The Guantánamo Public Memory Project seeks to build public awareness of the long history of the US naval station at Guantánamo, Bay, Cuba, and foster dialogue on the future of this place and the policies it shapes. The Project is developing a traveling exhibit, story collection, curricula, public dialogues, and research resource through collaboration and debates with diverse stakeholders. View the web prototype and download the Project Blueprint.

Why does GTMO’s past matter today?

“Guantánamo” has become an international symbol of torture, detention, national security, and conflict over America’s “War on Terror.” But this “state of exception” in Cuba has been opened – and closed—for more than a century before 9-11. Facilities for new uses are now being constructed. The 1903 lease with Cuba grants the US total jurisdiction over the bay until both countries agree to end the arrangement. For better or for worse, then, GTMO is open and available for any future administration to use – in the War on Terror or otherwise. How did we get here? What should happen next? Explore GTMO's past and the questions it raises—with comments, debates, and stories from historians, advocates, and those who were there—through the Project Blueprint.

Stories

Hear diverse experiences from GTMO, across time and perspective. Contact us at if you or someone you know has a story to share, or to suggest a perspective that should be included.

National Dialogue and Traveling Exhibit

Opening at NYU’s Kimmel Center for University Life Windows Gallery in December 2012 and traveling to 9 sites across the country (and counting), the exhibit will explore GTMO’s history from US occupation in 1898 to today’s debates and visions for its future.

Interested in hosting the exhibit? Contact

Project Partners, Principles, and Debates

First launched in 2009 by the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, which currently serves on the Steering Committee, the Project is now being developed by a growing collaboration of universities, organizations, and individuals according to common principles while engaged in intense and ongoing debate during workshops and symposia on the possibilities and pitfalls of “remembering” Guantánamo.