Chicago is getting an unusually intimate window into one of history's most familiar hiding places. Anne Frank: The Exhibition opens at the Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science and Industry on May 1, 2026, bringing visitors into a detailed recreation of the Secret Annex where Anne Frank wrote her diary. The touring exhibition includes more than 130 original artifacts from the Anne Frank House, many of which have not been shown in public before. It is designed for visitors ages 10 and up and combines immersive galleries with classroom-ready materials and audio guides.
According to Griffin Museum of Science and Industry, the exhibition will make its Midwest debut on May 1, and the museum "will offer the exhibition free to all field trip groups" while keeping general admission free for Illinois school groups. "Anne Frank’s story is a powerful reminder of what happens when fear and hatred are allowed to take root," Griffin MSI President and CEO Dr. Chevy Humphrey said in the museum statement. Students visiting as part of organized school groups will receive journals to reflect on Frank’s words.
What’s on view
Visitors will walk through a full-scale, fully furnished recreation of the Annex and multimedia galleries that trace Anne Frank’s life from childhood to arrest and deportation, according to Time Out Chicago. The Chicago presentation includes more than 130 original artifacts from the Anne Frank House: letters from Anne, Margot, and Otto Frank, Anne’s first photo album (1929-1942), handwritten verses, and a 1945 "List of Returned Jews Arriving at Amsterdam Central Station" that organizers say grounds the history in personal detail.
Education and access
Per the museum announcement, the exhibition is supported by age-appropriate educational materials and an antisemitism curriculum developed in collaboration with the Anne Frank House and the Anne Frank Center at the University of South Carolina. All general-admission tickets include an audio guide in English and Spanish, and the show is intended for children ages 10 and older. Organizers say the curriculum and classroom resources align with state standards to help teachers bring the exhibit into their classrooms.
From New York to Chicago
The traveling exhibition originally premiered in New York on January 27, 2025, International Holocaust Remembrance Day, at the Center for Jewish History and drew heavy interest, with organizers extending the run because of demand, according to the Center’s press release. That New York engagement was part of a broader effort by the Anne Frank House to expand educational access in the United States before sending the exhibition to additional cities.
For Chicago teachers and visitors, the Griffin MSI presentation offers a rare chance to engage with primary objects and an immersive reconstruction without traveling overseas. With its May opening, the museum gives the Midwest a local space to reflect on Anne Frank’s life and the larger lessons the exhibition is meant to highlight.
