How can we help young people make sense of a world that often feels fragmented, fast-moving and uncertain, and guide them toward a deeper understanding of their shared humanity?
That question connects two institutions that, at first glance, could not seem more different: the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam and the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry on Chicago’s South Side.
One preserves the story of a Jewish teenager whose diary became one of the most widely read accounts of the Holocaust, and raises awareness of the dangers of discrimination, antisemitism and group hatred as well as the importance of equal rights. The other is a place where visitors explore science and innovation through hands-on exhibits that bring complex ideas to life. Yet, both were founded on a common belief: Access to education and information is a moral responsibility.
Otto Frank, who opened the Anne Frank House in 1960, believed that history must do more than inform; it must guide how we live. Julius Rosenwald, who founded the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, which opened in 1933, was driven by the conviction that education should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their background. Although separated by time and geography, both understood that knowledge carries moral weight. It shapes what we know and who we become.
That shared view is what makes our collaboration to bring “Anne Frank The Exhibition” to Chicago feel both natural and necessary. It reflects a broader truth about what museums are and what they must continue to be: spaces that help people understand the world and their responsibility to one another and their communities.
This is what makes museums so important at this moment. Our daily lives are saturated with instant opinions amplified by algorithms that reward speed over substance. It’s difficult, especially for young people, to distinguish evidence from assertion and truth from distortion. Here is where museums step in: They are trusted places that provide evidence, encourage questions and offer space for reflection. They allow us to slow down, to question and to reflect.
Given how the information we encounter today is so easily prone to distortion or outright deceit, the trustworthiness of museums is crucial. Research commissioned by the American Alliance of Museums — when I, Chevy, chaired its board — illustrates that, across political and ideological lines, people consistently trust museums as sources of information. Even during unsettled times, our museums maintain a high level of trust because they are fact-based, they present authentic objects and their content is based on research.
That trust is earned through a commitment to evidence, authenticity and scholarship and creates environments where visitors are more willing to engage with difficult histories, challenge assumptions and consider new perspectives.
The value of museums extends beyond the trusted information they provide. Every day, we watch visitors come to learn, but we also see something else: human connection.
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Within museum walls, visitors encounter not only objects and displays but one another — people of all ages, speaking different languages, from different parts of the world, from all socioeconomic levels, races, religions and experiences. In an increasingly fragmented society, we must find more opportunities for this kind of engagement in these spaces, because collective experiences reinforce the idea that understanding is something that we must build together.
Museums also collapse distance: Most people seeing the Anne Frank exhibition in Chicago may not ever have the opportunity to travel to Amsterdam, let alone secure hard-to-get tickets to the Anne Frank House. This exhibition — as with museums throughout Chicago — brings the world closer, making history, science and diverse experiences accessible in deeply personal ways and in only a short journey from home.
Museums can’t solve every challenge, but they can equip visitors — especially young people — with the space and the encouragement to think critically, to engage with evidence and to see themselves through the stories of those no longer with us. In doing so, they help young people to both understand the world they are inheriting and to imagine how they might shape their own communities for the better.
Ronald Leopold is executive director of The Anne Frank House. Chevy Humphrey is president and CEO of the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry.
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