HHRC Educational Programs

HHRC Educational Programs use materials and resources from Facing History and Ourselves, the USC Shoah Foundation, Yad Vashem, the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

If you would like to arrange to have your group visit us or have us visit you, email us!

*HHRC is available to assist educators with developing online content related to our programs below. Please email infohhrc@maine.edu for more information.*

Our Educators

David Greenham
Associate Director
(Central Maine and Klahr Center visits)
david@hhrcmaine.org

Marpheen Chann
Southern Maine Educator
(Cumberland and York)
marpheen@hhrcmaine.org

Piper Dumont
Western Maine Educator
(Androscoggin, Franklin, and Oxford)
piper@hhrcmaine.org

Erica Nadelhaft
Northern Maine Educator
(Aroostook, Hancock, Penobscot, and Washington)
erica@hhrcmaine.org

Our Programs (By Topic)

The Holocaust

Decision Making in Times of Injustice

45-75 minutes - Suitable for Grades 6 and up.

This program gives students an awareness of the enormity of the crimes committed during the Nazi Holocaust and helps them grasp the fact that thousands of ordinary people participated in perpetrating these crimes, while thousands more stood by as quiet witnesses. The material in this workshop reminds students of the importance of living in a democracy whose citizens are capable of making informed judgments, not only on behalf of themselves but on behalf of a larger community.

The Message Matters

45-75 minutes - Suitable for Grades 4 and up.

How do the messages we see affect us? Using historical images from Nazi Germany and modern advertising, this workshop reminds us that stereotypes are reinforced every day. This workshop encourages us all to consider and discuss our relationship with the stereotypes we see, and our decisions of whether we choose to believe them or make up our own minds.

Kristallnacht

60 minutes - Suitable for Grades 8 and up.

For many Americans, the first awareness of the events taking place in Nazi Germany began with news reports following the pogroms on November 9th and 10th, 1938 - Kristallnacht, or the night of broken glass. This workshop outlines the events leading up to Kristallnacht, and the aftermath. First hand accounts, including one by Maine's Cantor Kurt Messerschmidt, are included in this compelling story.

Maine's German POW Camps During World War II

60 minutes - Suitable for Grades 6 and up.

Inspired by the HHRC's 2013 exhibit Maine Boys Overseas, German Boys in Maine, this program tells the story of German prisoner of war camps from 1944 to 1946. The workshop includes the story of the camps which were located in Houlton, Spencer Lake, Seboomook, and Indian Township. In addition, the workshop presents some information about the politics that led to the creation of the camps.

Read a write up about this program from the Downeast Lakes Land Trust newsletter Downeast Lakes Landings.

Anti-Bias

The Least That One Can Demand: Recognizing Our Biases

60 minutes - suitable for Grades 6 - 12.

Some say that eliminating our biases is impossible. But as James Baldwin wrote in his classic long-essay, The Fire Next Time: “The impossible is the least that one can demand.” HHRC’s anti-bias workshop shares tools and resources from Teaching Tolerance, Facing History and Ourselves, and the Anti-Defamation League among others to help students recognize that we all have biases. This workshop emphasizes hands-on activities, and student participation. We use primary-source documents to examine bias in history. Only by recognizing and acknowledging the biases that exist in our systems can we begin the process of eliminating bias in ourselves, our schools and our communities.

Identity & Intersectionality: An Intro to Anti-Bias for Middle and High Schoolers

60 minutes. Suitable for 6-12 grades.

Identity is complex. By using intersectionality as an analytical tool to examine their own identities, students can begin to understand how our individual, unique identities are shaped and influenced by our upbringing, families, communities, culture and society. Exploring identity and intersectionality helps students not only gain self-confidence, but also fosters understanding and empathy for their peers and students of diverse backgrounds. Using Facing History and Teaching Tolerance materials as a reference, activities include creating and sharing identity charts, a review and read aloud of key definitions, a personal story, and a discussion of Intent vs Impact.

Human Rights

Yearning to Breathe Free: The Immigrant Experience in Maine

45 - 60 minutes - Suitable for grades 4 and up.

The story of immigrants in Maine is older than the state itself. From Verrazano’s first glimpse of Maine in 1524 on, immigrants have played a key role in shaping Maine and her people. This workshop, inspired by our 2015 exhibit of the same name, provides an overview of Maine’s immigrant past, and serves as a reminder of the important role that immigrants will play in our future.

Civil Rights in America: Yesterday and Today

45 - 75 minutes - Suitable for Grades 4 and up.

The HHRC is proud to have been selected to offer this important program focusing on the US civil rights movement from the 1830s to the 1960s. The program, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities and The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, features documentary films and resources that can be tailored into a program suitable for any audience. - Customized for any audience.

Finding Your Voice

45 - 60 minutes - suitable for Grades 6 - 12.

In the wake of the school shooting protests, the #metoo movement, and other events in our country many students are wondering how to process their feelings about such big topics. This workshop serves as a reminder that students and young people have led most of the great social and political movements of America including the end of the Viet Nam War, Civil Rights, Women’s Right to Vote, and even the American Revolution. Finding your voice is an inspirational, but cautionary program that suggests there may even be more issues of concern facing young people in the coming decades.

The Michael Klahr Center is closed and all in-person meetings are postponed for the foreseeable future due to concerns related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

HHRC Educational Programs

Our Educators

Our Programs (By Topic)

The Holocaust

Anti-Bias

Human Rights

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