This summer, Ty Rodriguez, a student in the History, Political Science, and Philosophy department shared the American perspective of the Holocaust at the Kokomo Howard County Public Library.
Between July 12- August 17, a traveling exhibition by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the American Library Association visited the KHCPL Main Branch.
The exhibition explores the American perspective of the humanitarian crimes committed by the Nazis leading up to United States involvement in World War II.
Along with giving tours of the exhibition, Rodriguez assisted a 2nd generation Holocaust survivor draft a presentation for the public.
Rodriguez cited community engagement and education as some of the largest takeaways from the experience.
“I wanted to be one of those people that addressed this to the community and share a perspective they may have been unaware of.” Rodriguez said.
Centered around the state of American culture in the 1930s and 40s, the project served to highlight recent research through primary sources related to American antisemitism, xenophobia, racism, isolationism, nationalism, and the Great Depression.
Dr. Sarah Heath, Associate Professor of History, visited the exhibition and felt that it was effective in providing context of public opinion at the time.
“Public opinion polls were displayed to show that there was a broad sentiment that the United States remain uninvolved.” Heath said.
Dr. Heath said a theme that the exhibit explored was ‘the ways in which Americans react to a wartime situation that was clearly remembered as a series of acts of bias and atrocity.’
School of Social Sciences and Humanities Alumni Andea Saylor was also involved with the project as a surveyor. She was responsible for gathering data from visitors for the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.
“Our goal was to better understand visitors’ experiences with the exhibit and what information they took away.” Saylor said.
Americans and the Holocaust: A Traveling Exhibition for Libraries is traveling to 100 United States public and academic libraries between 2021 and 2026.
