The Museum of Tolerance
Located in Los Angeles, Calif., the Museum of Tolerance (MOT) hosts nearly half a million visitors each year, including some 110,000 students. The educational branch of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Museum is a technologically advanced eight-level facility that spans 165,000 square feet. Opened in February 1993, the Museum confronts the issues of racism and bigotry, and challenges visitors to better understand the Holocaust. |
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This vigil remembers the death of a young African American murdered by three white men in Jasper Texas. On the right, the vigil for Matthew Shepard, a young gay man beaten and left to die tied to a fence in Laramie, Wyoming, is presented.
Visitors can explore the extensive offering of exhibits that include interactive displays, computer stations, graphics, films, an archival collection and much more. The complex also houses three theatres and a conference centre.
The newest and largest exhibit was designed to appeal to younger visitors. Finding Our Families, Finding Ourselves highlights the personal histories of several celebrated Americans including poet, historian, educator and best-selling author Dr. Maya Angelou; National League MVP and manager of the New York Yankees Joe Torre; and award-winning actor, comedian and director Billy Crystal.
The wall of honour housed in the Museum of Tolerance is dedicated to Holocaust survivors and their relatives who have worked as current or past guides at the museum.
Visitors will also be moved by the Museum’s Holocaust section. A decade of events in Germany is presented in this area, from Germany pre-World War II, to the collapse of the Third Reich, to liberation. Various exhibits are featured here including the Outdoor Café Scene, which reenacts a pre-war Berlin street and café where discussions take place about the Nazi takeover of Germany that was on the horizon; and the Hall of Testimony, where stories from Holocaust survivors can be seen and heard.
The Museum’s Multimedia Learning Center contains more than 30 interactive touch-screen computer stations where visitors can research 5,000 different subjects. Students can also witness live-action historical footage, Nazi propaganda songs and music written by survivors while in Polish ghettos in this area of the Museum.
The only museum of its kind worldwide, MOT also sponsors various programs. Teaching Steps to Tolerance is a national program designed for 5th and 6th grade teachers and library media specialists. Educators will learn about incorporating the teaching of tolerance into school curriculum. The Task Force Against Hate program confronts extremism and educates students about anti-Semitism and bigotry. Conferences and training sessions are conducted across the United States. Tools for Tolerance for Teens is intended for students at the middle and high school age range. Classes that are unable to visit the Museum in person can still take part through Bridging the Gap, which enlists videoconferencing to reach youths located elsewhere.
Interested in planning a school trip to Los Angeles that includes a stop at the Museum of Tolerance? Check out the MOT website at www.museumoftolerance.com for further information including admission prices, hours and location. - Laurel Rhind
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