WWII veteran William Alexander Scott, III at Buchenwald : borrower's information packet

Borrower's Information Packet

Table of Contents
Exhibit Overview...................................................................................................................................................... 3 Host Requirements................................................................................................................................................. 5 Borrowing Terms ..................................................................................................................................................... 7 Promotional Materials ............................................................................................................................................ 8 Booking Request..................................................................................................................................................... 9
Georgia Commission on the Holocaust
Mission: Through awareness and education, instill a sense of personal responsibility to combat indifference and apathy so individuals will not be a bystander in the face of bigotry and discrimination. The Georgia Commission on the Holocaust was established to educate the citizens of and visitors to Georgia about the consequences of hate, prejudice, and discrimination through the lessons of the Holocaust. These lessons will be taught in order to cultivate positive character development and to foster the understanding of the significance of good citizenship. The Commission was established by Executive Order by Joe Frank Harris in 1986. Governor Zell Miller reestablished the Commission upon taking office and charged it with creating education programs for the citizens. Then in 1998, by act of the Georgia General Assembly, the Commission became a permanent State Agency. The Georgia Commission on the Holocaust is bipartisan, nondenominational and multiracial.
Additional Resources
For more educational resources and information about the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust and the Anne Frank in the World exhibit please visit www.holocaust.georgia.gov.
Witness to the Holocaust: | Borrower's Information Packet 2

Exhibit Overview
Specifications
This exhibit was curated by the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust.
The exhibit consists of 10 free-standing panels measuring 7' by 2'6" each that must be arranged in chronological order according to the number on the reverse side of each panel.
Content
The "Witness to the Holocaust" exhibit is a photographic essay of one of Atlanta's leading African-American citizens, William Alexander "W.A." Scott III, whose father founded the first black-owned daily newspaper in the United States The Atlanta Daily World. W.A. grew up in Atlanta, attended Morehouse College, and later because the editor of the newspaper. He was also a tireless civil rights activist, WWII photojournalist and a witness to the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp. The exhibit also includes panels drawing parallel between the Jim Crow Laws and the 1880's-1960's implemented in the United States (later overruled by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965) and the Nuremberg Race Laws of 1935-1945 implemented in Germany and Nazi-controlled areas of Europe.
W.A. was born on January 15, 1923, in Johnson City, Tennessee. The Scott family moved to Atlanta with W.A., as he was known, later that year. His father founded the Atlanta Daily World newspaper in 1928. Scott attended the Atlanta University Laboratory Elementary High School (Oglethorpe). From boyhood, he worked for the Atlanta Daily World doing everything from clean-up to sportswriter and movie critic.
In 1943 W.A. was a Business and Math major at Morehouse College and engaged to his childhood sweetheart, Marian Willis, when he was called up for service in the United States Army. In March of 1943, shortly after his induction at Fort Benning, Georgia, Private Scott was assigned as a photographer with the 318th until June 1944. He left Tuskegee, Alabama, after some testing and was assigned to the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) at Howard University (Washington, D.C.). W.A. and five others out of a group of 310 men completed the nine-month basic engineering program in six months. From there, W.A. was assigned to the 183rd Engineer Combat Battalion at Camp McCain (Grenada, Mississippi). While W.A. was still in training, war raged in Europe and millions of civilians were disappearing. Like so many of his generation, W.A.'s dreams, plans, and preparations for a brilliant future were postponed when the United States entered World War II. Just before he was shipped overseas, W.A. and Marian married in 1944.
During World War II the United States Army was, like much of the nation itself, segregated. "Things were supposed to be `separate but equal' but they were not, of course. They were separate but they were not equal. So that was one of the challenges that many of the black soldiers had they were fighting for rights that they could not enjoy," W.A.'s daughter, Alexis, explained at the exhibit launch on March 14th, 2013, at Sweetwater Middle School. "But a lot of the black solders felt that because they were fighting for democracy, surely the United States would see that and recognize that; `we are just as patriotic, just as American, and this will make a difference when we come back home.' And, as you know, it certainly did."
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On July 16, 1948, President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9981 which abolished racial discrimination in the armed forces.
On April 11, 1945, W.A. rode into Eisenach, Germany, on an Army convoy with the 8th Corps of General George S. Patton's 3rd Army. Nothing in W.A.'s background growing up in Atlanta could have prepared him for the horrors he witnessed at Buchenwald, one of the largest concentration camps established by the Nazis within German borders. The African American soldiers liberating the camp could hardly overlook the irony of their own status in an army that considered them inferiors, even as they fought to defeat the Nazi army which carried the banner of racial supremacy. With his camera, W.A. documented the atrocities for which the Nazis were responsible at Buchenwald. Many of these photographs were deemed to be official evidence and had to be turned over to the United States government. However, Scott recalls how deeply just one of the photos her father was able to keep, an image of corpses piled on top of each other, haunted her when she was a child. Some of these photographs are included in the travelling exhibit.
After the war, W.A. returned to Atlanta and completed his education at Morehouse. He then applied to Georgia Tech despite the fact that acceptance was impossible at the time due to the color of his skin. He submitted his application in order to challenge the system.
In 1948 he became circulation manager of the Atlanta Daily World and was very active in the Atlanta community. He served on the committee to celebrate the first official national holiday commemorating the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. W.A. was appointed by Georgia Governors Joe Frank Harris and Zell Miller to be a member of the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust. He was also appointed by President George H.W. Bush to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.
"Because my father witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust and was experiencing the injustice of racial discrimination back at home, he was determined to do what he could to change things. One of the things he knew, based on his experiences as a soldier in World War II, is that there was a concerted effort to eliminate the Jews a genocide and that this was the extreme execution of hatred. He realized, in coming back to combat it here, that you cannot fight hate with hate. Hate only begets more hate." Scott elaborated. W.A. had made it a point to travel to speaking engagements with a Buchenwald survivor, Alex Gross. W.A. and Gross had become close friends after meeting in 1970 at an event for liberators and survivors of the camp. Scott elaborated that Gross called the African-American soldiers angels because upon liberation he had never seen anyone like them; as he looked up from near death he thought that surely they must be angels come to rescue him.
Scott was a member of the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust. He died in 1992 at the age of 69.
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Facility

Host Requirements

The host facility must adhere to all of the following requirements: The exhibit must be displayed/stored in a dry location. The exhibit must be in displayed in a facility in accordance with local fire ordinances. The exhibit cannot be exposed to direct sunlight. No smoking, food, chewing gum, or drinks are allowed in display area. The host must strictly prohibit such items. The exhibit must be displayed/stored in a secure, staff-supervised location during open hours. The exhibit must be displayed/stored in a secure, locked location during closed hours.
Fees

There is no rental fee at this time for this exhibit. However, hosts are required to cover the travel expenses for the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust staff member(s) for set-up and take-down of the exhibit unless other arrangements have been made. As travel expenses will vary depending on location, distance, and availability the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust is unable to provide an estimate until booking negotiations begin with the host.
No admission fee may be charged to the public to view the exhibit unless the host has an existing standard admission at the facility.
Audience
The host is required to track the amount of visitors who view the exhibit during the display period. This number can be an estimate but should reflect the true audience scope. This number must be submitted in the Host Report after the exhibit's display duration. This report is online at http://holocaust.georgia.gov/webform/host-report.

Booking

To submit a booking request please see page 9. All bookings will be arranged only by the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust; no third party may request the exhibit from a host to whom it is already on loan.

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After a booking request is submitted and reviewed by Georgia Commission on the Holocaust staff, the borrower may be asked to submit additional information such as but not limited to: floor plan of proposed exhibit display space, standard facility report, directory of host institution staff involved with exhibit display, and general information about host institution for press and promotional purposes.
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Promotion

Borrowing Terms

All promotional materials must be designed using templates provided by the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust unless other arrangements are made.

All promotional materials must be approved by the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust staff prior to public distribution.

All promotion must include the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust logo and website address.

The Georgia Commission on the Holocaust will include the location of and display duration for all exhibit hosts on www.holocaust.georgia.gov.

The borrower is responsible for any printing fees for promotional materials.

For more information regarding exhibit promotion, please see page 8.

Set-up

The exhibit panels must be set up by GCH staff member unless other arrangements have been made.

Exhibit Layout

The exhibit consists of 10 panels that should be arranged in chronological order. Depending on display space, there are many options for arranging the panels. Georgia Commission on the Holocaust staff can assist in layout suggestions upon receiving a booking request.
Borrower's Agreement

Once a booking is confirmed, a Borrower's Agreement will be provided and must be signed by the borrower.

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Promotional Materials
For guidelines regarding exhibit promotion please see page 7.
Marketing Templates
To download a flyer template, please click here. To download an exhibit brochure, please click here.
Press Release
To download the press release template which can be personalized for each borrower and host please click here.
Press Kit
The Georgia Commission on the Holocaust's full press kit is not currently available for download. Please contact Emma Ellingson at ellingsonholocaustga@comcast.net for more information.
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Booking Request

Submit Request Online
Please click here to submit a booking request online.

Submit Request via Fax
BORROWER

Borrowing Institution/Organization*

Address*

City*

State*

CONTACT INFORMATION

Contact Name *

Contact Phone* ( ) -

Zip*

Title*

Contact E-mail*

@

HOST

If the host (venue) information is not the same information as the borrowing institution/organization, please complete the remaining fields in this section.
Host Name Address

City

State

Zip

BOOKING

Approximation of available square footage for display: *

feet

Preferred display start date: * Preferred display end date: *

Month

Date

Year

Month

Date

Year

Additional comments or questions:

I,

, have reviewed and agree to the Host Requirements and Borrowing Guidelines.

_____________________________________________________________

Signature

Date

After completing all the required fields, please print and fax to the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust at 770-206-1559.

Witness to the Holocaust: | Borrower's Information Packet 9