"From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent..."
In 1946 it was at Westminster College that Winston Churchill delivered one of the most significant speeches of his long and illustrious career. That address, formally entitled, "Sinews of Peace," but best known for that evocative phrase, "An Iron Curtain has descended across the Continent", effectively marked the beginning of the Cold War and linked, forever, Fulton and Westminster College with Winston Churchill.
In the 1960s Westminster College set out to mark what would be the 20th anniversary of Churchill's visit. After due consideration to traditional modes of commemoration, Westminster College settled on the rather more ambitious notion of moving a Christopher Wren designed Church from London. This Church, St. Mary the Virgin Aldermanbury, had stood in London since 1677 when it replaced an earlier structure that had sat on the same site since the 12th century. This magnificent building, badly damaged during the London Blitz, was moved stone by stone to Westminster's campus and rebuilt to Wren's original specifications.
Beneath the church is America's National Churchill Museum itself which, through the imaginative and innovative use of technology, brings to life the story of Winston Churchill and the world he knew. The displays and permanent exhibition, together with a host of associated programs and events that support it, was recognized in 2009 by the United States Congress as America's permanent tribute to this great man and formally designated as America's National Churchill Museum. View Rep. Luetkemeyer's floor speech.
“Leave the past to history especially as I propose to write that history myself.”
