December 10th is Human Rights Day, first designated by the United Nations in 1950 to bring attention to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the principles it espoused. This year’s theme emphasizes that every day is human rights day. I think it’s fair to say that every day is human rights day within the Columbia Libraries; our collections and initiatives to preserve and make available resources related to human rights are extensive and involve continuous effort and commitment. Some highlights of our collections:
- Archives of human rights organizations, such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International USA.
- Gay J. McDougall South Africa and Namibia Papers
- New books on human rights available in the Libraries
- Human Rights Web Archive — a collection of archived websites of over 600 NGOs, blogs, and national human rights institutes
- Guantánamo Public Memory Project, hosted at Columbia’s Institute for the Study of Human Rights
And in recognition of today’s release of Brazil’s Truth Commission Report:
- Brasil Nunca Mais Digital, a digital collection of court records documenting arrests, torture, and killings of persons during Brazil’s military dictatorship.
- Opening the Archives: Documenting U.S.-Brazil Relations, 1960s-1980s, A collection of 10,000 digitized U.S. State Department Documents, created by Professor James Green.
- Commisão Nacional de Verdade / National Truth Commission Report
Contact chrdr@columbia.edu to learn more about human rights resources in the Libraries. Follow us on Twitter @HRdocumentation And follow the Human Rights day conversation #Rights365.