Resources

The following videos were assembled by the curatorial team for Dear Mr. Mandela, Dear Mrs. Parks: Children’s Letters, Global Lessons, an exhibition which opened at the Nelson Mandela Museum, Mthatha, South Africa on October 27, 2021. The exhibition was produced by the Nelson Mandela Museum, the Michigan State University Museum (East Lansing, Michigan) and the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute, Detroit, Michigan in partnership with the Robben Island Museum (Cape Town, South Africa), Stellenbosch University Museum (Stellenbosch, South Africa), Dreamfuel Media (Cape Town) and Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center (Bronx, NY). Support was provided by a grant from the U.S. Embassy in South Africa and in-kind support from all of the partners.  Additional funding was provided by the MSU Office of University Outreach and Engagement for the creation of the website.

A virtual version of the exhibition can be found at www.parksmandela.com

Because the opening of the exhibition occurred during COVID and members of the curatorial were unable to attend the opening, team members made personal statements in answer to one of these two questions “What did you take away from working on this project?” and “Do you have specific memories about Mrs. Parks or Mr. Mandela? These video statements were shown at the opening.

Over 1200 individuals attended the opening in person or through a virtual stream of the event.