April 3, 2022

Donation to the Churchill War Rooms Made by America’s National Churchill Museum

On March 15, Missouri Governor Michael Parson visited the Churchill War Rooms in London. He brought with him a special gift from America’s National Churchill Museum (ANCM)—an original ticket to Winston Churchill’s “The Sinews of Peace” address, commonly known as the “Iron Curtain” Speech, at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. Senior Churchill Fellow at Westminster and International Churchill Society Board Member Philip Boeckman was also present as Missouri’s Governor presented the gift to Nigel Steel, who is Head of Content for HMS Belfast and the Churchill War Rooms.

The ticket is one of a select few of originals printed in 1946 but not issued or distributed before the speech delivered by Churchill on 5 March 1946 as part of the John Findley Green Foundation Lecture series. The donation of the ticket symbolizes the shared mission between ANCM and the Imperial War Museum’s Churchill War Rooms.

The former British Prime Minister was accompanied to Westminster College by President Harry S. Truman, who introduced the British statesman. Churchill used the occasion to warn of what he perceived to be the looming threat of Soviet communism and outlined how western, democratic nations should work together, using military strength when necessary, to deter Russian expansion and prevent another global war.

Most historians agree that the Iron Curtain speech marked the beginning of the awareness of a “Cold War” and provided a blueprint for how the west would wage, and ultimately win, that conflict. In the speech, Churchill also introduced to a wide public the concept of the “special relationship” between the United States and Great Britain.

2024 International Churchill Conference

Join us for the 41st International Churchill Conference. London | October 2024

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This year’s Churchill conference will take place in Kansas City and include a day trip to Fulton, where the 2022 Enid and R. Crosby Kemper Lecture will be delivered in the historic Church of Saint Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, which was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, bombed out during the Blitz, and beautifully restored to its former glory on the campus of Westminster College.