(November 1, 2011)

Contact: Dena Pruett, Centenary Marketing & Communication, 318.869.5715

Van Thyn Lecture Series Presents "Anne Frank and America"

SHREVEPORT, LA — Centenary College and the Van Thyn Professorship Lecture series present "Anne Frank and America" by Dr. Lisa Nicoletti on November 9. The lecture is free and open to the community.

Van Thyn Lecture Poster

  • What: "Anne Frank and America"

  • When: Wednesday, November 9 at 7:00 p.m.

  • Where: Kilpatrick Auditorium in the Smith Building

Dr. Nicoletti, Centenary Professor of Art and Visual Culture, will discuss the importance of Anne's diary to the Holocaust worldwide, while examining what has been called the "Americanization of Anne Frank." She will illuminate the policies and prejudices that denied the Frank family entrance into the United States during World War II, and look at the reasons why Anne has become the most familiar child-victim of the Holocaust, despite the tragic loss of 1.5 million Jewish children.

Having worked in Holocaust studies for over a decade, Dr. Nicoletti has gathered personal histories from Holocaust survivors and their rescuers. She has examined Holocaust art and memorials worldwide, including concentration camps and historical museums from Berlin to Israel. This past spring, Nicoletti received the Charlton Lyons Award to conduct research at the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam.

This presentation is part of the Van Thyn lecture series in honor of Rose and Louis Van Thyn, Holocaust survivors who dedicated themselves to retelling their stories so that people would not forget or repeat those horrors. For her extraordinary community service, Mrs. Van Thyn was awarded the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters at Centenary's 2002 commencement exercises. She passed away in 2010 at the age of 88, and literally talked to thousands of local schoolchildren during her life about the horrors of the Jewish genocide.

In order to preserve her and her husband's legacy, friends of Mrs. Van Thyn established the Rose and Louis Van Thyn Holocaust Awareness Professorship Program in November 2009. The program provides education opportunities to the students of the College and to the surrounding community, with a goal of teaching about the history of the Holocaust, and how to recognize signs of intolerance and provide a means for preventing prejudice and hatred.

About Centenary College of Louisiana

Centenary College is a private, four-year arts and sciences college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Founded in 1825, it is the oldest chartered liberal arts college west of the Mississippi River and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Centenary is one of 16 colleges and universities constituting the Associated Colleges of the South and has been recognized as "One of the Best 371 Colleges" by the Princeton Review and one of "America's Best Colleges" and one of "America's Best Private Colleges" by Forbes.com. In 2008 Centenary College celebrated 100 years in Shreveport and Bossier City.