Freedom Collection

Freedom Collection
The Bush Presidential Center, where the collection is kept, in July 2016
Housed atGeorge W. Bush Presidential Center
CuratorsGeorge W. Bush Institute
WebsiteFreedomCollection.org

Freedom Collection is a digital repository sponsored by the George W. Bush Institute at the George W. Bush Presidential Center on Southern Methodist University's campus in Dallas, Texas.[1] The collection documents major players in human rights and freedom movements around the world during the 20th and 21st centuries through video interviews and documents.[2][3][4] Contributors include former president of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Syrian dissident and author Ammar Abdulhamid, former president of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic Václav Havel, Chinese civil rights activist Chen Guangcheng, former president of Peru Alejandro Toledo, and Egyptian author Saad Eddin Ibrahim.[1][2] At its launch on March 28, 2012, the collection consisted of 56 interviews.[1][5][4] As of 2022, the Freedom Collection website was last updated in 2016 and its YouTube channel, where video interviews are available to watch, was last updated in October 2015.[6][7] It is unclear if the project is still active.

Physical collection[edit]

The Freedom Collection is housed at the Bush Presidential Center in Dallas and displays several important documents and items from human rights movements.[1] The first gift was an early draft of the 1963 Tibetan Constitution from the Dalai Lama and features handwritten notes in the margins.[5][8] In 2018, Bob Fu donated a bible handwritten by "members of house churches in China while they were prisoners in Chinese labor camps."[9] The Lawton Foundation donated the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to Cuban activist Óscar Elías Biscet in 2007 to display until Biscet was released from political prison in Cuba.[1] Biscet collected the medal in 2016.[10] In 2014, the Collection produced the short documentary Freedom Denied: Cuba's Black Spring Continues.[11] The following year, the archive was used to supplement high school curricula focused on "global struggles for liberty" written by the Bush Presidential Center.[12]

Interviews[edit]

As of 2022, the online collection has 95 video interviews, which can be organized by region:[13]

The Americas[edit]

Greater Middle East[edit]

  • Ammar Abdulhamid, Syria - author, human rights activist
  • Mahmoud Afifi, Egypt - democracy activist
  • Namees Arnous, Egypt - reporter, civil society activist
  • Abdel Aziz BelKhodja, Tunisia - writer, democracy advocate
  • Abdelbasset Ben Hassen, Tunisia - Arab Organization for Human Rights president, Arab human rights activist
  • Sarah Ben Behia, Tunisia - freedom activist
  • Sihem Bensedrine, Tunisia - journalist, human rights activist
  • Samar El Husseiny, Egypt - human rights activist
  • Bahey Hassan, Egypt - human rights activist
  • Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Egypt - sociologist, human rights and democracy activist
  • Zied Mhirsi, Tunisia - global health professional, health advocate
  • Nima Rashedan, Iran - political analyst, cybersecurity expert
  • Mahmoud Salem, Egypt - author
  • Sally Sami, Egypt - Front to Defend Egypt's Protesters leader, human rights activist
  • Ahmed Samih, Egypt - human rights activist, media adviser
  • Mohsen Sazegara, Iran - journalist, pro-democracy political activist
  • Nora Younis, Egypt - journalist, human rights activist
  • Radwan Ziadeh, Syria - author, pro-democracy activist

Sub-Saharan Africa[edit]

Asia[edit]

Europe[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Bush Institute Unveils Freedom Collection". CBS DFW. 2012-03-29. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  2. ^ a b Abrams, Elliott (2013-10-16). "The Bush Library's Freedom Collection". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  3. ^ Benning, Tom (2013-02-15). "With presidential center's opening fast approaching, Bush Institute's Freedom Collection continues to grow". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  4. ^ a b Jacobs, Mary (2012-04-13). "Bush Center at SMU launches Freedom Collection". The United Methodist Reporter. Archived from the original on 2014-03-26. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  5. ^ a b Stengle, Jamie (2012-03-28). "Bush Institute to unveil freedom collection". Taiwan News. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  6. ^ "Freedom Collection". Freedom Collection. n.d. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  7. ^ "The Freedom Collection". YouTube. n.d. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  8. ^ "Dalai Lama Donates Constitution To Bush Institute". CBS DFW. 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  9. ^ "Bush Institute Accepts One of a Kind Donation from China Aid Foundation". NewsWest 9. 2018-06-25. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  10. ^ Gutierrez, Barbara (2016-06-30). "Cuban Dissident Condemns Obama During UM Visit". University of Miami News. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  11. ^ D'Amour, Rosemary (2014-01-28). "EVENT: CUBAN MEDIA AND THE DEFENSE OF PRESS FREEDOM". Center for International Media Assistance. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  12. ^ "Bush Institute Launches High-School Curriculum on Liberty and Democracy". China Aid. 2015-03-30. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  13. ^ "Interviews". The George W. Bush Institute. n.d. Retrieved 2022-06-23.
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