About the Wassmuth Center
Overview
The Wassmuth Center for Human Rights promotes respect for human dignity and diversity through education. We empower learners of all ages to recognize, interrupt, and prevent injustice, fostering individual responsibility to work for peace and justice.
We provide transformative human rights education to thousands of learners of all ages in Idaho and beyond through programs and resources that build on the ideas inspired by the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
We do this work by taking lessons from history, connecting them to the present, and working to create a future that centers on dignity and belonging for all. We work onsite in the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial and Education Building; offsite in classrooms, companies, and communities around the state; and online, reaching national and international audiences.
Programs, Resources, and Networks
Education Programs – The Wassmuth Center offers more than 20 ongoing education programs designed to engage learners of all ages and backgrounds. Programs range from drop-in sessions lasting less than two hours to year-long, cohorted experiences that provide deeper exploration and sustained learning. From Compassion Crew to book clubs to sessions with speakers, guests are inspired to connect, learn, and act. Together, these offerings create a full continuum of learning that nurtures understanding, empathy, and active civic engagement across generations.
Resources – A rich array of educational resources to support teachers, students, and lifelong learners is housed on the Wassmuth Center’s website. These include a comprehensive fourth-grade Idaho history curriculum that integrates human rights themes as well as standalone lessons that can be easily incorporated into classrooms across grade levels. In addition, the Center offers e-books and short videos that bring human rights history and concepts to life, making complex topics accessible, engaging, and relevant. These resources are designed to foster understanding, encourage critical thinking, and inspire meaningful dialogue.
Networks – The Wassmuth Center is deeply committed to cultivating networks of students, educators, civic leaders, business professionals, and community members who are dedicated to learning about and advancing human rights in their own contexts. Each month, the Center invites educators to participate in the RIPL (Recharging and Inspiring Possibilities in Learning) Collective, a collaborative workshop series where teachers engage in professional learning, exchange ideas, and build meaningful relationships with other human rights educators. Similarly, community members connect through cohorts in the Human Rights Certificate course, deepening their knowledge while fostering a network of individuals committed to promoting human rights in workplaces and civic spaces. Through these efforts, the Center empowers individuals and also strengthens a community-wide culture of human rights.
Why “Wassmuth”?
Raised on a farm in Greencreek, Idaho, Bill Wassmuth was a priest at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Coeur d’Alene. In the 1980s he found himself confronted with the misuse of theology for hateful aims by white supremacists in northern Idaho. He lived through a vindictive bombing of his home and built coalitions to battle the Aryan Nations as a chair of the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations.
After leaving Coeur d’Alene and the priesthood, marrying and settling in Seattle, Washington, Wassmuth continued his successful leadership as director of the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment. When Wassmuth died in 2002, Idaho Governor Kempthorne called him “an early voice for human rights and human dignity in our state.”
Be a Part of Building
a Bright Future
The Wassmuth Center for Human Rights is 100% dependent on donations. We need your partnership to continue the critical work being done through programs, classrooms and communities.