Diversity

Human rights museums inspire a deeper awareness of social issues.

Museums dedicated to human rights painstakingly develop themed exhibits to encourage critical thinking through depictions of how deeply injustice, corruption and cruelty impacted a society. At the most effective museums, visitors are participants rather than passive viewers, and the exhibits and interactive activities prompt them to consider how to make the world a better place with what they learn from the past.

Internationally prominent museums such as Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, Los Angeles’ Museum of Tolerance, Yad Vashem in Israel and National Center for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta evoke emotions that linger long after a visit and adapt to new generations of visitors with regular additions and renovations. Museo Internacional para la Democracia in Rosario, Argentina, and Museum of New Zealand | Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington, New Zealand, partner with various academic and human rights groups to develop social initiatives.

Here are a few more museums sure to bring greater depth of understanding of a destination’s people and history, warts and all. For additional suggestions, check out the enhanced version of this article at globaltravelerusa.com.

Upon entering the National Civil Rights Museum, housed in the former Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, one can see the balcony where Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated April 4, 1968. The museum takes visitors through the U.S. civil rights movement from the 17th century forward with multimedia and interactive exhibits, short movies, archival photos and the personal effects of those who dared to take on a system of inequality. Two nearby buildings connected to King’s death carry the story into the present day.

Japan’s Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum remains one of the most powerful anti-war museums in the world, with honest and graphic displays documenting the effects of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in World War II. While the personal effects of victims and articles of war are heart-wrenching, accompanying texts provide the most effective visuals. The Museum of Peace and Human Rights, 200 miles northeast in Osaka, educates visitors about the horrors of war and human rights issues involving Japan’s ethnic minority and LGBTQIA+ communities.

Cape Town’s Robben Island Museum transcends its fame as the prison where Nelson Mandela spent 18 years of a life sentence for his work to stop South Africa’s apartheid government. Visitors see the inside of his cell and hear about the anti-apartheid fight as told by guides — some former prisoners who interacted with Mandela. The Kwa Muhle Museum in Durban also provides fascinating perspectives to apartheid with artifacts depicting struggles of the minority communities in eastern South Africa.