Bold. Resolute. Resilient. These are words often used to describe Winston Churchill. They are also apt descriptors of America's National Churchill Museum. Despite the challenges of day, the Museum continues its mission and purpose in a most appropriate manner: by preserving and promoting the legacy and leadership lessons of Winston Churchill for current and future generations.

With challenges come changes, and we are finding new ways to conduct business. Through free webcasts, newly digitized archival material, and continued research on our extraordinary permanent collection, we are are looking at Churchill and his legacy afresh and anew.

At the same time, we have accelerated our efforts to preserve and conserve the largest work in our collection, the historic and majestic church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury.

All of this comes at a cost.

Even while we invest in its future, the coronavirus pandemic has had overwhelming economic implications for the Museum and our ability to continue our work to promote and preserve Winston Churchill's legacy. As a result, we are asking you to join our urgent fundraising effort by making a contribution to the Beacon of Resilience campaign today. Members of the Museum's Board leadership have generously pledged $100,000 and will match 2:1 all gifts between now and December 29. Your gift will make a critical difference as we navigate the challenging months ahead.

The Museum is pleased to make available an increasing number of past lectures and events available for viewing on our YouTube channel. This week's featured video is President Ronald Reagan's speech at the dedication of Edwina Sandys' Breakthrough sculpture.

"We rejoice in the demise of the Berlin Wall that was permanently breached one year ago today. We remember brave men and women on both sides of the iron curtain, who devoted their lives, and sometimes sacrificed them, so that we might inhabit a world without barriers."  President Ronald Reagan, Westminster College, November 9, 1990

Dedication of Edwina Sandys' Breakthrough by President Ronald Reagan at Westminster College (November 9, 1990)

In a new Museum publication, The Inspiring History of a Special Relationship, author and Churchill Fellow, Nancy Carver, examines the history of Winston Churchill's "Sinews of Peace" speech at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri and its impact on the "special relationship" between the United States and Great Britain.

Standing in the center of the tale is SIr Christopher Wren's remarkable church of St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury, a British-built monument all but destroyed in World War II and rebuilt at Westminster College in the 1960s.

Available on the Museum's online store or Amazon, 100% of the proceeds of the sale of the book will be used for the ongoing preservation of Sir Christopher Wren's St. Mary the Virgin, Aldermanbury.

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Forbes recently reported that nearly half of all Americans over 55 do not have a will. On the one hand, this is hardly a surprise. Most people do not wish to think of their mortality let alone confront it in writing. Yet, it is inevitable and demands careful and thoughtful attention. 

Winston Churchill was always concerned about his legacy. Unlike many Americans, he had a will. In it he provided for his family and ensured that individuals and organizations that he held dear would sustain and strengthen his own legacy. 

We invite you to do the same by making a planned gift to the Museum.

America's National Churchill Museum has created the Legacy Circle to engage and recognize friends who wish to preserve Winston Churchill's legacy, and their own, for posterity. We are grateful to many of you who have informed us of your intentions through a planned gift, be it a bequest, charitable remainder trust, insurance policy, or other means. Our gratitude, like Churchill's legacy, is eternal.