Over the course of this semester, students in Dr. Angela Esco Elder’s Public History course are visiting a variety of Spartanburg history sites, museums, and exhibits, drawing inspiration and wisdom from local history experts and professionals. Students will then turn to research in oral histories, with connections to South Carolina, available through the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Under the direction of Professor Meg Hanna Tominaga, they will create a brand-new exhibit, based on their research, a powerful exhibit on hope. Available for viewing from May 4 to May 16 in the Blackman Lobby, this student exhibit shares stories of persistence, love, and faith, through a variety of mediums. This exhibit is a collaboration with the Violins of Hope performance, a project of concerts based on a private collection of instruments that belonged to Jews before and during WWII.
As stated on the Violins of Hope webpage, “All instruments have a common denominator: they had to do with the war. To be more specific, they had to do with the holocaust – death or survival. And hope. All instruments were symbols of hope and a way to say: remember me, remember us. Life is good, celebrate it for those who perished, for those who survived. For all people.”