“We live in an increasingly fast changing, fragile and volatile world and, as such, the timeless lessons to be learned from the long and varied life of Sir Winston Churchill have never been more needed or relevant than today. As the dramatic events of the first half of the twentieth century fade from everyday memory, we cannot risk Churchill and his lessons becoming a mere footnote in history.

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We must enable generations of schoolchildren to have tailored learning programs about this great leader, whose career influenced so many facets of both British Society and the democracies of the civilized world. As these schoolchildren’s careers blossom and flourish the Churchill lessons they have learned will in turn influence them to better their own societies. I am truly both humbled and privileged to provide the financial support that makes the archives and the learning modules globally available at no cost to schools and students.”

Bloomsbury has developed the Churchill Archive for Schools website as a free, accessible and exciting gateway into the papers of Sir Winston Churchill. The site contains valuable teaching aids to support teachers and their pupils as they discover fascinating primary source material.

The Churchill Archive was digitised and published in agreement with the Sir Winston Churchill Archive Trust and Churchill Heritage Ltd in 2012, providing subscribers with access to the largest and most important collection of primary source material of any individual leader of the 20th century.

Jonathan Glasspool, Executive Director and Head of Bloomsbury Academic and Professional, explains more about www.churchillarchiveforschools.com

“The Churchill Archive contains a vast range of original documents – from Churchill’s personal correspondence with family and friends to his official exchanges with kings, presidents, politicians and military leaders. Our challenge was to bring the documents to life for secondary school students. Through collaboration with experienced history educators, we have been able to make some fantastic resources available as part of the new Churchill Archive for Schools. Designed to help students engage with history and to see it as personal and accessible, the resources are ideal for use in the classroom, for group work, and for independent learning.”

“To encourage broader exploration the resources also provide links to relevant documents in the full Churchill Archive,” Jonathan continues. “And thanks to Laurence Geller’s generosity Bloomsbury is delighted to make access to the Churchill Archive available free of charge to schools worldwide.”

Bloomsbury has already had discussions with the UK Government’s Department of Education about how the Archive can be linked to the national curriculum. The next steps are to engage with other education bodies and government policy makers, not just in the UK but also in the US and other English-speaking nations.

Randolph Churchill said:

“The family of Sir Winston Churchill is delighted that such a generous endowment will enable school children all over the world to investigate one of the world’s richest archival sources, and we continue to be both delighted and extremely grateful for everything that Laurence Geller has given to the world of Churchill in these past decades. As Sir Winston said in 1943, ‘you cannot conduct a modern community except with an adequate supply of persons upon whose education, whether humane, technical, or scientific, much time and money have been spent’. His papers are an unparalleled resource for education in almost a century’s history, politics, development and world affairs, and this project helps to achieve his vision.

Professor Sir David Cannadine FBA, Editor of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and Dodge Professor of History, Princeton University said:

“The Churchill Archive, housed at Churchill College, Cambridge, is one of the great historical collections of the twentieth century. The Churchill Archive for Schools scheme makes it more easily accessible to a bigger, broader and younger audience and this is a hugely exciting and promising development, very appropriately launched in the year which marks the fiftieth anniversary of Churchill’s death.”

Allen Packwood, Director of the Churchill Archives Centre said:

“This exciting new initiative takes the Churchill Archive into the classroom and puts it on the desktops of the next generation in a form that can be easily used by teachers and students. Few schools are able to visit the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge, but, thanks to Mr. Geller and Bloomsbury, all schools can now access its contents.”

Notes for editors:

For the schools materials visit www.churchillarchiveforschools.com.

The Churchill Archive is available free of charge to Schools worldwide, exclusively through JCS Online Resources. To register for access, please visit https://www.jcsonlineresources.org/churchill-archive-access-request-form or email [email protected].  Only one registration per school is required with school-wide access via IP, referring URL, or username and password.

Contact:  [email protected]
Tel: +44 (0) 1865 987211

For enquiries about marketing and publicity contact:

Marketing: [email protected]

Publicity: Bell Pottinger – [email protected]

About Bloomsbury Publishing

Bloomsbury Publishing is a leading independent publishing house established in 1986, with companies in London, New York, Sydney and Delhi. It has four divisions: Bloomsbury Academic & Professional, Bloomsbury Adult Publishing, Bloomsbury Children’s Publishing and Bloomsbury Information.

Bloomsbury Academic & Professional division has grown rapidly since its inception in 2008, and specialises in the humanities, social sciences, visual arts, law and tax, publishing over 1,400 titles per year. A leader and innovator in the digital realm, in addition to several thousand ebooks, the division publishes a rapidly-increasing range of innovative digital subscription services, including the award-winning Berg Fashion Library and Drama Online, Bloomsbury Collections, Bloomsbury Professional Tax and Law Online, the Churchill Archive, and coming soon, Fashion Photography Archive and Fairchild Books Library.

Company Headquarters: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 50 Bedford Square, London, WC1B 3DP, UK

www.churchillarchiveforschools.com
www.churchillarchive.com
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About Laurence Geller, CBE 
Laurence S. Geller is an accomplished businessman who has led multi-national corporations in the hospitality industry for the last 40 years, most recently as the President and CEO of Strategic Hotels & Resorts, a company he founded in 1997.

Prior to Strategic Hotel Capital, L.L.C., Mr. Geller was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Geller & Co., a gaming, tourism and lodging advisory company he founded in 1989. Previously, Mr. Geller held positions as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Hyatt Development Corporation, Senior Vice President of Holiday Inns, Inc. and Director of Grand Metropolitan Hotels in London.

Mr. Geller serves on the Board of Michels & Taylor (London) Ltd., and is Chairman of the Board of Dolphin Capital Investment Limited. He is a former Vice Chairman of the Urban Land Institute’s Commercial and Retail Council and has held the position of Chairman of the Industry Real Estate Financing Advisory Council of the American Hotel and Lodging Association for six non-consecutive terms.

Mr. Geller serves on the Executive Committee of the Board of Choose Chicago and Elevate Chicago, Children’s Memorial Hospital, the Board of the British American Business Consul, and the American Jewish Committee.   Mr. Geller is Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the Churchill Centre and serves on its Executive Committee.  He is Ambassador for North America for the Hotel and Catering Institutional Management Association of the U.K.  Mr. Geller is a graduate of Ealing Technical College’s school of hotel management and catering and in May 2011 was appointed Chancellor of the University of West London, the successor to Ealing Technical College.

On December 31, 2011, Mr. Geller was named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.  Mr. Geller previously served on the Board of Directors and Audit Committee of Gaylord Entertainment (NYSE: GET) from 2002 until July 2006, and InnVest REIT from 2013-2014.  Mr. Geller has over 50 years of experience in the lodging industry and has received numerous awards for his service to the hospitality industry and for his civic, educational and philanthropic endeavors.