Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

FROM STAFF REPORTS

MONTEVALLO – The University of Montevallo’s Carmichael Library has been chosen to host “Americans and the Holocaust,” a traveling exhibition from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, from Jan 11-Feb 22, 2025.

The exhibit will focus on the American response to the Holocaust, as well as the themes of Nazism, war and genocide in Europe during the 1930s and ‘40s.

“The Holocaust is one of the defining moments in the history of the 20th century,” said Dr. Clark Hultquist, a professor of European history at Montevallo. “The stories of genocide in general and the Holocaust in particular teach us the importance of citizens remaining vigilant against prejudice and hatred in all forms and the need for understanding and tolerance. This exhibit provides a specific example from the experience of the United States in a critical era.”

The exhibition is based on the one of the same name at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s location in Washington, D.C., and engages the audience to put themselves in the shoes of Americans during the time of the Holocaust and think critically about what responses they would have had to the event during the time period.

“It hits the high points, and that’s what we’ll base our programming around, but we’ll also take it a step further and make it more Alabama and Montevallo centric,” said Carey Heatherly, an archivist at Montevallo.

Throughout the duration of its display in Carmichael Library, the exhibit will feature four separate lectures. The first lecture, titled “Americans and the Holocaust: A Global Perspective,” will take place on Tuesday, Jan. 14 at 6 p.m. and will be presented by Hultquist. The discussion will focus on anti-semitism, the rise of the Third Reich and the global impact of World War II.

The second discussion is titled “Basics and Best Practices in Holocaust Education using the Resources of the USHMM,” and will be presented on Tuesday, Jan. 21 at 5 p.m. by Logan Greene, an English, language arts and social studies teacher at Berry Middle School in Hoover. Greene is an alum of Montevallo and was honored as the 2019 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Teacher Fellow. He will present a thesis on the foundations of effective and purposeful Holocaust education.

The third discussion is titled “Uncovering Lost Voices: African American Involvement during the Holocaust,” and will be presented on Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 6 p.m. by Dr. Greg Samuels, associate professor of secondary education at Montevallo, and Dr. Amy Samuels, associate professor of instructional leadership at Montevallo. The session will highlight the role African Americans played in World War II, specifically in the European theater. Pertaining to the Holocaust, the session will also focus on African American efforts in the liberation of concentration camps throughout Europe, as well as the racial prejudice facing African Americans during World War II.

Finally, the fourth session, titled “Effects of the Diffusion of Attention and Interest Among Citizens,” will be held on Feb. 4 at 5 p.m. The event will be hosted by Dr. Ruth Truss, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Montevallo. The event will focus on how Alabamans tended to overlook information in the news regarding World War II due to a variety of factors.