For information call: Clifford Laube at (845) 486-7745
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Presidential Library and Museum
announces the opening of a
new major special exhibition
"D-Day: FDR and Churchill's 'Mighty Endeavor'"
to commemorate the
75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion
Saturday, May 25, 2019 (runs until January 6, 2020)
Regular Library and Museum admission applies
The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum will open a new major special exhibition,
"D-Day: FDR and Churchill's 'Mighty Endeavor'"
-- to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day invasion -- on Saturday, May 25, 2019 in the William J. vanden Heuvel Gallery of the Library and Museum. The exhibit runs through January 6, 2020.
Regular Library and Museum admission applies.
For information on exhibit-related programming over Memorial Day Weekend CLICK HERE.
"D-Day: FDR and Churchill's 'Mighty Endeavor'" marks the 75th anniversary of the Allies' greatest military achievement, the June 6, 1944 invasion of Normandy, and
features many items never before on public display.
Code-named Operation OVERLORD, the D-Day invasion sealed the fate of Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime. This exhibit explores the friendship between Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchill -- often called the most important of the twentieth century. Forged amid the most devastating war in human history, it has attained an almost mythic status. The complexity of their "special relationship" is revealed in the top-secret communications that flowed back and forth across the Atlantic as they debated and decided on the greatest amphibious assault in the annals of war.
OVERLORD was a triumph of Allied cooperation and planning -- and this exhibit takes visitors inside the rooms where it happened. On the surface Anglo-American unity was the top priority. Yet behind the public face of Allied harmony lay a more conflicted reality. Years of disagreements, postponements, and sometime angry debate preceded the decision to undertake the great invasion. Churchill observed, "There is only one thing worse than fighting with allies, and that is fighting without them." Understanding their differences makes the successful wartime collaboration in their "mighty endeavor" even more remarkable. Using the collections of the Franklin Roosevelt Presidential Library and the Churchill Archives Centre of Churchill College, Cambridge, this special exhibit tells the story of that collaboration and the friendship that sustained it.
Featuring four interactive installations including a 65" touch-table showing the location and movement of the 1.2 million soldiers and sailors involved in the invasion, visitors can explore the actual maps and classified cables from FDR's secret Map Room. There are 69 documents,
many never seen in public before
, and 39 artifacts including a rare ECM Mark II SIGABA cipher machine that was used to encode the most sensitive transmissions from FDR to Churchill. A wide range of historic photographs, films, newspapers, and cartoons show the extraordinary scope of Operation OVERLORD.
This exhibit was made possible through the generous support of the Library's nonprofit partner, the Roosevelt Institute with additional support from Charina Endowment, The Dyson Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, The National Archives and Records Administration, Churchill Archives Centre of Churchill College, Cambridge, Chartwell | National Trust, National Cryptologic Museum, America's National Churchill Museum and Wilderstein Historic Site.
Please contact Cliff Laube at (845) 486-7745 with questions about the exhibition.