At What Cost?

As keepers of “difficult heritage,” human rights museums are responsible for navigating the needs of diverse groups, often with competing interests and missions. It is commonly argued that the primary role of these museums is to provide human rights education; however, survivor and their descendant communities increasingly demand that museums advocate for and be accomplices to community struggles. To understand why acting reciprocally with survivors and their descendants is a crucial responsibility of the human rights museum, this paper considers two examples: Greenwood Rising in Tulsa, Oklahoma and the War and Women’s Human Rights Museum in Seoul, South Korea. Subsequent discussion of these case studies assesses how collaborating with survivor and descendant communities, involving governing powers, and maintaining visitor empathy affect a human rights museum’s ability to minimize harm, share authority, and respond to community needs. Ultimately, this paper argues that human rights museums must be activists and care for communities to avoid exploiting human suffering.