Eternal Gandhi Museum Houston Opening
Summer 2023
he Eternal Gandhi Museum Houston (EGMH) is creating a world-class cultural and educational museum dedicated to preservingand promoting Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy of nonviolent conflict resolution by cultivating universal values of Truth, Nonviolence, Peace, Love, and Service.
When it opens in the Summer of 2023, it will be the only free-standing museum in the Americas dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi. The museum will highlight the essence of Gandhi’s teachings and ways of life, from the design of the building to the visitor experience and educational programming.
Mahatma Gandhi’s nonviolent Salt March, Satyagraha (civil disobedience), in the spring of 1930 galvanized the people of India. It opened the eyes of British citizens to their country’s cruel subjugation of India. This simple act of defiance epitomized the power of the individual marching toward a singular goal. It also challenged Britain’s long history of taxation and monopolization of India by controlling land and resources that should belong to its people. Although the march resulted in great sacrifice—arrests, imprisonment, and violence—the protest nonetheless embarrassed the British Empire and its colonial government while demonstrating that the right to rule belongs in the hands of India herself.
Archival footage and images of the long journey to the Dandi seashore bring to life the momentous event. Visitors hear Gandhi and his fellow satyagrahis speaking and chanting as they trudge across India’s countryside, intent on breaking the salt laws. An animated map appears over the images, highlighting the march’s distance. At the same time, infographics identified the prices, sales, and tax figures of Indian salt in 1930. International newspapers, radio, and film coverage of the march and its aftermath illustrate the sociopolitical impact that Gandhi’s effort achieved and the international community’s shifting perspective on British rule in India.
The Salt March was a simple act of defiance that set India on the path to independence. Gandhi successfully demonstrated to the work the effective use of nonviolent civil disobedience as a technique for fighting social and political injustice.
The total budget for EGMH is $10 million, of which we have raised $7.3 million. To support this project, please help spread the word and follow us on our social media platforms – Facebook and Instagram – @egmhouston. To learn more and donate, please visit www.egmh.org, call 832-850-EGMH, or email info@egmh.org.
