KENNESAW, Ga. | Jan 27, 2025

An excellent museum is more than static displays inside hushed exhibition halls. It can travel, teach, and serve as an enlightening outreach tool for entire communities and beyond.

Such is the case for Kennesaw State University's Museum of History and Holocaust Education, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary as one of the most innovative, high-quality, and far-reaching museums in the U.S.

 The museum provides award-winning programming to people of all ages through onsite and traveling exhibitions, virtual seminars, and in-person visits. Last year, museum staff served nearly 400,000 people in 35 Georgia counties, 16 states, and six countries.

 “Being embedded in a research university, we take the trust people place in museums seriously,” said Catherine Lewis, associate vice provost, who leads the Department of Museums, Archives and Rare Books. “Beyond our educational mission, we think of ourselves as the front porch of KSU, welcoming students, partner institutions, and community members. We also maintain dozens of partnerships with regional, national, and international institutions like the Breman Museum in Atlanta, the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, and Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.”

For its efforts, the museum recently won two major awards. In November 2023, it received the Gold Award from the Southeastern Museums Conference for the exhibition, “The Sky’s the Limit: Women Pilots in World War II.” In January of this year, it won the Education Award from the Georgia Association of Museums for its Pre-Service Teacher Workshop for Holocaust Education.

 “We want to be a valuable resource for the campus community and far beyond,” said Andrea Miskewicz, interim executive director of the Museum of History and Holocaust Education. “Winning awards is a testament to our innovation and impact. Recognition by industry peers and experts validates the museum's efforts to provide high-quality, engaging, and educational experiences.”

Among those experiences are the museum's traveling trunks, which are suitcase-sized boxes filled with historical artifacts. Each trunk revolves around a central theme. For example, the Tuskegee Airmen trunk features flight masks, a pilot’s cap, a uniform patch, and maps, among other items used by the now-celebrated Black U.S. fighter pilots of World War

The trunks are supplemented by a curated lesson to help teachers drive the conversation around difficult topics like the formerly segregated U.S. military and are available free of charge.

 Area teachers and students in the Bagwell College of Education and other USG institutions attend workshops hosted by museum staff, which prepare them for challenging topics. While the museum’s content focuses on the Holocaust, the strategies taught in outreach programs are easily transferrable to all sensitive matters in the classroom.

“It can be difficult for teachers to have conversations about discrimination, civil rights, the Jim Crow South, the Holocaust, and antisemitism,” Miskewicz said. “We help educators have difficult conversations safely and productively.”

The museum, founded in 2003 and housed in the KSU Center, has enjoyed support of the Marcus Foundation since 2005 and other more recent donors like the Breman Foundation and the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. Since then, it has grown into the largest museum of Holocaust education outside Washington, D.C., while having one of the largest full-time education teams in the region.

In addition to its role in educating the public, KSU students use the museum as a learning lab to gain experience related to their areas of study and prepare them for careers in the museum field. The MHHE hosts internships each semester for students across the university. Faculty and staff in the Department of Museums, Archives, and Rare Books often sit on capstone, Honors, and master’s doctoral degree committees.

Jessica Owens, who studies geospatial sciences in the Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences, was a StoryMap intern for the museum last spring. In her role, she helped create an online tool for an upcoming exhibit that combines maps, text, and images to tell an interactive story. Equipped with this experience, Owens described her time at the museum as deeply impactful.

“The museum isn't just for history students; students of all departments can learn so much from the programming. When the internship ended, I offered to continue as a volunteer for the museum because I enjoyed the experience so much,” she said. “My experience with the museum was the highlight of my KSU journey.”

– Story by Kyle Dawson

 

This article also appears in the current issue of Summit Magazine.

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its more than 47,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 7 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.