Ruby Bridges

Anne Frank

Ryan White

Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges and Ryan White fought bias

When curators at The Children's Museum began planning the new permanent exhibit, "The Power of Children: Making a Difference," the focus was clear: They wanted to tell the stories of three children who fought bias -- through the eyes of those children.

Life-size photos at the exhibit's entrance introduce the three, who represent different decades of the 20th century:

Anne Frank, a Jewish girl, at 13 began chronicling the two years she and her family spent hiding from the Nazis in World War II. Her diary is a widely read piece of Holocaust literature. She died at age 15 of typhus while in a concentration camp.

Ruby Bridges, who in 1960 became the first black student to integrate 8William Frantz Public School in New Orleans. As a first-grader, she became the face of integration when photos of her being escorted by U.S. marshals while walking past an angry mob of protesters were published around the world.

Ryan White, an Indiana teen who contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion, and fought for his right to attend school. He died in 1990 after a six-year battle with the disease, but not before becoming an internationally known spokesperson for the rights of those with HIV and AIDS.

Throughout the exhibition -- which includes replicas of the secret annex where Anne hid, Ruby's school and Ryan's bedroom -- visitors are invited to walk in the shoes of each child and to come out with the courage to act on their own experiences of discrimination and prejudice.

The three main exhibition spaces include live theater, where actors interact with visitors and interpreters offer information from each era. Special effects, including projected images and sound, add to the lifelike experience. Computer stations and writing areas also encourage visitors to make their own plans to make a difference and to place their commitments on a leaf at the "Tree of Promise."

"Like most things we do, we want to create a truly immersion experience," said Jeffrey H. Patchen, the museum's president and CEO. "All children and adults can relate to issues of loneliness, isolation and even bullying. What we want them to see is how Hoosier children can do extraordinary things to make a difference."

Anne Frank clung to hope

Anne Frank often wrote in her diary about a chestnut tree that bloomed just outside the window of the secret annex in Amsterdam where she and her family and four friends were hiding from the Nazis.

For two years, the tree symbolized her desire to escape the Holocaust. But at age 15, in a concentration camp, she died of typhus.

As part of "The Power of Children" exhibit, 50 chestnut trees are being planted today around The Children's Museum by Boy Scouts and Keep Indianapolis Beautiful members. "When we were planning the exhibit, we were looking for an uplifting way to end the story, and we kept coming back to the chestnut tree -- Anne's symbol of hope," said Jennifer Pace-Robinson, the museum's vice president of exhibits. "It's a symbol that kids can make a difference."

A 1,500-square-foot replica of the Franks' hiding place includes a window above the writing desk where Anne dreamed of freedom.

Visitors walk a cobblestone path to meet Anne's family and learn about happier days in prewar Germany. Several artifacts introduce Nazi rule: a swastika; a hat worn by the Schutzstaffel (SS), personal guards for Adolf Hitler; and the yellow Star of David, which all Jewish people were ordered to wear.

Several clues give children and adults insights into life in hiding -- ration coupons that friends saved up to help buy food and clothing for the Frank family; movie posters that Anne papered her room with; and a prayer book read by her mother, Edith, and sister, Margot.

A writing desk like the one used by Anne, a typewriter and a replica of her diary, provided by the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, highlight the exhibit.

"The greatest challenge was deciding where to begin this exhibit and where to end it," Pace-Robinson said. The exhibit team sought "to piece together a story that was historically accurate and would teach but not overwhelm visitors."

Ruby Bridges recalls role in struggle

People screaming. ... Mounted police....

"It helped that I was living in New Orleans, because I was exposed to Mardi Gras. That's what I thought it was -- Mardi Gras," said Ruby Bridges, 52.

Bridges was in first grade when, in 1960, she was selected to be one of the first black students to integrate William Frantz Public School in New Orleans.

Life-size cutouts of protesters set the scene at the entrance to the school's limestone façade re-created in the exhibition "The Power of Children" at The Children's Museum. The protesters hold signs that read: "We don't want to integrate."

Charles Burks was one of the U.S. marshals assigned to escort little Ruby past the angry mob and through the school's doors.

"We had trained for this sort of thing, and we knew what we were getting into, but it got ugly -- a lot of demonstration-type stuff," recalls Burks, now an 85-year-old grandfather who lives in Logansport.

"She was just a little girl, so innocent, so quiet and so brave." Burkes and Bridges have remained in contact throughout the years, and he said he's looking forward to seeing her at the exhibition opening.

Inside the classroom at The Children's Museum, visitors can see 28 empty desks. Only one is occupied by a "Dick and Jane" book read by Bridges, the room's lone student -- the white students had deserted the classroom in protest of Bridges' attendance.

Quotes from Bridges are posted around the room, including this one: "I remember the smell of food cooking in the cafeteria. I began to wish I could go to the cafeteria with the other children." Near the quote, the aroma of roast beef and corn creeps through the classroom vents, along with the sounds of children that Bridges could hear in other rooms.

Visitors will also see Bridges' plaid lunch box, which she carried every day, and they can open a cabinet to see where she hid her peanut butter sandwich when she was too worried to eat.

Bridges praises the only white teacher who remained in the school, forever changing her life and history.

"Barbara Henry made learning fun. She taught me like she was teaching an entire class. I knew every day I'd have a great day and learn something," said Bridges, speaking from her home in New Orleans.

"I saw a woman, my teacher, every day, that looked like all of the other white people, but she wasn't like them. It's a lesson that Dr. King tried to teach: Don't judge a person by the color of his skin."

Outside the classroom, however, the hatred mounted. People threatened to poison her food; a black baby doll in a wooden coffin was placed on the school steps. Her father lost his job and her grandparents, Missouri sharecroppers, were turned off their land.

A kiosk outside the exhibition space offers historical perspective of Bridge's trials, including a 1960s Life Magazine cover of John F. Kennedy and wife Jacqueline, and a "Fantastic Four" comic book. A Ku Klux Klan statuette joins an exhibit about Indiana's struggle with racism and the civil rights movement.

"Racism is very hard to explain to a young child," said Bridges, who now is married and has four sons and two grandchildren....... "What I've learned over the years is that history hasn't been taught properly. I believe if we're going to get past racial differences, we can't open a history book and see one group of people against another. We have to respect each other for our contributions -- good, bad or ugly."

Today, Bridges heads the Ruby Bridges Foundation to promote the values of tolerance, respect and appreciation for all differences. She's also working to restore William Frantz School, which closed after Hurricane Katrina, by 2010 -- the 50th anniversary of its integration, and add a civil rights library.

Ryan White educated teachers about AIDS

There's a story behind a large, stuffed gorilla.

When Ryan White spent his teen years in and out of Riley Hospital for Children, he hid from members of the media in the hospital's preschool unit. He found comfort and a little bit of humor in the unit's resident gorilla.

After educating a conference of 10,000 teachers about the AIDS virus, Ryan -- who had contracted the disease from a blood transfusion -- received the gorilla as a gift of appreciation.

Like his struggle to overcome public fear and prejudice, Ryan's gorilla helped conquer the evils of the world.

"There was usually a G.I. Joe or some other action figure in the gorilla's grasp," recalls Jeanne White-Ginder, Ryan's mother. The gorilla, along with other memorabilia, is part of "The Power of Children" exhibition.

Also included in the permanent exhibit is Ryan's bedroom suite, his denim school backpack, a set of drums given to him by former John Mellencamp drummer Kenny Aronoff, leather jackets from Michael Jackson, and posters of '80s pop princess Debbie Gibson. A bulletin board displays pictures of Indiana University cheerleaders and Ryan's best friend, Heather; and letters from supporters.

"This shows him as a typical teenager," said White-Ginder, who donated the items to The Children's

Museum after she closed the Ryan White Foundation in 1999. "He decorated the room himself, and I couldn't be happier that somebody cares as much about his stuff as I do."

Ryan may have been a typical teen, but the life he experienced was unlike that of his peers.

With little known about the disease in the early 1980s, school officials in Kokomo prohibited Ryan from attending classes. His parents filed suit against the school corporation, and the story of Ryan's fight against stereotypes and misconceptions grabbed national attention. His story eventually led to education in public schools; a television movie; and The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act, a federally funded program for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Ryan died in 1990 at the age of 18. His mother, who now lives in Florida, continues to speak publicly about the battle she and her son fought -- a battle that made a lasting impression on history.

"I think if Ryan were alive today, he'd be shocked that we're still battling the disease," said White-Ginder.