The Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice
The Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice was created in 2004, thanks to a generous gift by the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Foundation. The Rapoport Center is committed to interdisciplinarity. Lawyers and law students work side by side with scholars and practitioners across disciplines that include anthropology, sociology, government, literature, fine arts, and public policy. The Center’s motto is “Partners for Change at the Intersection of Academics and Advocacy,” representing its unique position as an academic center that not only works across disciplines, but also collaborates with communities outside the academy with the aim of producing innovative and enduring change in the lives of marginalized individuals and groups.
The Rapoport Center has, over the years, developed a number of exhibitions of archives of human rights lawyers and activists. In addition to the websites below, the Rapoport Center was instrumental in securing, developing, and promoting the Digital Archive of the Guatemala National Police Historical Archive.
Frances Tarlton “Sissy” Farenthold: A Noble Citizen
This website offers a glimpse of Frances Tarlton “Sissy” Farenthold (1926-2001) and her work advocating as both a politician and grassroots activist for peace, social justice, and human rights. It showcases a variety of archival materials from her papers housed at the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. It also features four original short films, using the archives as well as many hours of interviews the Rapoport Center conducted with Farenthold and some of the people with whom she worked over the years. Additional collection items can be found at the Briscoe Center.
The Papers of George Lister: "Mr. Human Rights"
George Lister (1913-2004) served as a diplomat at the U.S. Department of State for more than 60 years, from 1941 to 2003. This web site features selections from his archives and from videotaped interviews the Rapoport Center conducted in 2006 with his friends and colleagues, covering his work in Italy, Chile, Central America, and Korea, as well as his diplomatic style and human rights legacy. Lister's complete papers are housed at the Nettie Lee Benson Latin American Collection.
The Michael Tigar Papers
This website covers Michael E. Tigar’s career and life as a a human rights lawyer, teacher, scholar, journalist, and playwright. It is organized around a digital collection of papers he donated to the Bernard and Audre Rapoport Center for Human Rights and Justice and the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History. Additional collection items donated by Tigar, including oral history recordings, can be found at the Briscoe Center.
