We were proud to honor Talib Coffield, a 10 year-old from South Philadelphia as a TD Bank Young Hero last month in our award ceremony at the National Liberty Museum.

Talib Coffield is an exceptional “friendship builder” who stands alone when it comes to meeting, helping or mediating new or current students.  What makes Talib’s skills so unique is his innate ability to recognize challenging situations among his student body. He is always the first student to help every classmate navigate the halls, classrooms or resolve any conflict between classmates.  

His teacher, Candace Kean, sang his praises when she stated that “when it comes to meeting or helping new students, or even mediating when friends argue, Talib stands alone in this field.” He goes out of his way to become friendly with newly admitted students and students who have been rejected by others, gladly inviting them into his circle. Before Talib, Kean had never seen any student come close to this type of relationship-building behavior in all of her years of teaching.

Talib not only caught our attention, but that of the South Philly Review, a community newspaper from South Philadelphia.

Congratulations to you and your family!

The National Liberty Museum Young Heroes Award recognizes extraordinary, young people from across the area and the U.S. – from every sector of society – who make outstanding and selfless contributions to drive change from their local communities. On August 5, we were proud to recognize thirty-nine amazing youth leaders from the tri-state area.

The award, which is sponsored by TD Bank, is given to young people who make positive changes in their schools and communities through art and creative writing, leadership, volunteer work, political involvement or peer mediation.

Ron Matthew, Greater Philadelphia Market President of TD Bank, says: “These young leaders dedicate their energies to bettering the lives of others; they do not do it for financial award or publicity: they do it to make a difference.”

Receiving the Young Heroes Award empowers young people to improve the society we live in and gives them public recognition for the valuable work they do.  Each year, the event has grown to honor hundreds of outstanding students, under age 18, who are creating change through a variety of uplifting activities.

Our winner this year, Deana Vega, a remarkable 11-year-old cancer survivor who is dedicated to improving the lives of those around her, received a $1000 grand prize and a laptop computer. All winners received recognition at the Young Heroes Awards Ceremony at the National Liberty Museum; a certificate of recognition, medallion and gifts; a plaque featuring their story in the Museum’s Young Heroes Exhibit and a wonderful accomplishment to include on college and job applications.

The 2010 Young Heroes have received some outstanding press including:

Philadelphia Inquirer

Channel 6 ABC in Philadelphia

KYW Newsradio 1060 in Philadelphia

Philadelphia Tribune

Courier-Post Online

NJ.com

Admin: B Blumenthal

The Let Art Freedom Ring Liberty Bell created by students from George W. Sharswood Elementary School does not just celebrate democracy and liberty, but the history of communication.

Let Art Freedom Ring is a cooperative program between Philadelphia Arts in Education Program and the National Liberty Museum.

Called BOB, meaning Birth of a Bell, this Let Freedom Ring Liberty Bell shows the role of the Liberty Bell within the evolution of communication. The voyage begins with the earliest ringing of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia to commemorate the birth of the nation. The story on the Bell ends in present day, where we use cell phones to keep ourselves constantly connected.

The students and artists working on Birth of a Bell took a multimedia approach, using various mediums to create and design their bell.

This bell can be seen at the National Constitution Center on Independence Mall on 525 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Admin: B. Blumenthal

If you have been to the National Liberty Museum recently, then you probably saw our two newest editions. In our Let Freedom Ring and Education Center galleries, we are proudly displaying two Let Freedom Ring Liberty Bells made by local school students. 

The Let Freedom Ring Liberty Bells were created jointly by students from five Philadelphia middle-schools and local artists as a part of a program called Let Art Freedom Ring.

Let Art Freedom Ring is a program of the National Liberty Museum and the Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership. The goal of the project is to provide middle-school aged students with the opportunity to study the concept of democracy, civic responsibility and learn different art techniques by working with professional artists. 

For the duration of the summer, two of the bells can be seen at the National Liberty Museum, and the other three are on display at the National Constitution Center.

Over the next five weeks, we will be featuring these artistic Liberty Bells on our Heroes of Character Blog. We will be learning more about the schools, students and artists involved, as well and trying to understand how they chose to portray their perspectives of liberty and history through art.

For more information go to www.letartfreedomring.org, and remember to check out the bells soon, because in the fall they are traveling to New York to go on display.

Admin: B.Blumenthal

Every year, the National Liberty Museum recognizes students around the country who stand up for others with our Young Heroes Award, sponsored by TD Bank. Every year, we recognize one student who has demonstrated responsibility and excellent  character with our President’s Honor Award. Our winner for 2009 was Van Morn, an amazing Philadelphian whose good works appear to be unstoppable.

Van had just completed his final year at Olney High School in Philadelphia, and now attends Thaddeus Stevens University.  He was nominated by Mrs. Elaine Steinbacher, his advisor for the Pennsylvania Congressional Awards Program.

Olney is a neighborhood in North Philadelphia with a rich history.  Originally rolling hills of farmland settled by German-Americans, Olney has become home to people from all over the world.  Its story is Philadelphia’s story.  The neighborhood, like most of the city, was hit hard by the deindustrialization of the 1960s and 70s. Factories closed down.  Businesses, and the jobs they offered, disappeared.  Crime rates went up.  Many people moved out.  In their place, new populations moved in: Vietnamese, Columbians, Koreans, African-Americans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Laotians, Cambodians.  They saw the opportunity in this neighborhood.  They have worked hard and kept Olney alive, carrying on old traditions and starting new ones.

Van and his family are a part of this renewal.  He, his parents, and his two younger sisters moved from the country of Cambodia to the United States, in search of a promise.  His grandmother, who lost three children to the dictatorship of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge, lives in California and took the family in.  She didn’t have enough room in her house.  It was not easy, but that was no deterrent.

Van grew up in a world of poverty, and his family worked hard every day to survive.  They only had enough to eat because his mother planted and cultivated crops when she wasn’t working.  “We are a surviving type of family,” Van says.

This time last year, he had a job, and was a full-time high school student, and faced the additional challenge of becoming a fluent English speaker.   Still, he volunteered your time to the less fortunate.  He gave his time to the Inglis House for Disabled Adults.  He initiated “clean-up-the-streets” programs in your neighborhood.  He even helped with the Pennsylvania Migrant Education Program, as their official photographer.

Van is the kind of person who sees the opportunities ahead of him, and reaches for them.  At the same time, he does his best to give other people an opportunity too.  He’s a hard worker, and an exceptional student, but the quality that best defines him is his gratitude.  He is happy to have been given a chance to succeed, and he can’t help but give back to everyone around him.

Van won the President’s Honor because he has proven himself to be a remarkable Young Hero.  We admire his can-do attitude, and for his refusal to give up.  We honored him for his giving nature and his commitment to others. He has already achieved so much, and now has a whole lifetime to build on those accomplishments and to inspire others.  Congratulations, Van!

Kitty Felix and her mother had been on the run for four years. The Nazis had taken over their home country of Poland in 1939. The Felixes were Jewish, and the Nazis were persecuting Jews. No place was safe. They had fake documents, thanks to a Catholic priest, but someone told the Nazis that they were Jews. That was the beginning of Kitty's imprisonment.

They were told they were being sent to Auschwitz, but Mrs. Felix was confused. Auschwitz was a beautiful city, filled with ponds and meadows. Why would they be sent there? Mrs. Felix and Kitty didn’t know about what was happening there, how the Nazis had filled the city with work camps and death camps. Kitty and her mother spent the next two years as prisoners in some of the worst places on Earth.

After the war was over, Kitty and her mother were released. Kitty found that hardly anybody knew about what happened during the Holocaust, and many didn’t want to know. “That sounds far-fetched,” people would say when she told her story.  Even her uncle said to her, “I don't want you to talk about anything that happened to you. I don't want to know.”

People needed to know! The Holocaust was able to happen only because too many people pretended it wasn’t happening. If people didn’t talk about it, it might happen again. 

So Kitty, now married and named Kitty Hart-Moxon, dedicated her life to telling her story.  She talks about how she’s alive because of teamwork, how the prisoners on a crowded train car would take turns getting breathable air through a crack in the floor. She tells people about the kindness of complete strangers, like the German woman who risked her own life every day to hide food for Kitty. Mostly, she talks about how everybody makes choices, and its up to us – will we choose to help others?

She has made it a point to talk to school groups.  Why?  In her words, “Because discrimi­nation and bullying starts in the playground. Some say you need to start teaching early – if you don't, you miss the train.”

Guillaume Morand is a Hero of Character in the news right now. He's breaking the law so that he can protect religious freedom in Switzerland.

Here in the United States, the Constitution protects our freedom of religion. Do you know which Amendment guarantees that? (You can find the answer at the end of this post)

At the end of 2009, the people of Switzerland voted to change their constitution. They added the following words: "The building of minarets is prohibited."

So then why did Guillaume Morand break the law?

Because a minaret is a building that Muslims use for prayer. Guillaume believes that everyone should be treated fairly, no matter what their religion is.

So what did he do?

He built a minaret in his hometown of Bussigny. He got some plastic, some wood, and gold paint, and turned the chimney of his sneaker warehouse into a minaret (almost as big as our 21-foot Flame of Liberty, the centerpiece of the National Liberty Museum). Just to make sure the authorities saw that he was breaking the law, he installed spotlights on the roof and pointed them directly at the minaret.

There are 150 Muslims who live in the town of Bussigny, but he's not one of them. He doesn’t even practice a religion.  What he wants is for his country to treat everyone fairly. When he saw this discriminatory law, he knew he had the power to stand up to it. 

"I don't have the power to do much,” he says, “but I wanted to give a message of peace."

(If you guessed that freedom of religion is protected by the 1st Amendment, you’re right! But that’s not the only one – check out the 14th Amendment, too.)