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It’s not every day that the HHRC makes the New York Times, but Finding Our Voices: Breaking the Silence of Domestic Abuse is an extraordinary exhibit. Photojournalist, artist and domestic violence survivor Patrisha McLean has created a multimedia exhibit with gorgeous portraits and compelling audio recordings of a broad array of Maine women from all walks of life and backgrounds with one thing in common – they too are survivors of domestic violence. Patrisha, who was married to Don McLean of American Pie fame, bravely tells her own story. She also empowers 20 other women to share theirs – women like Mary Lou Smith featured in a column by Bill Nemitz in the Portland Press Herald. Mary Lou was 65 when she left her abusive husband, and in the exhibit she proclaims, “It’s never too late to leave.”
The New York Times said, “The exhibit represents something new and risky: A large number of women coming forward, using their own names and photographs, often in their own communities, to describe abuse in their relationships.”
In October, as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we hosted a panel of women telling their stories. Amber Hatch, who is featured in the exhibit and works at the Maine State Prison in Warren, told the audience that it’s important to have these conversations: “It’s ugly and it’s violent and it’s horrible, and it’s a conversation we all need to have.”
That’s because domestic violence is a human rights issue. In Maine, almost half of all homicides are attributed to domestic violence. As a society, we have a moral obligation to protect individuals from violence. And at the HHRC, we specialize in creating the space where challenging conversations can occur to inspire people to reflect and act upon their responsibility to stand up for human rights.
We were proud to partner with the Maine Coalition to End Domestic Violence to host this exhibit, and we are grateful to the New York Times, Downeast Magazine, Maine Women, Bill Nemitz, the Kennebec Journal, 207 on WCSH and Maine Public Radio’s MaineCalling for covering the exhibit and this vitally important issue. We’re also grateful that the Augusta-based Family Violence Project has embraced the exhibit and held numerous meetings and trainings at the Klahr Center this fall to ensure that all of their clients and partners can be inspired by the messages. Most of all, we are grateful to Patrisha and to the 20 women who shared their stories so publicly in the exhibit. The exhibit will be up through December 13.
The Michael Klahr Center • 46 University Drive, Augusta, ME 04330 • (207) 621-3530Open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Evenings and weekends by appointment.
| Fall 2019 Newsletter
HHRC Exhibit Makes The New York Times
hhrcmaine.org @HHRCMaineGet Connected: @HHRCMaine/HHRCMaine
HHRC FALL 2019 NEWSLETTER PAGE 1
HHRC Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine
Patrisha McLean, Photojournalist and Artist
Photo Credit: SARAH RICE/The New York Times/Redux
From the Desk of the Executive DirectorIn Behind Enemy Lines, Holocaust survivor Marthe Cohn
tells the dramatic story of her experiences as a spy for French intelligence in Nazi-occupied Germany. It was a privilege to cosponsor a sold-out event featuring Marthe Cohn at the University of Southern Maine in collaboration with Chabad Maine and the Maine Jewish Museum.
While a bill that we supported to mandate Holocaust education in Maine schools is still unfunded, we continue to do broad teacher education at the Michael Klahr Center each summer. This summer 139 Maine teachers took our summer seminars!
How do we know we’re making a difference? Teachers are cultivating the art of the thank you note with their students, and the feedback this fall from teacher and students following HHRC presentations has been wonderful. Earlier this fall, our western Maine educator Piper Dumont went to Mt. Blue High School for workshops with 93 ninth graders in collaboration with Mr. Tyler Brown’s World History & Culture class. Mr. Brown had taken two teacher seminars this summer at the Michael Klahr Center, and he was eager to have the HHRC come for a visit. Piper delivered “Yearning to Breathe Free,” a workshop that highlights Maine’s immigrant history and explores topics including xenophobia, racism and bias.
Mr. Brown called the experience “incredible.” “Yearning to Breathe Free was so impactful to my classroom that it became a regular point of reference for students in class conversations that followed. Having a grasp of the history, the controversy, and the local impact of immigration has allowed my students to speak more confidently and persuasively about other sensitive social issues,” he said.
That’s exactly what we’re seeking to do with our educational programming. We have now hired three regional educators including our newest hire, Erica Nadelhaft of Fort Kent! Erica studied the Holocaust in her undergraduate work at Brandeis University and in her graduate studies at Hebrew University, so she’s a real asset to our team!
Of course, we can’t do any of this work without your commitment and support. Want to know more about how you can support the work of the HHRC? Let’s grab coffee at the Michael Klahr Center! I’m always happy to meet with HHRC supporters, and I can be reached at [email protected].
STAFF UPDATESPAGE 2
Thank you to supporters of our 2019 Education Programs:
MCF Generations Fund
HHRC IS GROWING!
Our Board Members:Ragnhild Baade • Stephen Black
Emily Breitner • Tam Huynh, Vice President Phyllis Jalbert • Robert Katz • Joan Kidman
Megan Ladd • Richard LyonsPeter Mendall, Treasurer • Nick Mills
Adelaide Solomon-JordanNancy Spiegel, President
Sheri Stevens, Secretary • Jenna Vendil
Our Staff:
Shenna BellowsExecutive Director
David GreenhamAssociate Director
Marpheen ChannSouthern Maine Educator
Piper DumontWestern Maine Educator
Philip FishmanOffice Manager
Erica NadelhaftNorthern Maine Educator
Executive Director Shenna Bellows with Holocaust survivor Marthe Cohn
PAGE 3NEW EXHIBITS
Ellsworth Third Graders Explore Identity & DiversityThis summer, the HHRC was proud to bring Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance to Maine for three trainings at the Michael Klahr Center offered to Maine teachers statewide. When a couple of third grade teachers from Ellsworth joined us for a day-long anti-bias training, we were excited. We don’t often work with grades K-6, but research demonstrates that encouraging young children to see members of other groups positively can have real benefits. So, that’s exactly what the third grade teachers supported by our regional educator set out to do using the tools provided by Teaching Tolerance. We were in Ellsworth for anti-bias workshops with 84 kiddos earlier this fall. The thank you letters from the third graders were precious. “I learned that some people’s opinion can change your mind to like the same thing they do.” Said another, “I learned that other people have good ideas or opinions.” It was a sweet day for our educator, and clearly she made an impression! Did you know HHRC programming in schools is free? Contact our Associate Director David Greenham at [email protected] to schedule a visit.
We’re incredibly excited about our next exhibit at the Michael Klahr Center. Artist Henry Isaacs curates the story of his father, Reginald Isaacs, and uncle, Emil Singer, who rescued many Jews from Austria after the Nazi annexation, paying for the rescues with the smuggling and sale of Emil’s prints until Emil himself and his wife Grete were deported to the Izbica ghetto in 1942, where they were murdered. Henry has spent many years tracking down the original prints that literally saved the lives of hundreds of others and will curate a powerful exhibit of rescue through art. The exhibit opens with a special event on Thursday, January 23, 2020 at 5:00 pm. Come meet Henry and get a sneak preview of the exhibit!
Save the Date: Thursday, January 23, 2020, 5:00pm
New Exhibit: Art Saving Lives In the Holocaust: The Prints of Emil Singer
HHRC In Quotes“It is no longer enough to be a nonracist,” Shay Stewart-Bouley, Executive Director of Community Change, Inc. at “It’s Not Over: Slavery Then, Racism Now” talk at the HHRC.
“Some of them were really hard to hear. But then to see the women on these walls…Once they broke the silence, they’re strong, empowered—and I loved to see that,” Photojournalist and survivor Patrisha McLean about her Finding Our Voices exhibit to the 207 television program on WCSH and WLBZ.
“This allows them to have a toolbox where they can bring to light these important stories that augment and support the lessons that they’re already teaching,” said David Greenham, Associate Director of the HHRC to WABI Channel 5 about the HHRC’s teacher trainings. 139 unique teachers from all over Maine came to our teacher trainings this summer. 70 teachers attended more than one training!
“Maine teachers and students alike benefit tremendously from the work of the HHRC, and we are pleased to support the HHRC’s anti-bias educational programming,” Grace Leavitt, President, Maine Education Association.
Reginald Isaacs in 1938 drawing the children of the hamlet of Birnberg, Austria.
PAGE 4 PHOTOS
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Student fills out identity chart during one of our programs.Students engaging in a Structured Academic Controversy of Malaga Island
Audience at the Finding Our Voices exhibit opening. Photo Credit: SARAH RICE/The New York Times/Redux
