Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns is the honoree for the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum’s Hope for Humanity award at the upcoming 2024 Hope for Humanity dinner Dec. 5 at the Omni Dallas Hotel.

The dinner pays tribute to local Holocaust survivors for their strength and passion for educating future generations.

The Hope for Humanity award is given at the annual event to an outstanding individual who demonstrates a dedication to the improvement of society. At the dinner, Burns will participate in a moderated conversation with Krys Boyd, host and managing editor of Think on KERA, about his work making documentary films for almost 50 years.

A moment from the 2023 Hope for Humanity Dinner [Photo: Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum]

“Telling stories of the past is essential for deciphering our history and building a better future,” Burns said in a statement. “I’m deeply honored to receive the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum Hope for Humanity award. This recognition reaffirms the crucial role of storytelling in illuminating the complex beings who call themselves human beings.”

Burns has directed and produced some of the most-acclaimed historical documentaries, including The Civil War; Baseball; The Roosevelts: An Intimate History; The Vietnam War; The U.S. and the Holocaust; and, most recently, Leonardo da Vinci.

Burns’ films have been honored with dozens of major awards, including 17 Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, and two Oscar nominations. In 2008, at the News & Documentary Emmy Awards, Burns was honored by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 2022, Burns was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.

Mary Pat Higgins, President and CEO of the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum [Photo: DHHR Museum]

‘A commitment to teaching the history of the Holocaust’

Hope for Humanity’s 2024 honorary chairs are Diane and Hal Brierley and the event chairs are Lisa and Peter Kraus, with additional support from an Honorary Committee and Host Committee.

“As longtime supporters of Ken Burns’ work, we’re excited to serve as honorary chairs for this year’s Hope for Humanity dinner and to celebrate his profound work preserving history,” Diane and Hal Brierley said. “Ken’s many films are more than just historical narratives; they are essential to ensuring all generations understand the past to shape our collective future.”

Lisa and Peter Kraus said that Burns’ 2022 film, The U.S. and the Holocaust, has personal meaning for them.

“The prejudice Ken Burns’ described in his film was experienced by my father when he was barred from attending college in the United States at the outset of WWII, resulting in his victimization as a slave laborer in the Holocaust in Germany during the war,” Peter Kraus said.

“Ken and the museum share a commitment to teaching the history of the Holocaust so these lessons live on,” added Lisa Kraus.

Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum’s mission is to teach the history of the Holocaust and advance human rights to combat prejudice, hatred, and indifference.

The museum was founded in 1984 by local Holocaust survivors and now is located in a new building in downtown Dallas where visitors experience a deeper immersion into the history of the Holocaust, human and civil rights, their centrality to our democracy, and their vital importance in preventing events like those of the Holocaust from happening again.

For information about the Hope for Humanity event, you can go here. 

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