News Release

San Francisco — Opening the San Francisco Public Library’s 2005 exhibition calendar is Choosing to Participate: Facing History and Ourselves, a nationally touring multimedia exhibition that has traveled to Boston, Chicago, New York, Memphis and Los Angeles. Having already reached more than 200,000 students, teachers and people of all ages, Choosing to Participate: Facing History and Ourselves is expected to welcome more than 40,000 Bay Area residents. Created by Facing History and Ourselves, an international nonprofit, the exhibition is part of a national initiative aimed at stimulating young people and adults to think deeply about the importance of participating in a democracy and the consequences of action and inaction.

Through continued support of Lead National Sponsor Vivendi Universal and Lead Bay Area Sponsor JPMorgan Chase, the Choosing to Participate: Facing History and Ourselves exhibition brings its multi-city tour to San Francisco. Honorary Chairs Warren & Chris Hellman and Dr. Arlene Ackerman, Superintendent of San Francisco Unified School District, have lent their support to the San Francisco tour. The exhibition opens on Saturday, January 15, 2005 at the Main Public Library, 100 Larkin Street (at Grove) with an opening celebration commencing at 10:30 a.m. in the Koret Auditorium. Visitors to the exhibition will experience three historical accounts of racism, apathy and compassion; Bay Area student artwork; portraits of Bay Area people who’ve improved their communities; and a series of public programming and lectures.

Exhibition Highlights
The Library’s Skylight Gallery houses three very compelling 20th century historical stories that each use multimedia technology to enhance the viewer’s experience. The subjects from each of the stories guide the public through their personal accounts, often giving insight into the emotion, social environment and contemplation surrounding the story. Synopsis of the stories includes:

• Crisis in Little Rock: Centers around the drama and tensions generated by the Little Rock Nine who attempted to attend segregated Central High School. This story gets personal with an emotionally charged oral history narrative by Elizabeth Eckford, one of the nine students, who takes the listener from the placid ambiance of her bedroom to the terrifying encounter at the high school.
• Not in Our Town: Introduces a community effort to combat a spate of hate crimes in Billings, Montana in 1993. Although there were risks in actively resisting the perpetrators of hate crimes, the community took an active stance against violence and vowed “not in our town!” Video documentation, written accounts and photographs examine what can happen when an entire community bands together to combat hate.
• Little Things are Big: Uncovers issues from the 1950s surrounding segregation, how the idea about “race” shaped the way Americans saw one another and themselves, and what decisions they made about each other. Writer Jesus Colón, a Puerto Rican man, recounts his story of deciding whether to aid a fellow human being late at night on a subway in New York City.

Visitors to the Skylight Gallery will also find a large drum-shaped object with peepholes. Through the peepholes, they are invited to view images of everyday city incidents such as the apparent loneliness and fear of a lost child, an altercation between two people, or a homeless man begging. Each encounter encourages viewers to reflect on how they might respond or have responded to similar situations. Additionally, the Bay Area office for Facing History and Ourselves adds two new local components to the exhibition that will also be on view through March 20. On display in the Library’s Jewett Gallery will be:

• pARTicipation: Visions and Voices of Bay Area Students - Original artwork from Bay Area students in grades 7-12 that illustrate the importance of choices we make in our daily lives and the value of choosing to participate.
• Bay Area Portraits: Everyday Acts of Courage - Photographs celebrating local people who have chosen to make our community a better place, in small and large ways.

“We’re happy to have the opportunity to showcase the creative talents of local students and to celebrate the Bay Area individuals who make a difference every day,” said Jack Weinstein, Director of the San Francisco Bay Area Region for Facing History and Ourselves. “As a result of attending the exhibition in Los Angeles in Spring 2003, 81% of the students reported that they thought differently about themselves and their responsibilities to others after visiting the exhibit. We know we’re making a tangible impact.”

To complement the exhibition, Facing History and Ourselves and the San Francisco Public Library will present a series of public programming. Programs scheduled include:

• Rage is Not a 1-Day Thing!: Nationally acclaimed performer Awela Makeba uses drama, oral history and music to explore the contributions of three individuals who worked with Rosa Parks to spark the Montgomery bus boycott and helped end legal segregation. Tuesday, February 1, 2005 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Main Library, Koret Auditorium
• Not In Our Town Northern California: A new documentary by the Oakland-based nonprofit, The Working Group, shares stories of local communities who have found creative ways to fight hate. The Library’s recent exhibition Reversing Vandalism will be a feature story in the documentary. A panel discussion, moderated by KQED’s Belva Davis, follows the screening. Tuesday March 1, 2005 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Koret Auditorium
• Youth Choosing to Participate: An afternoon forum to celebrate and learn from youth who are actively involved throughout the Bay Area. Ideas, stories, artwork and lessons of participation will be discussed. Saturday, March, 19, 2005 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m., Koret Auditorium

All programs at the Library are free and open to the public.
For more information about programming and/or the exhibition, please call 415-557-4277 or visit www.sfpl.org.

Support for Choosing to Participate
Lead national funding for Choosing to Participate: Facing History and Ourselves has been generously provided by Vivendi Universal. JPMorgan Chase is the Lead Bay Area Sponsor for this exhibition. The pARTicipation: Visions and Voices of Bay Area Students exhibition is sponsored by The John & Marcia Goldman Foundation. Additional support generously provided by AMD, The California Endowment, Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, Lisa & Douglas Goldman Fund, Walter & Elise Haas Fund, The Hellman Family, Nancy & Daniel S. Katz, Marshalls, Sarlo Foundation, and The Ricky & Andrew J. Shectel Philanthropic Fund.

About Facing History and Ourselves
Facing History and Ourselves is an international educational and professional development organization whose mission is to engage students of diverse backgrounds in an examination of racism, prejudice and anti-Semitism in order to promote the development of a more humane and informed citizenry. With offices in seven U.S. cities and representatives in Europe, Facing History reaches an estimated 1.5 million students annually.

The San Francisco Bay Area Facing History office was established in 1997 to meet the increasing needs of our San Francisco Bay Area constituency of educators. Since our initial outreach to teachers in the San Francisco Bay Area, over 1,400 educators from the region have received Facing History’s professional development services. More than 300 local public and independent schools now use the Facing History program in their curricula, ranging from full semester courses and elective classes to embedding aspects of the Facing History program into their history, English, creative arts, government, and other courses. For more information about the organization, please visit www.facinghistory.org.