Featuring scholars from the Equal Justice Initiative, Institute for Common Power, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and more, educators will wrestle in this workshop with profound moral questions raised by the respective histories of African Americans and the Holocaust and their legacies today. How did systems of oppression in Nazi Germany and the United States enable, and inflame what unfolded then, and what patterns can we recognize today? At the same time, participants will gain classroom-ready resources and considerations to help their students not only consider these issues, but also to sharpen their skills in critical thinking, ethical reflection and empathy, and civic responsibility in the face of systems of oppression today. Featured presenters include, but aren't limited to,...

Bryan Stevenson developed the vision for the Legacy Sites in Montgomery, Alabama, after studying how Germany, South Africa, and Rwanda confronted histories of violence and injustice to promote truth, repair, and reconciliation. As Stevenson writes, “In America, we have resisted that reckoning.” Through the Legacy Museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, Freedom Monument Sculpture Park, and Montgomery Square, the Equal Justice Initiative explores how slavery evolved rather than ended because the nation never fully confronted racial injustice at its roots. Join Tad Roach, Learning and Engagement Specialist at the Equal Justice Initiative, for a discussion on the Legacy Sites and the power of historical research, truth-telling, repair, and healing. Together, we will consider how Stevenson’s model speaks...

Free First Thursday! Check out special exhibitions. Refreshments available. No tickets needed. Free or reduced cost access is supported by 4Culture.

Join journalist and poet Rebecca Clarren in a discussion about her award-winning book The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota and an American Inheritance. A blend of investigative reporting and memoir, the book is the entangled history of her Jewish homesteading ancestors on the South Dakota prairie and their Lakota neighbors. The book not only reveals how federal policies that helped her family came at great harm to Native Americans, but it invites the reader to join Clarren in grappling with how those of us who have benefited from the amoral past might step towards repair. Award-winning journalist and poet Rebecca Clarren has been writing about the American West for more than twenty-five years. Her book The Cost of...

Jordan Newman Weiner invites students and audiences to learn and remember her grandparents with her as she tells their story. Through SHOAH testimony video clips, her family photo collection, and other primary documents, Jordan introduces her beloved grandparents and follows their path to ultimate survival during the Holocaust. Her grandfather, Stephen Newman, was born and grew up in Warsaw, Poland. His parents saved his life during deportations from the Warsaw Ghetto in 1943 by urging him to join a group of younger Jews. This group of younger people were eventually sent to Majdanek concentration camp for forced labor. Stephen would eventually be a forced laborer in four different camps before he was finally liberated in 1945. Rose Newman grew...

We live in a reality where systemic and rising antisemitism is the norm. But instead of stepping back in times of challenge, we step forward to build a strong, resilient Jewish community.  The Federation’s Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) is creating a series of monthly in-person and virtual Civic Engagement Events designed to meet the moment. They are providing our community with the knowledge and tools to engage more deeply in civic and political spaces, build relationships with key decision-makers, and advocate more effectively for Jewish safety and inclusion. Their November event is focused on building foundational knowledge to help bridge the gap between reporting antisemitic incidents and driving policy change. Attendees will receive a primer on Washington’s Hate...

Join us for an engaging and insightful conversation with acclaimed historian and author Douglas Smith as he discusses his book, The City Without Jews: Life and Death in Nazi Vienna. Smith will share insights into the history explored in his book, followed by a moderated Q&A with Rabbi Weiner. The program will conclude with a book signing and an opportunity to purchase a copy of The City Without Jews. This is an opportunity to explore this history, hear directly from the author, and reflect on the enduring lessons of this pivotal period.

Free First Thursday! Check out special exhibitions. Refreshments available. No tickets needed. Free or reduced cost access is supported by 4Culture.

Organized in collaboration with Facing History & Ourselves, this online session highlights materials from Facing History’s recently launched Teaching Holocaust Literature Collection. It aims to support teachers in designing or updating current curriculum units by integrating historical background, survivor testimony, personal diaries, and artistic works. Additionally, participants will gain practical tools to foster a supportive and reflective classroom climate when tackling sensitive, emotionally challenging content.  

This seminar for educators will explore how societies define who belongs and who does not based on the stories they tell.  Featuring Warren Seyler of the Spokane Tribe of Indians and local and international scholars, including Jan Grabowski, James Waller, Wolfgang Schmutz, and others, the program will examine how founding narratives helped justify the persecution and murder of European Jews during the Holocaust and the exploitation and persecution of Indigenous peoples in America.  Participants will also consider how these narratives continue to influence public discourse about marginalized communities today, and how critically thinking about these historical intersections provides students the opportunity to make meaning from, and apply their learning to their current world.  Cost upon acceptance: $50 WA educators...

Travel with us to Poland during Yom HaShoah for a meaningful journey through history, culture, and memory. We’ll visit Warsaw and Krakow, explore significant Holocaust sites, and experience the rich cultural and culinary traditions of Poland. Together, we’ll reflect on the stories and places that shaped our understanding of the past—and their meaning for us today. Please email Ilana Cone Kennedy, CEO, for information about registering. Deadline for registration is December 1.