Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum Presents One of Its Most Inspirational Exhibitions Yet
"Walk this Way" Invites Visitors to Follow The Footsteps of History
BY PC Studios // 04.09.24Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum invites guests to follow the footsteps of history with its latest exhibition.
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A treasured asset to the city of Dallas for 40 years, the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum moved to its new, stunning building in the heart of downtown in 2019. The impressive Museum regularly brings some of the most moving, educational exhibitions to the city, but its newest exhibition, Walk this Way: Footwear from the Stuart Weitzman Collection of Historic Shoes, is one of its most powerful yet.
On view until July 14, 2024, the exhibition allows visitors to follow the footsteps of history.
Most recently in Spain, Dallas is the exhibition’s first stop on its return back to America. The Museum is dedicated to examining history to understand the impact it has on society today, and this exhibition offers a distinct lens through which guests can explore the vital role women played in history through a stunning collection of shoes.
The exhibition has been organized by the New-York Historical Society.

The Importance of Walk this Way
Walk this Way highlights women’s stories through their footwear, showcasing history’s movers and shakers and the moments that defined them.
“Shoes are a way to express personality and part of our shared humanity,” says Mary Pat Higgins, President and CEO of the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum. “By highlighting the stories of women and their shoes, we hope our visitors can get a fresh perspective on history and learn the important mark women have made on our society.”
From the personal collection of iconic shoe designer Stuart Weitzman and his wife, businesswoman philanthropist Jane Gershon Weitzman — who actually started the collection in honor of her husband —, the exhibition features more than 100 striking pairs of shoes spanning nearly 200 years.
“An integral part of our everyday lives, shoes not only protect our feet, but tell stories centered around women’s labor activism, the fight for suffrage and equal rights, the sexual revolution, and more,” Higgins explains. “Imagine what it would be like to walk a mile in the shoes of world leaders, film stars, and the women who marched for the right to vote.”

Exploring a Variety of Historic Shoes
Exploring a variety of shoes and the pivotal cultural moments that happened while they were worn, the exhibition includes shoes worn by suffragists as they marched through the streets, women as they danced the Charleston during the Jazz Age, and starlets who graced the silver screen in the postwar era. There are also a pair of pumps worn by Queen Victoria in the 1860s, Spectator pumps signed by the 1941 Yankees that likely belonged to a girlfriend of baseball legend Joe DiMaggio (identified as “the A1 Girl Fan of the Yanks”), and Ferragamo’s handmade black needlepoint Tuscan lace heels (ca. 1954-55) designed for actress Sophia Loren.
Higgins notes that her favorite in the exhibition is the Empowerment shoe, which was designed by a student, Samantha Efobi, for a design competition Stuart Weitzman and the New-York Historical Society sponsored in 2017 for high school students in the Tri-State area.
“This striking shoe resonates with the belief we share at the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum – the belief that education empowers,” she says. “We are dedicated to educating the public about the history of the Holocaust its lessons to empower future generations to combat prejudice, hatred, and indifference. The Empowerment shoe embodies the importance of education and empowerment, and its message is truly inspiring.”

First Female-Focused Exhibit
Walk this Way is just one of the incredible exhibitions the Dallas Holocaust and Human Rights Museum has brought to the city, previously working with the New-York Historical Society on an exhibition called Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow. The Museum features a Pivot to America wing that explores the ideals of our nation and how we are learning to live up to them over time, and it uses rotating exhibitions to do a deeper exploration of history found throughout the Museum. Walk this Way not only aligns with the Museum’s Pivot to America wing, but it is the Museum’s first special exhibition focused on women’s history.
The exhibition is included in admission to the Museum (located at 300 N. Houston in Downtown Dallas). The Museum is open every day, except Tuesday, from 10 am to 5 pm. To purchase tickets, click here.