Rights Watch, UNITE! (the garment workers’ union), Levi’s and Eileen Fisher (clothing brands) and more. Packed in an intimate circle, these leaders of what are often considered opposing sectors of the garment industry listened to the story of how an immigrant family slept, ate, lived and turned out hundreds of dresses in a tiny 325-square-foot space. [Read more about this tactic]