Upcoming Special Exhibitions

Mandela: Struggle for Freedom

February 20 – September 12, 2021

Main Special Exhibition Space

Mandela: Struggle for Freedom traces the history of the fight against apartheid in South Africa, with Nelson Mandela as one of its central figures. With immersive environments, Mandela promotes human rights with a message: all people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

Among its many dramatic features and original artifacts, the exhibition replicates the eight-foot by seven-foot cell where Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in jail, before emerging at age 71 to continue negotiating democratic change with his former enemies. Visitors entering the cell will find themselves in a multimedia theatre, with projections telling stories of repression and resilience on the walls.

Learn more about the exhibition

Presenting Sponsors

Supporters

Women’s Leadership Committee of Illinois Holocaust Museum

Lester & Edward Anixter Family Foundation

Brenda & Lance Feis

Contributors

In Honor of Harry & Harriet Bernbaum

Mitch & Cathy Feiger

Hackner Family

Jill and Rob Selati

Additional Funders

Golder Family Foundation

Keith & Caryl Jaffee

PwC

Judith & William Rader and Family

Morris & Judith Rosenzweig Family Foundation

Ilan & Rebekah Shalit

Rachel Brosnahan

Lance and Angela Donenberg

North Shore (IL) Chapter of The Links; Incorporated

Mosaic Construction

North Suburban Synagogue Beth El Men’s Club

Quarles & Brady LLP

Laura Elizabeth Tanner

Media Partners

Mandela: Struggle for Freedom was developed by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (Winnipeg, Canada) in partnership with the Apartheid Museum (Johannesburg, South Africa). Tour management services provided by Lord Cultural Resources.

International Tour Supporters

Shanghai: Safe Haven During the Holocaust

July 15, 2021 2021 – September 5, 2022

Northern Trust Gallery & The Joseph L. & Emily K. Gidwitz Memorial Foundation Gallery

Shanghai: Safe Haven During the Holocaust sheds light on a lesser-known moment in Holocaust history: European Jews who had been shut out of country after country while trying to escape Nazi persecution found a beacon of hope in an unlikely place: Shanghai, China. In 1946, American photojournalist Arthur Rothstein began a project documenting the lives o Jewish refugees who now called Shanghai’s Hongkew District “home.” The exhibition is a tribute to human endurance, capturing both the enormous hardship and fierce perseverance of refugees and their families as they managed to not only survive but thrive.

Shanghai: Safe Haven During the Holocaust is presented in partnership with the Arthur Rothstein Legacy Project. All photos by Arthur Rothstein, Shanghai, China, 1946.

Supporting Sponsor

David C. & Sarajean Ruttenberg Arts Foundation

Additional Funders

Andrea & Bruce Brown, in memory of Shanghai Ghetto resident Siegmund Kupferberg

Golder Family Foundation

Media Partner

Rise Up: Stonewall and the LGBTQ Rights Movement

October 17, 2021 – May 8, 2022

Main Special Exhibition Space

Newseum.

Rise Up: Stonewall and the LGBTQ Rights Movement explores the June 1969 police raid of the Stonewall Inn as the flashpoint that ignited the modern gay rights movement in the United States. In the last fifty years since the Stonewall Riots, America’s LGBTQ population has struggled for equal rights and representation under the law. Rise Up shares the voices and tells the stories of this movement.

Blending together historic images and artifacts of the LGBTQ+ rights movement, the 85 artifacts on display in Rise Up include posters from Harvey Milk’s campaign for public office in San Francisco, an original rainbow flag signed by its creator Gilbert Baker, and early LGBTQ magazines and publications.

Presenting Sponsors

Supporters

LGBT Community Fund of The Chicago Community Trust

Women’s Leadership Committee of Illinois Holocaust Museum

Brenda & Lance Feis

Contributors

In Honor of Harry & Harriet Bernbaum

Additional Funders

Golder Family Foundation

Media Partners

Rise Up: Stonewall and the LGBTQ Rights Movement was developed by the Newseum. The Newseum is an affiliate of the Freedom Forum, whose mission is to foster First Amendment freedoms for all.  freedomforum.org