Margot's Journey

Margot Stern Strom is an international leader in education for justice and the preservation of democracy. Through her commitment to honoring the voices of teachers and students and her deep belief that history matters, she has enabled millions of students to study the Holocaust, to investigate root causes of racism, antisemitism and violence, and to realize their obligations and capabilities as citizens in a democracy.

As the Executive Director of Facing History and Ourselves since its inception, Margot has recognized that young people are moral philosophers- and that it is critical to listen to their voices to understand how to make education relevant to them and to the world they will enter. With her leadership, Facing History and Ourselves has become known worldwide for the high quality of its materials and programs for both students and teachers. Facing History teachers are empowered to engage their students in the urgent task of developing individual responsibility, tolerance for difference, and civic participation through the rigorous study of history. Facing History is based on the belief that students must be trusted to examine history in all of its complexities, including its legacies of prejudice and discrimination as well as resilience and courage. This trust encourages young people to develop their own ideas and to contribute their voices to critical discussions and debates among their peers and in the larger community.

Margot's inspiration came from her own education. Growing up in racially segregated Memphis, Tennessee, she was exposed to a culture where ‘colored' water fountains did not spout brightly colored water as a child might expect but stood as symbols of racism. She was also exposed to the values of her family, who were devoted to inclusion and understanding across racial lines. She became committed to the field of education, convinced that it was critical that educators not betray children by protecting them from difficult issues and painful history.

In 1976, while teaching social studies at the Runkle School in Brookline, Massachusetts, and studying moral development at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Margot attended a conference on the Holocaust. It changed her life. It inspired her to develop lessons and classroom resources that focused on this then-neglected history. It deepened her commitment to understanding issues of individual responsibility and moral decision-making in adolescents, and defined her own learning about democracy. Believing that no classroom exists in isolation, she began to include in her own classroom, teachers from many disciplines, librarians, art teachers, and other adults who worked in the school.

Building on these successes, Margot moved from the classroom to become project director and, in 1980, Executive Director of Facing History and Ourselves. Through pilot workshops and in consultation with scholars and teachers, she created the Facing History scope and sequence: the journey that students undertake to learn about the impact of history on their own lives and their futures. Beginning with the concept of individual and group identity, the study then examines the failure of democracy and the steps leading to the Holocaust. The program further explores difficult questions of judgment, memory, and legacy. It concludes with the necessity for responsible participation in protecting and promoting democracy, justice, and human dignity today and for generations to come. Later, she brought exhibitions, community conversations, and online dialogues to wider audiences in the community, including a vibrant, engaged adult learning community.

Margot credits her "virtual teachers" with inspiration. From the philosopher Hannah Arendt, she learned the importance of thinking about one's thinking in a silent dialogue with oneself and the value of examining those thoughts in a public space. Facing History is built on the belief that individuals have the capacity to make a difference and that history is not the result of immutable forces or a collection of inevitable outcomes. Margot's understanding of the critical concept of "choice" was enhanced by scholar Jacob Bronowski's emphasis on choice as a uniquely human possibility.

Father Robert Bullock, who was an early chair of the Board of Directors and later chair of the Board of Scholars, was "a gentle guide" for Margot and Facing History. His passionate interest in the connections among religion, history, and the world we live in, informed Margot's deep understanding of the link between history and ethics. Father Bullock saw it as his life's work to help repair the world, make it a better place, and face history in all of its complexity, not only its triumphs but also its most profound failures. He believed that Facing History helped fulfill this important mission.

Margot learned too from the stories of Holocaust survivors and their generosity in sharing their experiences with students in classrooms. And she learned from the grace with which they embrace other survivors - those who tell their stories of the legacies of hatred and discrimination in Rwanda, Cambodia and places where humans behaved in the cruelest-and sometimes the bravest-of ways.

Facing History is truly a marriage of head and heart. It teaches the skills of in-depth historical thinking in the belief that all students are capable of attaining the high standards necessary to engage deeply in its resource materials. Through using these skills, students develop greater understanding of the tragedies in humanity's history and greater compassion for others. As they learn about prejudice and discrimination in the past, they can examine the meaning of their own attitudes and behavior and begin to see how they might make a difference themselves.

Margot exemplifies this connection between head and heart. She has developed a world-class nonprofit organization that sets the standard for demonstrated impact, a strong business model, and outstanding leadership by board and staff. She has given children and adults a platform to discuss the most important moral questions we must all ask and answer.