The Holocaust Museum of the Carolinas with Judy LaPietra
TOPIC: The Holocaust Museum of the Carolinas: Background, Progress, and Vision
SPEAKER: Judy LaPietra, Executive Director, The Stan Greenspon Holocaust Education Center
This presentation examines the development of the Holocaust Museum of the Carolinas, exploring the historical, educational, and civic vision that has guided its creation.
Attendees will gain insight into the museum’s origins, its response to the growing need for Holocaust and antisemitism education in the Carolinas, and the progress made toward establishing a permanent institution dedicated to preserving survivor testimony, advancing scholarship, and fostering meaningful public engagement.
The presentation will also consider the museum’s role in connecting historical understanding to contemporary challenges while serving educators, students, researchers, and the broader community.
BIOGRAPHY
An accomplished Holocaust educator, museum leader, and historian, Judy LaPietra has dedicated more than three decades to advancing Holocaust and genocide education through teaching, curriculum development, public scholarship, and community engagement. Currently serving as Executive Director of the Stan Greenspon Holocaust Education Center, Judy leads the strategic vision for Holocaust education across the Carolinas, including the development of the Holocaust Museum of the Carolinas, and innovative educational initiatives that connect historical scholarship with contemporary civic responsibility.
Under Judy’s leadership, the Center has significantly expanded its impact through transformational programming, including the North American debut of the internationally acclaimed Seeing Auschwitz exhibition, the redesign of the Certification in Holocaust Pedagogy to include an immersive study-abroad experience in Poland, and a 200% increase in philanthropic support for Holocaust education.
A doctoral candidate (ABD) in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Gratz College, Judy’s dissertation, From Absence to Institution: An Applied Dissertation on the Creation of the Holocaust Museum of the Carolinas, reflects a broader scholarly commitment to Holocaust memory, public history, museum studies, and the role of education in combating antisemitism. Judy holds graduate degrees in Holocaust and Genocide Studies from Gratz College and Secondary Education (History) from Queens College, City University of New York, as well as a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and international studies from the University of Vienna.
Prior to assuming the directorship of the Stan Greenspon Holocaust Education Center, Judy spent nearly two decades as a history educator and served as adjunct faculty at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where her original courses included The Legacy of the Holocaust, Bearing Witness to the Past: A Journey to Auschwitz, and The Final Solution.
A nationally recognized leader in Holocaust education, Judy has been selected for prestigious fellowships and leadership programs through Yad Vashem, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Shoah Foundation, the Anti-Defamation League, and The Olga Lengyel Institute for Holocaust Studies and Human Rights. Judy is a Museum Educator Fellow at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and has presented scholarly work at national and international conferences and contributed publications on Holocaust memory, museums, testimony, and education.
Beyond academia, Judy’s commitment to human rights is reflected through volunteer service supporting Holocaust preservation efforts at Auschwitz-Birkenau, refugee assistance in Greece and Poland, and humanitarian work during the Ukrainian refugee crisis. Through scholarship, leadership, and public engagement, Judy continues to advance meaningful Holocaust education that strengthens historical understanding, combats antisemitism, and inspires ethical responsibility in future generations.
