History is often taught through dates, documents, landmark decisions, and the names of people who changed the course of events. But behind every historical moment are individuals making difficult choices, navigating uncertainty, and confronting circumstances that will shape the rest of their lives.
This winter and spring, the Robert H. Jackson Center will once again welcome Living Voices, a performance-based educational program that invites audiences to encounter history through the eyes of the people who experienced it.
Combining live performance with archival photographs, historical footage, and first-person storytelling, Living Voices offers a different way to engage with the past. Rather than simply learning what happened, audiences are invited to consider what it might have meant to live through it.
What does it mean to leave home in search of a better life? How do people respond when their freedom is threatened? What does courage look like when the consequences of speaking up are uncertain?
These are not questions confined to the past. They connect historical experiences to the choices, challenges, and responsibilities people face today.
The Living Voices performances explore distinct moments in history, offering opportunities to consider the human experiences behind major social and political changes. For students, these programs can deepen classroom learning by putting historical events into a personal context. For adult audiences, they offer another opportunity to reflect on familiar subjects through an individual’s perspective.
At the Robert H. Jackson Center, where the legacy of Supreme Court Justice and Nuremberg chief prosecutor Robert H. Jackson informs our work in law, justice, and civic responsibility, these stories offer a meaningful way to examine the relationship between individual lives and the larger forces that shape history.
From immigration and civil rights to women’s suffrage, Japanese American incarceration, and the story of Anne Frank, this year’s Living Voices series explores defining moments in history through the experiences of the people who lived them.
Performances will take place at the Robert H. Jackson Center, with daytime opportunities for student groups and select evening programming. Visit the individual event pages for performance times, program details, and registration information.
Living Voices is an opportunity for educators to extend learning beyond the textbook, for students to engage with history in a new way, and for community members to explore stories that deserve to be heard.
We invite schools, educators, and members of the public to join us at the Robert H. Jackson Center for this year's series.
Because understanding history means more than knowing what happened. It means considering the people who lived it, the choices they faced, and what their experiences can teach us.
