First Permanent U.S. Home for the Study of Winston Churchill to be Located at the George Washington University

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The first permanent American home for studies of one of the greatest leaders of the 20th century, Sir Winston Churchill, will be located at the George Washington University.
 
The Churchill Centre, a Chicago-based international educational organization devoted to preserving the legacy of Winston Churchill, has agreed to establish the National Churchill Library and Center at the George Washington University through an $8 million pledge to the university. The agreement between the two institutions includes rare books and other research materials for the new Center, academic positions for the study of Churchill and British history and renovations to the ground floor of GW's Estelle and Melvin Gelman Library. The Center will open in several stages between 2013 and 2015.

Talks to bring the Center to the George Washington University began with former university President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg. The partnership includes a dedicated street-level space for the National Churchill Library and Center; a $2.5 million endowed professorship in Churchill and 20th Century British History in GW's Columbian College of Arts and Sciences; a $2.5 million endowed curatorship of the National Churchill Library and Center; and a $1 million program and collection endowment to fund a wide range of lectures, seminars, programs and exhibits for scholars, students and visitors. An additional $2 million will be provided for renovations to the ground floor of Gelman Library to create the Library and Center, which will house an extensive collection of books and other research materials by and about Churchill and his times as well as related exhibition space.

The project will be developed with the collaboration and support of major Churchill institutions in the United Kingdom, including the Churchill War Rooms and Museum, Chartwell (Churchill's family home, operated by The National Trust) and the Churchill Archives Centre at Churchill College, the University of Cambridge, as well as members of the Churchill family. The GW center will serve as a repository for Churchill resource materials, such as books, pamphlets, speeches and photographs donated by members of the Churchill Centre and others. 
  

SOURCE George Washington University