Holocaust Museum Boston announced a $2 million gift from the Boston-based Davis Family Charitable Foundation, representing one of the largest philanthropic commitments to the Museum and the largest gift from the Davis Family Foundation to date. The Davis Foundation gift brings total fundraising to date to $81 million against a $110 million total goal.
Currently under construction on Tremont Street, overlooking Boston’s historic Freedom Trail, Holocaust Museum Boston will be New England’s first museum solely dedicated to Holocaust education. Scheduled to open in Summer 2027, the Museum will preserve the memory and lessons of the Holocaust while inspiring visitors to confront antisemitism, challenge all forms of hatred and marginalization, and recognize their own capacity to make a difference.
“We are deeply grateful to the Davis Family Charitable Foundation for this extraordinary commitment to Holocaust Museum Boston,” said Jody Kipnis, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of the Holocaust Legacy Foundation. “At a time when not only antisemitism but all forms of hatred are rising, the importance of Holocaust education has never been more urgent. This generous gift is an investment not only in preserving history, but in educating future generations, inspiring moral courage, and empowering individuals to recognize the difference they can make in the world.”
Once complete, Holocaust Museum Boston will feature immersive exhibitions, historical artifacts, survivor testimony, and educational programs, designed to engage visitors intellectually, emotionally, and ethically. Visitors will be invited to Examine the Past, Connect to the Present, and Create the Future. Through firsthand testimony and historical accounts of persecution, resistance, and moral courage, the Museum will encourage visitors to reflect on the lessons of the Holocaust and recognize how their own choices and actions can help shape a more compassionate and just future.
“We were inspired by the vision of the founders of Holocaust Museum Boston to preserve the memory of the Holocaust’s atrocities and to draw on those lessons to recognize and confront antisemitism and hatred of others wherever they arise, now and in the future,” said Molly Davis Macleod, Executive Director of the Davis Family Charitable Foundation. “The Museum’s location on the Freedom Trail, near Park Street Station, the Massachusetts State House and Boston City Hall, will help bring this history to a wide audience. Its staff is already working closely with schools across Massachusetts to incorporate Holocaust education into their curricula. Together, these efforts gave us confidence that Holocaust Museum Boston will help people understand and confront antisemitism and hatred in general while keeping the memory of the Holocaust alive.”
Since 2006, the Davis Family Charitable Foundation (DFCF) has invested in communities and social sector organizations that expand access to education, build skills, nurture talent, and address critical needs for housing, equitable health care, and other supportive services. At the heart of its grantmaking is a deep concern for issues of equity and opening pathways to opportunity, especially for underserved children and youth whose talents and potential too often go unrealized. Guided by the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam—the responsibility to help repair the world—DFCF supports organizations that advance justice and fairness, expand pathways to opportunity, and that work to counter the effects of hate crimes, antisemitism, racism, poverty, and other forms of exclusion. DFCF is committed to combating bigotry in all its forms by helping organizations on the frontlines of the continuing fight against hatred access the resources they need to respond quickly to urgent events while developing longer-term educational programs that address the root causes and enduring effects of bigotry, racism, and poverty.
Holocaust Museum Boston will be New England’s first museum solely dedicated to Holocaust education. Located in downtown Boston, steps off the historic Freedom Trail, the Museum will offer an immersive and deeply personal exploration of the Holocaust through historical artifacts, firsthand survivor testimony, interactive exhibitions, and educational programs.
More than a place of remembrance, Holocaust Museum Boston will be a place of connection, conversation, and action. By examining the choices people made during the Holocaust and their consequences, the museum will encourage visitors to think critically, confront antisemitism and hatred, and recognize their own responsibility to stand up for others and protect democratic values.
Holocaust Museum Boston is the signature project of Holocaust Legacy Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to Holocaust remembrance, education, and inspiring future generations to make a difference.
For more information, please contact: [email protected]