March 22, 2013

Finest Hour 155, Summer 2012

Page 36

“Churchill: The Power of Words,” June 8th – September 23rd

By Fred Glueckstein

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Between 1902 and 1906, John Pierpont Morgan, the most influential financier in American history and an avid collector, built a private library at Madison Avenue and 36th Street, just east of his New York residence. In 1924, eleven years after his death, his son presented it to the public. Several landmark buildings were added to the complex since, and many famous exhibitions have been held there. In June the Morgan opened a new exhibition showcasing Winston Churchill’s use of spoken and written words.

Prior to entering the exhibit hall, in keeping with the theme, a Remington Noiseless typewriter used by Churchill’s staff is on display. Churchill’s favored method of working was dictation, and the noiseless machine was used to avoid distracting him. Typists were expected immediately to provide a typed document for his review and editing.

Items on display in glass cases are arranged in chronological sequence of his life—Child, Soldier, Young Tribune, Wilderness Years, Finest Hour, Grand Alliance, Elder Statesman, Twilight Years—introduced by large posters with photographs. Drawn from the Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge, and the National Trust, Chartwell, the exhibition uses a fascinating array of sixty personal letters, speech drafts, speaking notes, personal and official correspondence, and public statements to examine events in Churchill’s life. Even in England there are few opportunities to see these items on public display.

The visitor is transported back in time through Churchill’s writings and correspondence. Many items captured my own fascination, including 1883 and 1897 letters from Churchill to his mother; a manuscript draft from The Story of the Malakand Field Force; a 1929 letter from Churchill to his wife on his only visit to the United States west coast, describing his meeting with Charlie Chaplin; a 1936 pamphlet written by Churchill entitled The Truth about Hitler (stamped boldly on the cover BANNED IN GERMANY, no doubt to promote sales); and a personal telegram to Churchill from President Roosevelt after D-Day.

One document that drew the attention of visitors was a letter Churchill’s New York doctor, Otto Pickhardt, wrote during WSC’s recovery after being hit by a car in 1931, when the U.S. was still under Prohibition: “This is to certify that the post-accident convalescence of the Hon. Winston S. Churchill necessitates the use of alcoholic spirits especially at meal times. The quantity is naturally indefinite but the minimum requirements would be 250 cubic centimeters.”

Another display that I found extremely interesting, and one that recognizes Churchill’s place in history as a writer and orator, is the Nobel Prize for Literature medal and citation he was awarded in 1953. The beautiful color and illustrated citation in Swedish is translated for the visitor in English. It reads: “For his mastery of historical and biographical description as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values.” An enjoyable exhibit is a Churchill painting, “The Coast Near Antibes,” circa 1925, on loan from Kenneth Rendell. Churchill originally gave the painting to his bodyguard.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is the small theater where Churchill can be heard giving parts of eight famous speeches delivered on the radio for British and American audiences, from “Their Finest Hour” (18 June 1940) to “The Sinews of Peace” (5 March 1946). As one listens, three screens simultaneously display words and photographs. The middle screen shows the words as he wrote them and the tempo in which he delivered them. The side screens display historical photographs.

Visitors may also use two touch screens, allowing the user to select any period of Churchill’s life. One menu, for example, is a depiction of a cablegram Churchill received from his friend Bernard Baruch when the Germans began bombing London: “My home is open to all grandchildren.” (Churchill politely declined, replying that “the English countryside is ‘fairly safe.'”) The touch screen links related photo- graphs not on display, including Churchill’s grandchildren, Edwina and Julian Sandys in the country- side, and Churchill and Baruch in 1949.

This project does not end in September. The Morgan Library and Churchill Archives Centre launched a website, www.DiscoverChurchill.org, to generate interest in Churchill among a younger audience and educators. It features fun facts, videos, quotes, and links to Churchill-related content.

Charles C.W. Cooke reviewed the exhibition in National Review Online, concluding eloquently with a summary of all that Churchill was:

“It would be a grave mistake to presume that, after a rough school career, the boy magically transformed into a sage. Lord Birkenhead never spoke truer words than when observing, ‘When Winston’s right, he’s right. When he’s wrong, well, my God.’ But while Churchill was often wrong, he was never unsure. Of the British government’s policy toward Nazi Germany he wrote, ‘so they go on in strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent.’ Whatever his flaws, these were words that could never have been spoken of him. Instead, he lived by his motto: ‘I never worry about action, only inaction.’ The modern world owes that fact a sizeable debt.”

As a regular contributor to Finest Hour, I found the exhibition extremely informative. The opportunity to view its documents and artifacts together is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

If you have the opportunity to see “Churchill: The Power of Words,” you will not be disappointed. In addition, the Morgan Library Shop offers a large array of Churchill items and books, including Martin Gilbert’s new 2012 hardback Churchill: The Power Of Words: His Remarkable Life Recounted Through His Writings And Speeches. The book contains 200 extracts from his books, articles, and speeches, selected, edited and introduced by Martin Gilbert. While at The Morgan Library & Museum, I highly recommend a visit to the beautiful Pierpont Morgan Study and The Original Library. For further information, link on to www.themorgan.org/home.asp.

“Power of Words” Video
On June 13th, noted television moderator Charlie Rose convened an extremely good panel on Churchill’s “Power of Words”: Celia Sandys, David Reynolds, Peter Clarke and Lord Watson. http:// xrl.us/bnbviz. He could not go wrong with such a cast, though we were surprised to hear Prof. Reynolds repeat the “jaw-jaw/war-war” canard, which was said by Harold Macmillan. Lord Watson, discussing Churchill’s trip to Potsdam in 1945, made a poignant observation: Churchill’s distress at the destruction of Berlin was something in a victorious war leader that is “very rare” at a time like that. David Reynolds was throughout poignant and penetrating, never setting a foot wrong about “Mr. Churchill’s Profession”—the title of Peter Clarke’s excellent new book (see reviews). We heard only two major inaccuracies: two panelists suggested that Chamberlain supported Halifax’s futile notion of exploring a German armistice through the Italians in late May 1940; and Charlie Rose alleged incorrectly that Churchill said he should have died in 1945. This was a really thoughtful and instructive conversation on Churchill as statesman-writer.