In 1959, the late Rabbi Marshall T. Meyer moved his family from the United States to Argentina to help reinvigorate the country's Jewish community.
While there, he became an outspoken critic of the country's state-sponsored campaign of violence against its citizens known as "The Dirty War." Upon returning to New York City in the 1980s, Meyer then helped turn a decaying synagogue into a thriving Jewish center for social activism and urged peace between Israel and Palestinians.
"The story of individuals who stand up for human rights is a very important story, and it crosses borders and time periods, especially when thinking of what has happened in the wake of 9/11," says Robin Kirk, director of Duke's Human Rights Center.
The Human Rights Center will join the Duke Center for Jewish Studies and Archive for Human Rights at Duke University Libraries to celebrate Meyer's work and legacy at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, March 16 at the Nasher Museum of Art. The reception, lecture and panel discussion are free and open to the public.
The event will also feature images from the library's collection of Meyer's personal and professional correspondence, documents and photographs. Three years ago, Meyer's wife, Naomi, donated his personal papers to Duke, forming the cornerstone of the Archive for Human Rights. The 47,850-item collection includes personal and professional correspondence, writings and photos, as well as audio and videotapes.
The collection brings Eric Meyers, director of the Center for Jewish Studies, both professional and personal pride. Rabbi Marshall Meyer was his uncle.
"He understood religion and love of God to be manifested in the actual love of humanity," said Meyers, who helped facilitate the donation of Meyer's archival materials to Duke. "And that meant that love and social action were inextricably tied together. It is impossible to love passively, he would have said."
A Mighty Heart
Duke's Baldwin Scholars Program is bringing another human-rights activist to campus this month. Mariane Pearl, journalist and wife of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, will speak at 7 p.m., March 24 in Page Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.
Pearl is the author of A Mighty Heart, her account of life with her husband and his kidnapping. A 2007 film of the same name starred Angelina Jolie as Pearl. Currently, Pearl is a correspondent for Glamour magazine, where she writes about the lives of underprivileged and endangered people around the world. She also has teamed up with Jolie again to work on a documentary film called "Resilient," which features interviews with women who overcame the odds and brought about change in their communities.
Meyers says his commitment to Jewish scholarship and Jewish life today is due in large part to the important role Rabbi Meyer played in his life.
An exhibition of the archive collection is planned for the fall semester.
"Meyer's papers have drawn international attention; scholars and researchers from Israel, Argentina, as well as here in the United States are investigating his legacy and impact," said Patrick Stawski, the library's human rights archivist. He and staff in Duke's Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library spent two years cataloging the collection.
"We want to encourage that type of scholarship," says Stawski. "Hopefully someone will use this collection to write a biography about Marshall Meyer."
The archive includes letters written between Meyer and Debora Benchoam, a human-rights attorney who Meyer helped free from prison in Argentina. Benchoam will participate in the panel discussion on March 16 with Meyer's widow Naomi.
Héctor Timerman, Argentina's ambassador to the United States, will also speak at the event. Timerman's father Jacobo was jailed in Argentina during The Dirty War, and dedicated his book, Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number, to Rabbi Meyer. Noted author and human rights champion Ariel Dorfman, a professor of literature and Latin American Studies at Duke, will moderate the panel discussion.
Meyer's message of social activism is as relevant today as it was when the lauded religious leader fought for justice in Argentina in the ‘70s and ‘80s, Kirk says.
"Marshall Meyer did the right thing at the right time when it was dangerous and when very few people were doing it."
***
Event: I Have No Right to be Silent in the Face of Injustice 5 p.m. Monday, March 16, Nasher Museum of Art Information: 668-6511