June 6 (Tribune News Service) — At a ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the National World War II Museum and the 81st anniversary of the D-Day invasion that inspired it, officials announced a new, 10-year fundraising effort that will launch the next phase in the New Orleans museum’s evolution.

Called the Victory’s Promise Campaign, the effort will seek to raise $300 million over the next decade — money that will be used to reach new audiences beyond the museum’s current campus and bring artifacts, expertise and original content to more people around the world.

“Our mission has relevance and importance in every corner of this country,” said Stephen Watson, president and CEO of the museum. “As this generation leaves us and our role as storyteller takes on more significance, we have an obligation to do more.”

Watson made the announcement at a ceremony Friday in the museum’s U.S. Freedom Pavilion, where vintage military aircraft, including a B-17 bomber, hang suspended from the ceiling.

About 500 veterans, museum supporters and visitors turned out for the event, which honored nearly two dozen World War II veterans, all now in their 90s or older, and several survivors of the Holocaust. Their entrance into the cavernous exhibition hall was met with steady applause. Most were in wheelchairs, pushed by family members.

Among the veterans was Ret. Judge Steven Ellis, 100, who served on a Navy landing vessel called a LST 751 in the Pacific Theater after joining the ROTC at Tulane University as a 19-year-old student.

“World War II was a world-changing event and yet so many of the people I talk to really don’t know anything about it,” said Ellis, who still volunteers at the museum on weekends, sharing his experience with visitors. “They come here to learn, and this museum is so effective at teaching and telling a story that needs to be told.”

Exciting day

The National WWII Museum was conceived by University of New Orleans history professor Stephen Ambrose to tell the story of the Allied invasion of France that eventually liberated Europe.

Nick Mueller, the museum’s founding board chair and executive director from 2000 to 2017, remembers arriving at the idea with Ambrose, his friend and colleague at UNO, over a glass of sherry after work.

At the time, Ambrose was collecting oral histories of D-Day veterans and envisioned a small museum that would serve as a repository for what was then 600 or so taped interviews.

“He thought we could build it for about $1 million,” said Mueller, who was dean and vice chancellor at UNO at the time. “I said it would take at least $4 million.”

Ten years and some $20 million later, the National D-Day Museum opened on June 6, 2000. By then, business and civic leaders had gotten behind the project. So had prominent celebrities and history buffs, including director Steven Spielberg and actor Tom Hanks, who were working on the HBO miniseries “Band of Brothers” based on Ambrose’ book by the same name.

Hanks and Spielberg attended the opening, which attracted more than 300,000 people and was marked by a military parade and a flyover of vintage aircraft. They sat on a dais outside the new facility with Ambrose and Mueller and other notables, including NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw and then-U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen.

“It was one of the most exciting three days of my life,” said Mueller, now CEO Emeritus. “And from that day on, the museum has exceeded our expectations in almost every way.”

Trusted resource

In its first years, the museum consisted of a single exhibition hall focused on that piece of the war’s long and complex history.

It has grown into the country’s official World War II museum with a seven-acre campus that has seven educational pavilions, a hotel and conference center, and additional buildings it will use for future growth.

Most of the museum’s growth began after the release of a 2004 master plan that kicked off the 20-year Road to Victory Capital Campaign and mapped out the museum’s current footprint. That campaign eventually raised $420 million and concluded in late 2023 with a ceremony dedicating the Liberation Pavilion, which focuses on the end of the war, the Holocaust and the post-war story.

The new Victory’s Promise campaign aims to reach more visitors locally and through traveling exhibitions; produce and distribute content about World War II and expand access to the museum’s collections, resources, and expertise; and create new educational resources for students and teachers.

“We want to become the most accessible and trusted resource on World War II in the country,” Watson said.

The campaign lays out specific, ambitious goals it wants to reach by 2035. Those annual targets include attracting 1 million visitors to the campus; offering free, guided field trips for 50,000 Louisiana students; engaging 15,000 teachers; and reaching 2 million more visitors through traveling exhibitions.

The plan calls for using more than $100 million to maintain buildings and exterior spaces, update and enhance exhibits, and renovate pavilions, as well complete some new construction.

Another $150 million will go towards building up the museum’s endowment, which is currently around $60 million.

“When we get to the end of the campaign, our work won’t stop,” Watson said. “Part of what we will do is try to raise money for our endowment so as we scale, we will be able to sustain our efforts.”

Already, the museum has secured commitments for $40 million, including a $1 million gift from former California Gov. Pete Wilson and his wife, Gayle Wilson, who were present at Friday’s ceremony.

A high standard

In the years since its opening, the museum has attracted about 10.5 million visitors to the city, or more than 625,000 a year on average, museum officials said.

About 85% come from out of state and absorb 1,000 local hotel rooms a night, including some of the 230 rooms in the $66.5 million Higgins Hotel, which opened in 2019 on Magazine Street on the museum campus.

“We built the hotel and conference center because so many of our visitors are from out of town,” Watson said. “We also do residential learning programs that we can host at the conference center.”

According to tourism officials, the museum has been a significant driver of economic activity in the city and helped counter the narrative that New Orleans is all about Bourbon Street and bachelorette parties.

It also has established itself as a world leader among history museums, according to consultant Gail Lord, whose Toronto-based firm Lord Cultural Resources has worked for the Louvre and the Smithsonian.

“There are many military museums around the world, and they all respect this museum and go visit to find out what they are doing and how they are doing it,” said Lord, who created the 2004 master plan. “They set a very high standard.”

More important than ever

The message of the WWII Museum is increasingly important in an era of rising isolationism and authoritarianism, museum officials said.

“This museum tells the story of the fight for freedom, democracy and the survival of our country against two fascist, totalitarian rulers who were bent on our destruction,” Mueller said. “We show how we won the war and what has kept us out of World War III for the past 80 years.”

The “promise” the Victory’s Promise campaign refers to is a vow to the veterans who fought in the war and whose numbers are dwindling. In the early years of the museum, dozens of World War II veterans regularly volunteered, sharing their experiences with visitors and bringing the war to life in new ways.

“When I started doing this a decade ago, at age 90, there were a couple of guys every morning that would come,” Ellis said. “Now, there is only one other guy besides myself. We’re running a little short.”

Ellis said he believes it’s important to tell the story of the war today more than ever.

“Democracy and freedom matter,” he said. “Today, too many people take it for granted. They will stop taking it for granted when it is taken away from them.”

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