People and Leadership - The International Freedom Center

International Perspective | National Perspective | Museum Perspective

International Perspective

Timothy Garton Ash
Director of the European Studies Centre at St. Antony's College, Oxford.
Author of "Free World: America, Europe and the Surprising Future of the West" (2004)

Jagdish N. Bhagwati
University Professor of Economics, Columbia University

Louis Bickford
Director, Alliances & Capacity Development at the International Center for Transitional Justice.

Alex Boraine
Founder and President of the International Center for Transitional Justice.
From 1995 to 1998, Mr. Boraine served under Archbishop Desmond Tutu as Deputy Chairperson of the South Africa Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
"The Freedom Center will be a place where everyone from around the world will be able to recognize his or her story, for the struggle for freedom is the struggle of the human spirit. It will be unlike any other museum in the world."

Nicholas Gage
Investigative reporter and former Athens bureau chief for The New York Times
"No idea is more worthy of a monument than the concept of freedom, for nothing makes life more worth living than being master of one's own fate rather than subject to the whims of a ruler. In the whole history of mankind, however, freedom has existed for only brief intervals, and if we are to preserve it, we must remain alert to how valuable and how vulnerable it is."

Saad Eddin Ibrahim
Professor, American University in Cairo and Chairman of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies
"The Freedom Center is a marvelous idea that will refute the idea of 9/11 as a clash of civilizations. The 9/11 attackers do not represent the entire Muslim or Arab world. There are voices for freedom from all over the world."

Juan Mendez
President of the International Center for Transitional Justice.

Martin Palous
Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the United States
"9/11 is a story of courage, hope, and freedom: the courage to make the decision to go into the buildings to save someone, the hope to start anew after disaster, the wish to base our society on free will in the context of a pluralistic public sphere. It was a moment of truth in the story of freedom, and it connects the United States with democratic revolutions around the world, which share this quality of believing in the possibility of new beginnings."

Orlando Patterson
John Cowles Professor of Sociology at Harvard University
Author of "Freedom in the Making of Western Culture" (winner of the National Book Award for non-fiction in 1991) and "Slavery and Social Death".

Richard Pipes
Baird Professor of History, Emeritus, Harvard University

Michael Posner
Executive Director of Human Rights First (the new name of Lawyers Committee for Human Rights)
"Every day human rights activists around the world renew their struggles for freedom. This museum will tell their stories, link their courageous pursuits, and provide each of us with a framework for supporting their noble efforts."

Ambassador Hector Timerman
Consul of Argentina in New York

Xu Wenli
Visiting senior fellow at Brown University's Watson Institute of International Studies, and exiled founder of the Chinese Democratic Party
"All mankind is searching for freedom. The freedom of 1.3 billion Chinese people is extremely important to the pursuit of freedom for the rest of the world. I believe the Freedom Center can definitely make great contributions to the Chinese people's struggle for freedom because the Freedom Center belongs to all mankind."

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National Perspective

Rebecca Adamson
Founder and President of First Nations Development Institute, and founder of First Peoples Worldwide
"Without a doubt freedom needs to have a strong, clear voice now more than ever before. We need to be clear that rights are connected with responsibilities, and that what we want the world to embrace can be embraced at home. The Museum offers the ideal mirror in which we can reflect all of our freedoms."

Anthony Appiah
University Professor of Philosophy at Princeton University, and Professor in the University Center for Human Values
"I'm very excited about what you are doing. I think a Museum like this could actually make people see why it matters to be involved and care about freedom everywhere."

Jean Harvey Baker
Professor of History at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland
"I think the Museum should try to get across the idea that freedom is being constantly contested, constantly re-imagined, and constantly reasserted. And one of the important ideas that emerges is that you can only be free if everybody is free."

David Herbert Donald
Charles Warren Professor of History, Emeritus at Harvard University
"I think it is a great idea to have a Freedom Center in New York City. And you couldn't find a better place for it than the tragic site of 9/11."

David Hackett Fischer
Professor at Brandeis University and author of "Liberty & Freedom"

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
W.E.B. DuBois Professor of the Humanities at Harvard University, and Chair of the African and African-American Studies Departments
"The Freedom Center is a most timely idea. Its aim is to record the saga of civilization's journey from the absence of freedom to our very modern concepts of maximum freedoms. What are the way stations, the great high points, in the human community's quest for freedom? It is the mission of this museum to record this compelling tale of tragedy and frailty, but ultimately, triumph."

Nathan Glazer
Professor of Education and Social Structure, Emeritus at Harvard University

Walter Isaacson
CEO of the Aspen Institute and author of "Benjamin Franklin: An American Life" (2003)
"The story of human progress is a narrative of freedom rising. In fits and starts over the centuries, people have triumphed over tyranny and won the right to pursue their beliefs and aspirations. The challenge of the new century will be to nurture the tolerance that will allow freedom to flourish ever more."

Kenneth Jackson
President of the New-York Historical Society and the Jacques Barzun Professor of History and Social Sciences at Columbia University
"A museum at Ground Zero ought to deal with the issues that I think were attacked at the World Trade Center - tolerance and openness and aspiration. The challenge is can the Museum deal with issues honestly and allow for at least some of their complexity?"

Bob Kerrey
President of New School University in New York City and former Governor and Senator of Nebraska
"Freedom is an overused and even misused word that causes too many to turn up their cynical noses when they hear it used. The Freedom Museum will be a place where freedom's story is told and where no one can turn away from seeing how much we owe to those who risked and gave their lives to secure it."

Thomas Kessner
Professor of History at The City University of New York
"This is an entirely wonderful and worthwhile project. What 9/11 has done is to create a discussion over freedom that was absent in this country. I think that this museum should be a free place where people have a right to raise issues involving freedom in the broadest possible way."

Pauline Maier
William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of American History at MIT
"To create the Freedom Center, and to do it well, will be very challenging. Democracy and freedom do not just pop up like weeds once a tyranny ends. They are profound achievements that require hard work and an array of preconditions that probably vary from culture to culture. Everywhere, however, freedom demands a profound respect for other people."

John Raisian
Director and Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution
"The Freedom Center is truly an exciting concept. To have a specific place that will celebrate the meaning and value of freedom in society is not only needed, but breathtaking."

Anthony Romero
Executive Director of the ACLU
"Freedom and democracy are values that cut across liberal and conservative lines, and create a common language that unifies Americans. American history has been a constant experiment in expanding the notion of freedom, and the events of 9/11 have only increased the need for dialogue and debate about the meaning of these essential values."

John Edward Sexton
President of New York University

strong>Theodore Sorensen
Policy adviser, legal counsel, and speechwriter for President John F. Kennedy
"I look forward to the Freedom Center becoming a true magnet and beacon for those interested in the long history and evolution of freedom in all its manifestations."

Margot Stern Strom
President and Executive Director, Facing History and Ourselves
"Teachers can help students develop attitudes, values and skills needed to preserve freedom as they relate history to the issues we all confront today. The International Freedom Center offers a powerful opportunity to educators, students and the public alike to consider the vital links between democracy, freedom and responsibility."

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Museum Perspective

Ruth Abram
Director of the Lower East Side Tenement Museum in New York City and Founder of the International Coalition of Historic Site Museums of Conscience

Daniel P. Jordan
President of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation

Louise Mirrer
President and CEO of the New-York Historical Society

Edwin Rigaud
President of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center

Richard Stengel
President and CEO of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia

Joe Torsella
former President and CEO of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia

Robert C. Wilburn
President and CEO of the Gettysburg National Battlefield Museum Foundation

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