Founder proud of the project’s outcome

Charlotte Sheer, founder of the Holocaust Stamp project, was asked  for her thoughts as the project nears completion.

Here’s what she had to say:

“I am gratified and proud that this educational initiative, which began in my classroom nine years ago, evolved into a schoolwide community service learning activity. It has been a journey of learning and reflection, not only for me personally, but also for the students and staff at Foxborough Regional Charter School who chose to participate. Along the way, I marveled at the growing number of people from across the country and around the world who became involved in the project’s mission to honor each of the 11 million children, men and women who perished in the Holocaust.

“While I have been overwhelmed by the millions of stamp donations, the Project responses that are most meaningful to me are the letters and emails containing stories of Holocaust loss and survival, as well as the expressions of appreciation for the unique way the Project has exposed young people to lessons of history, tolerance, acceptance and respect for differences.”

Sheer told The Voice that the idea of creating artwork using thousands of the stamps “only came to life in the third year of the project, around the time the collection approached its first half-million stamps. It evolved from my having seen stamp collages created by Rhode Island artist Joseph Jagolinzer, a 1915 Rhode Island School of Design graduate. His pieces were displayed in the office of an education director at a Providence synagogue.”

The Voice has reported on the progress of the project over the years and published photographs of the various stamp collages as they were finished.