Mandela: Struggle for Freedom

Special Exhibitions Gallery

February 20 - September 12, 2021

Mandela: Struggle for Freedom traces the history of the fight against apartheid in South Africa, with Nelson Mandela as one of its central figures. With immersive environments, Mandela promotes human rights with a clear message: all people deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

Nelson Mandela was one of the most famous human rights defenders of the 20th-century and the face of a movement against racial injustice. His unbreakable will inspired people around the globe to mobilize for human rights and contributed to a worldwide crusade demanding racial equality. A winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and South Africa’s first democratically elected president in 1994, Mandela devoted his life to fighting apartheid and creating a more just society.

Highlights

A replica of the eight-foot by seven-foot cell where Mandela spent 18 of his 27 years in jail, before emerging at age 71 to continue negotiating democratic change with his former enemies. Visitors entering the cell will find themselves in a multimedia theater with projections telling stories of repression and resilience on the walls.
A massive, tank-like truck emerges from one wall, where visitors can grab a trash-can lid as their only protection, like students in the Soweto uprising.
A battered ballot box used in the country’s first democratic elections in 1994 when Mandela became president.
A letter in Mandela’s own hand, sent from prison to a leader of anti-apartheid mobilization, and a notepad Mandela used during democracy negotiations.

Presenting Sponsors:

Supporters:

Lester & Edward Anixter Family Foundation

Brenda & Lance Feis

Contributors:

In Honor of Harry & Harriet Bernbaum Mitch & Cathy Feiger Hackner Family Jill and Rob Selati

Additional Funders:

Golder Family Foundation
Keith & Caryl Jaffee
PwC
Judith & William Rader and Family
Morris & Judith Rosenzweig Family Foundation
Ilan & Rebekah Shalit
Rachel Brosnahan
Lance and Angela Donenberg
Lifeway Foods
North Shore (IL) Chapter of The Links; Incorporated
Mosaic Construction
North Suburban Synagogue Beth El Men’s Club
Quarles & Brady LLP
Laura Elizabeth Tanner

Media Partners:

Mandela: Struggle for Freedom was developed by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (Winnipeg, Canada) in partnership with the Apartheid Museum (Johannesburg, South Africa). Tour management services provided by Lord Cultural Resources.

Developed By:

International Tour Supporters:

Community Partners:

Center for International Human Rights at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law; Bluhm Legal Clinic – Center on Wrongful Convictions; Chicago Cultural Alliance; Equity Institute at YWCA Evanston/North Shore; Heartland Alliance; Jewish Council on Urban Affairs (JCUA); Niebuhr Center at Elmhurst University; The Peace Exchange Program of Holy Family Ministries; Shriver Center on Poverty Law’s Racial Justice Institute and Network

Photo credits: CMHR Jessica Sigurdson, CMHR Aaron Cohen