Wassmuth Center for Human Rights

October Book Club Selection: 'Paper Girl' by Beth Macy

Beth Macy grew up in Urbana, Ohio, in the 1970s and ’80s, a town of thriving schools and close-knit community, even as her own family faced poverty and personal hardships. Decades later, returning after her mother’s death, Macy finds a town transformed—economic decline, rising distrust, and a fraying sense of connection have reshaped the place she once knew. Through intimate stories of neighbors, classmates, and old friends, she traces the forces that have changed Urbana over forty years, exploring how family, community, and memory shape the lives we lead. In Paper Girl, Macy reflects with courage, humor, and empathy on the complexities of small-town life, revealing both its losses and enduring sparks of hope.

Come share your thoughts and questions over coffee and tea. Whether this is your first time joining us or you’ve been attending from the beginning, you’ll find good company and a conversation worth having.

Join us as we discuss this beautiful story together on Tuesday, October 27 from 12:00-1:30 PM or 6:30-8:00 PM.
https://www.wassmuthcenter.org/human-rights-book-clubs/

On September 25, 1690, Boston printer Benjamin Harris published the first issue of 'Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick.' It ran three pages of local and international news. The fourth page was blank. Most accounts say Harris left it for readers to write in their own news before passing the paper along.

Boston was an anxious town that fall. New England was at war with the French, smallpox had reached the colony, and, Harris wrote, false reports were being spread maliciously among his neighbors. He wanted people to understand public affairs at home and abroad. He hoped the paper would do something toward "the Curing, or at least the Charming, of that Spirit of Lying, which prevails amongst us." He promised to print only what he had reason to believe was true and to correct any material mistake "in the next."

There was no next. Within four days the governor and council shut the paper down. Harris had printed without a license, and the authorities objected to what they called "doubtful and uncertain Reports." No other newspaper appeared in the colonies until 1704.

Histories of the free press usually follow the printers. Harris's blank page argues that a free press also depends on its readers.

Two and a half centuries later, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirmed that freedom of expression belongs to every person, not only those who own the presses. Article 19 protects the freedom “to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." These three verbs describe more than the movement of information. We seek information to understand what is happening around us. We receive it to form our own judgments. The third asks more. When we forward a post or repeat a headline over dinner, we become someone else's source. What we pass along carries our name, like a reader's handwriting on Harris's blank fourth page.

Now we have more blank pages than we could ever fill, and we fill them all day. Every comment thread and group chat is a fourth page. What we are losing is the first three: the information a reporter gathered at the city council meeting, checked, and published. A fourth page with nothing in front of it puts us back in the Boston that Harris was writing to, where neighbors passed along whatever they had heard and the “Spirit of Lying” had the run of the town.

Boise still has local news, though one of its largest newsrooms will soon have far less capacity to provide it. Last month, the Idaho Statesman's parent company, McClatchy, laid off ten journalists and three editors, cutting more than half of the Statesman's newsroom as part of nationwide reductions. Michael Lycklama, who chairs the reporters’ union, recalled a newsroom of about 100 people twenty years ago. Soon there will be nine. Nine people cannot sit through every school board meeting, legislative hearing, and zoning session the rest of us miss.

Researchers have measured what places like Boise stand to lose. With less local reporting, communities experience lower voter participation, fewer candidates for office, and higher local government costs. Residents have less information about the decisions that affect their lives and fewer ways to hold public officials accountable. Article 21 of the Declaration promises everyone a voice in government. But a meaningful voice depends on knowing what the government is doing. That knowledge matters even more when leaders try to limit or control the press. Local reporters can follow a decision made in Washington or at the Statehouse to the classroom, the clinic, or the farm where it actually lands. Their reporting gives residents what they need to hold those decisions, and the people who make them, to account.

We cannot write the first three pages ourselves, but we can help make sure someone is still there to write them. We can seek out local reporting by subscribing to a newspaper, supporting public radio or nonprofit newsrooms, and showing up when decisions are on the agenda. We can receive information with care: read past the headlines and talk with neighbors who see things differently. And before we impart anything, we can ask where it came from. When we get something wrong, we can do what Harris promised and correct it in the next.

Harris trusted his neighbors with the fourth page. Three hundred and thirty-six years later, it is still ours to fill with care, and the first three are ours to protect.

Compassion Crew helps young learners explore big ideas and emotions with their grownups — because human rights begin with the small, brave work of caring for one another, and ourselves!
 
Through music, art, stories, and movement, Compassion Crew introduces preschoolers and their grownups to the foundations of empathy, belonging, and mutual care. No registration for this fun and free program. We hope you’ll join our circle!

Cultivating Well-Being Under Duress: A Workshop for Healthcare Professionals on Saturday, October 10 at St. Luke's Central Plaza Auditorium.

Join the Compassionate Communities Healthcare Movement for a workshop with Dr. Charlie Clements - a physician and founding board member of Physicians for Human Rights-to explore ways to cultivate well-being while navigating a rapidly changing and unpredictable healthcare landscape.

Register here to join: https://form.jotform.com/ACMSIdaho/cultivating-well-being-under-duress

🌟Fellow Friday 🌟

Kelly Richmond has been an educator in Idaho since 1992. She received her BA in Education at Idaho State University and an MS in History from Utah State. She has taught US History in the Boise School District for 26 years at Les Bois and North Junior High.

Kelly has served locally on the Boise City Department of Arts and History Advisory Team, statewide on the Humanities Council and Idaho State Historical Societies' education boards, and nationally as a facilitator for the Smithsonian’s Democracy in Dialogue Exchange, pairing her class with students in Illinois and New York.

As a teacher, Kelly is dedicated to helping students better understand history through engaging and accessible learning experiences that build empathy. Her classroom emphasizes using primary sources as a tool to recognize and appreciate different perspectives and learn foundational critical thinking skills.

Kelly fosters a passion for volunteering and inclusivity outside of the classroom, linking her students with community opportunities such as the Boise Bicycle Project, Boise River Clean Up, and the Idaho Food Bank. Through these efforts, Kelly hopes to influence the young people in our community to take an active civic role and recognize their ability to create change.

As a Wassmuth Human Rights Education Fellow, Kelly is part of a vibrant community of educators dedicated to placing human rights at the center of their work. Together, Fellows are reimagining education as a powerful force for justice and joy.

October Book Club Selection: Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay

Tuesday, October 13 from 6:30 - 8:00 PM
 
This month’s selection offers the entwined stories of four generations of Filipino American boys – Francisco, Emil, Chris, and Enzo Maghabol – as each forges his own path while facing familial and societal expectations. From immigrating and organizing for labor rights to surviving the global pandemic, their stories carry us along from 1930 to the present. As they grapple with identity and father-son relationships, the four boys share a legacy of their flaws, virtues, and values. How can Enzo find a way to connect across the generations? How can any of us?

Generations for Justice is a gathering designed for readers to connect across generations. Stay curious, read a great book, and join the conversation!

Learn more at wassmuthcenter.org/human-rights-book-clubs

Charlie Clements will be visiting Boise next week with two opportunites to listen to him speak.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights at 78 years old - its triumphs, its hopes, and its failures presented by Charlie Clements on Wednesday, October 7th from 6:30-8:00 PM at the Wassmuth Center.

Charlie Clements will trace the mid-wifery skill of Eleanor Roosevelt’s attendance at the birth of the Universal Declaration at 3:28 a.m. at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris where the fledgling United Nations debated phrase by phrase practically all night … ultimately passing it 48-0. They had just created one of the most powerful and hopeful documents in all of human history.

The UDHR caused few ripples in its first decade, in its second decade it would cause government and corrupt leaders to fall, in its third decade it would lead to pieces of it finding their way into more than 140 national constitutions, and the establishment of national, regional, and global human rights norms, law, and courts. Charlie will trace a number of these events, some of which he was present for such as the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, while also commenting on the recent and alarming erosion of human rights, both domestically and globally. Come join us as we learn about the 78 year old Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Register here: https://www.wassmuthcenter.org/speakers-at-the-center/

Cultivating Well-Being Under Duress: A Workshop for Healthcare Professionals on Saturday, October 10 at St. Luke's Central Plaza Auditorium.

Join St. Luke's for a workshop with Dr. Charlie Clements - a physician and founding board member of Physicians for Human Rights-to explore ways to cultivate well-being while navigating a rapidly changing and unpredictable healthcare landscape. Register here to join: https://form.jotform.com/ACMSIdaho/cultivating-well-being-under-duress

The Change Your World Gala is almost here — and you're invited to be a part of it 🌟

Now through October 10, our online silent auction is live and accessible from anywhere! From a music-filled weekend in the Sawtooths to a compelling collection of banned books, this thoughtfully curated auction has something for everyone. With your help, we can keep more than 90% of our programs free and growing.

✨ How to Get Started ✨
Visit the link below or text CYW2026 to 76278 to start bidding directly from your phone. The silent auction is open now through October 10 at 7:30 PM Mountain Time.

✨ Consider a Gift ✨
Every gift moves us closer to a future where human rights are a lived reality for all. With your support, we will create global opportunities for people across generations to learn, connect, and take informed action!

https://CYW2026.givesmart.com

Join us for Conversations at the Center.

In October, our topic will be: Beyond First Impressions

It’s easy to make assumptions about people in our community based on what we see, hear, or believe. How do these assumptions shape who we choose to engage with? Come ready to explore what influences our first impressions, consider perspectives beyond our own, and discover how staying curious can create opportunities for greater understanding.

Come to connect, learn, and create through shared conversation.

Thursday, October 22
6:30 - 8:00 PM
Wassmuth Center for Human Rights; Philip E. Batt Education Building

Free & open to all (ages 14+ suggested).
Register Today: wassmuthcenter.org/conversations-at-the-center

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Idaho Humanities Council. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the Idaho Humanities Council.

Educators! We'd love to have you join us this month.

In October, we’re exploring Listen Deeply, one of the Wassmuth Powerful Practices.

RIPL Collective (Recharging and Inspiring Possibilities in Learning) is an educator-led professional learning community where educators come together each month to deepen their practice, share ideas, and learn from one another.

At RIPL, you can expect to:
➡️ Connect with fellow educators in meaningful conversation
➡️ Explore a practice you can apply in your own learning community
➡️ Engage in hands-on, collaborative learning
➡️ Leave with fresh ideas, practical tools, and renewed inspiration

All educators from preschool through university and beyond are warmly invited to join us.

Credit is available to those who attend regularly and show transfer of learning.

Our next gathering is happening soon:
⭐ Tuesday, October 20
⭐ 4:30 to 6:00 PM
⭐ Wassmuth Center for Human Rights | Philip E. Batt Education Building

👉 Learn more and register: wassmuthcenter.org/ripl-collective