I felt fortunate that my trip coincided with the center’s official March 15 opening at a new location, which I’d visited months before while they were still in moving boxes mode. I decided that morning to explore a few museums in Brooklyn, then hit their open house during the tail end of my day. It didn’t occur to me that everything would take twice as long in limping mode. Or that taxis don’t crowd the streets in Brooklyn the way they do in Manhattan.
Turns out I only got to enjoy the final fifteen minutes or so of their opening event. Because that was the day I fell in love with Brooklyn. All for the best, perhaps, because the Anne Frank event was an elegant affair — and I was dressed for comfort. After a day of hauling myself between park, garden, library and museums, I looked downright sloppy. Jeans that’d been frayed during other NYC adventures were visibly torn by the time I met McNeil the second time around.
Still, McNeil was gracious and plenty welcoming. We agreed that The Anne Frank Center is worthy of a second visit, and many more as well. My first time there, I admired a large work of fabric art hung on one of McNeil’s office walls. We also talked a bit about her theater background (she’s a former director for The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute) and the center’s many programs — engaging youth through art, developing curriculum materials for teachers, creating touring exhibitions, helping prisoners write their own diaries and much more.
I’m remembering times spent at The Anne Frank Center today as they celebrate the 83rd anniversary of Anne Frank’s birth with an event recognizing this year’s winners of their Spirit of Anne Frank Awards — which honors “Anne’s efforts to improve the world” with awards to citizens, educators and students who “take a stand against discrimination of all kinds.”
The Anne Frank Center, established in 1947, is a partner organization of the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. The center works to “educate young people and communities about the consequences of intolerance, racism and discrimination.” During my last visit, I explored an exhibit featuring the secret annex where Frank wrote her famous diary — which has sold more than 30 million copies in more than 60 languages.
I also spent time pondering a timeline of Holocaust-related events located in a room on the lower floor used for workshops and such, and another on giant panels in another part of the center. But what struck me most that day were black and white photos of Frank and her family — especially one showing Anne and her sister looking out from the beach onto the ocean. Because that’s when it really hit me. Those two girls could have been my own daughters.
For the first time, the weight of what the Frank family experienced sunk in. Remembering Anne Frank is about more than reading her diary, though that’s an important piece of driving history towards a future far different from the past. It’s about considering our own everyday choices as parents, children, friends and community members. Always remember. But never assume that it’s an acceptable substitute for taking action.
— Lynn
Note: The Museum of Tolerance New York and The Anne Frank Center USA present “Hello World: Readings from the Anne Frank Prison Diary Writing Project Tues, June 19 at the museum. Click here for details.
Coming up: Student art meets Arizona history, Once upon a spaceship
Stage Mom Musings 