Previous special Exhibitions
> The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946
September 25, 2011–January 15, 2012
The Art of Gaman showcases arts and crafts made by Japanese Americans in U.S. internment camps during World War II. Soon after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941, all ethnic Japanese on the West Coast—more than two‐thirds of whom were American citizens—were ordered to leave their homes and move to ten inland internment camps for the duration of the war. While in these bleak camps, the internees used scraps and found materials to make furniture and other objects to beautify their surroundings. Arts and crafts became essential for simple creature comforts and emotional survival.
These objects—tools, teapots, furniture, toys and games, musical instruments, pendants and pins, purses and ornamental displays—are physical manifestations of the art of gaman, a Japanese word that means to bear the
seemingly unbearable with dignity and patience.
The exhibition features more than 120 objects, on loan from former internees or their families.
The Art of Gaman is organized by curator Delphine Hirasuna, with advisory support from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Photo >
Painted wood carving
Artist: Unknown
Camp: Heart Mountain, Wyoming
Art of Gaman, by Delphine Hirasuna, copyright 2005, Ten Speed. Terry Heffernan photo.
> Spots of Light: To Be a Woman in the Holocaust
June 24 - September 6, 2011
Spots of Light: To Be a Woman in the Holocaust is the first international exhibition to focus exclusively on women and their experiences in the Holocaust. Through these women’s initiative, creativity and courage, the exhibit demonstrates that human beings are strong enough, even in the most difficult of circumstances, to maintain those values which are the foundation of humanity: motherhood, friendship, faith and love.
In this large-scale video-art installation, images move and change before the visitor’s eyes, giving historical materials a new and contemporary feel and perspective. Interwoven with these text and photographs that continuously fade in and out are segments of interviews with 10 women Holocaust survivors.
Click here to get more information on Spots of Light from YadVashem.
Spots of Light: To be a Woman in the Holocaust is a production of the Museums Division, Yad Vashem.
Curator: Yehudit Inbar.
Sponsorship >
Presenting sponsor: Rodi and Marvin Glass in honor of Rodi's mother, Sophie Waters.
Supporting sponsors: The Feis Family in memory of their grandmother, Brandla Hofman and aunts, Toby and Feige who perished in the Holocaust. Additional support provided by Julie and Louis Bucksbaum and family.
The McCormick Foundation is the lead sponsor of all special exhibitions at the Museum.
Photo >
Photograph of Vava Schoenova, courtesy of Yad Vashem, Jerusalem
> Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow: Jewish Refugee Scholars at Black Colleges
February 4 - May 31, 2011
By the time World War II began on September 1, 1939, Germany had purged itself of its Jewish professors, scientists, and scholars. Some of these academics, deprived of their livelihoods by the Nazis, found refuge in the United States. But in this new world, they faced an uncertain future.
A few dozen refugee scholars unexpectedly found positions in historically black colleges in the American South. There, as recent escapees from persecution in Nazi Germany, they came face to face with the absurdities of a rigidly segregated Jim Crow society. In their new positions, they met, taught, and interacted with students who had grown up in, and struggled with, this racist environment.
Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow explores the unlikely coming together of these two groups, each the object of exclusion and hatred, and examines the ongoing encounter between them as they navigated the challenges of life in the segregated South. Through historical objects, photographs, texts, and artworks such as The Gleaners by John Biggers, visitors are invited to learn the stories of two disenfranchised groups brought together in search of opportunity and freedom.
Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow: Jewish Refugee Scholars at Black Colleges was created and is circulated by the Museum of Jewish Heritage--A Living Memorial to the Holocaust. Learn More >
This exhibition is made possible through major funding from the Leon Levy Foundation. Additional support provided by the Helen Bader Foundation; The Lupin Foundation; The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation; public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency; the Alpern Family Foundation; and the Charles and Mildred Schnurmacher Foundation.
Press >
Daily Herald | Holocaust museum examines Jewish persecution and Jim Crow
A new exhibit at the Illinois Holocaust Museum in Skokie, “Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow,” explores the unlikely coming together of these two groups, each the object of exclusion and hatred, and examines the ongoing encounter between them as they navigated the challenges of life in the segregated South.
Through historical objects, photographs, texts and artworks such as “The Gleaners” by John Biggers, visitors learn the stories of two disenfranchised groups brought together in search of opportunity and freedom. Read Online >
Skokie Review | Holocaust Museum: Exhibit describes refugee Jewish scholars at black colleges
The Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center's newest traveling exhibition tells the under-reported story of German-Jewish refugee scholars expelled from their homeland by the Nazis who found new lives at historically black colleges in the American South.
"Beyond Swastika and Jim Crow: Jewish Refugee Scholars at Black Colleges," scheduled to open Friday, is further indication of how this invaluable facility in Skokie places a high priority on the "education" part of its mission. Read Online >
Photo >
Professor Ernst Borinski teaching in the Social Science Lab, Tougaloo College, MS, ca. 1960. Prof. Borinski, a refugee from Germany, was part of the Tougaloo community for thirty-six years. In the Social Science Lab, students were encouraged to think critically and question social attitudes, prejudices, and race relations. His tombstone in the campus cemetery reads: "Ernst Borinski, Inspiring Teacher." Courtesy of Mississippi Department of Archives and History
> Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race
July 23, 2010 - January 2, 2011
Deadly Medicine: Creating the Master Race, an exhibition about the role of science in Nazi ideology, is now open at the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center. The exhibition examines how the Nazi leadership, in collaboration with individuals in the professions traditionally charged with healing and the public good, used science to help legitimize persecution, murder and, ultimately, genocide. Produced by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, Deadly Medicine will be on display through January 2, 2011.
Viewer Discretion Advised: The exhibition contains difficult subject matter and imagery. It is recommended for visitors 12 years and older.
> The Wartime Escape: Margret and H.A. Rey’s Journey from France
March 26, 2010 - June 20, 2010
More than three generations of Americans have grown up reading the stories of an irrepressible little brown monkey known in this country as “Curious George.” But few people know about the incredible journey made by his creators, Margret and H.A. Rey, to escape the Nazi invasion of Paris at the start of World War II. Stashing a few precious belongings and manuscripts in their knapsacks and the baskets of their bicycles, the Jewish couple fled Paris in June 1940, starting a five month odyssey by bike, train, and boat that would eventually bring them to American shores.
The Wartime Escape explores the Rey’s early creative collaborations and traces how the story of George himself (originally titled The Adventures of Fifi) spanned the wartime period. The exhibition features 27 framed art prints by artist Allan Drummond and supplemental archival images from the holdings of the DeGrummond Collection of Children’s Literature at the University of Southern Mississippi. The exhibition is based in part on the 2005 publication, The Journey that Saved Curious George: The True Wartime Escape of Margret and H.A. Rey, written by Louise Borden and illustrated by Allan Drummond (Houghton Mifflin Company, New York). The exhibition is organized and curated by Beth Seldin Dotan, Director of the Institute for Holocaust Education in Omaha, Nebraska.
A program of ExhibitsUSA, a national division of Mid-America Arts Alliance and The National Endowment for the Arts. This exhibition is generously brought to the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center by the McCormick Foundation.
News Coverage >
Chicago Sun Times | The brave escape of Curious George: Exhibit shows how author, illustrator dodged Holocaust Read Now >CBS2 Chicago | Holocaust Museum Honors Curious George Creators Read Now >
Shalom Life | Holocaust Museum Features Curious George Read Now >
> Anne Frank: A History for Today, Winter 2010
A new special exhibit will open December 3rd featuring photographs of the Frank family and other occupants of the Secret Annex.
The exhibit traces the story of the Frank family alongside the events of World War II and the persecution of the Jews. By focusing on the well known Frank family, the exhibit reveals the challenges faced by all Jews during World War II and the difficult decisions people were forced to make. Implicit in the exhibit are the themes of scapegoating, bullying, anti-Semitism, racism, ethnic cleansing, and genocide.
Anne Frank: A Private Photo Album was developed by the Anne Frank House and is sponsored in North America by the Anne Frank Center USA.
IMAGE: © AFS/AFF, Amsterdam/Basel
In the Press >
December 12, 2009 > Daily Herald | Traveling Anne Frank exhibit puts face on horror of Holocaust Read More >
> Darfur: Photojournalists Respond, Fall - November 2009
This exhibition is generously sponsored by the McCormick Foundation
Photo courtesy of Sven Torfinn/Panos Pictures
This exhibit is presented courtesy of Holocaust Museum Houston and generously sponsored by the McCormick Foundation. "Darfur: Photojournalists Respond" is open from August 26th through November 30, 2009.
> Building the Illinois Holocaust Museum & Education Center, April 2009 - Fall 2009
Learn more about the people who have been working since the early 1980s to bring the IHMEC to life today.
Skokie, IL