New Center Building Capital Campaign
Building Our Future
The Wassmuth Center for Human Rights was founded in 1996 for the purpose of constructing a memorial to human rights. That vision became a reality when the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial opened to the public in 2002. Profiled in several national publications including the National Geographic book Etched in Stone: Enduring Words from Our Nation’s Monuments, the Memorial is the only Anne Frank Memorial in the United States, one of the few places in the world where the full Universal Declaration for Human Rights is on public display, and is recognized as an international Site of Conscience.
As the educational arm of the Memorial, the Center provides programs and resources designed to bring the Memorial’s message into classrooms and communities. With a mission to “promote respect for human dignity and diversity through education and to foster individual responsibility to work for peace and justice,” the Center designs and delivers programming onsite in the Memorial, offsite in schools and communities throughout the state, and online to a national – and international – audience.
Approved by the City of Boise for construction in 2021, the new Wassmuth Center for Human Rights is a comprehensive education facility located within the licensing agreement of the Memorial. The 3,500 sf first floor accommodates daily operations and staffing, with an 800 sf Docent Center for beginning and ending tours of the Memorial including two welcoming stations with VR tours of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, and public restrooms. The 2,200 sf second floor houses the Human Rights Classroom with public meeting space and education center, a permanent Dimensions in Testimony exhibit, a research library/conference room, restrooms, and kitchenette. Almost 1,500 sf of open classroom houses public exhibits, human rights education programming, and community outreach with town hall/ theatre style seating for 80, classroom lecture-style seating for 30, boardroom seating for 40, and classroom/conversation-pod style seating for 48.
Etched in the stone of the Memorial, Governor Cecil Andrus acknowledged, “Our dreams of equality and respect will never come true if we permit the seeds of division to be sown. Let Idaho stand for fairness and let us always reject the forces of hatred and bigotry.”
Stand with the Center !
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