Preserving the Legacy: Creating The National WWII Museum

Preserving the Legacy offers a comprehensive and compelling look at the founding and first two decades of The National WWII Museum, now one of the largest and most immersive military museums in the United States. Before its inception, friends and historians Gordon H. “Nick” Mueller and Stephen E. Ambrose recognized the need for an institution dedicated to preserving the oral histories of WWII veterans and the history of World War II more generally. Their efforts resulted in the opening of the D-Day Museum on June 6, 2000.

With funding from the federal government, the state of Louisiana, and numerous individuals―including actor Tom Hanks and director Steven Spielberg―the Museum rapidly expanded. Following Ambrose’s death in 2002, the U.S. Congress designated the institution as “America’s National World War II Museum.” Today it consists of seven separate pavilions that span the entirety of the war and boasts several multifaceted educational programs, many of which are held in the Museum’s Higgins Hotel and Conference Center. Its twenty-five-year history is one of remarkable success.

Preserving the Legacy begins with a foreword by famed journalist and longtime champion of the Museum Tom Brokaw. Nick Mueller then narrates the growth of the Museum, detailing its leadership and the various intellectual challenges involved in accurately portraying the scale of wartime sacrifice and loss. He traces the development, deliberations, and decisions of the many boards and committees that helped transform the embryonic institution into a sprawling museum complex in the heart of New Orleans. Far surpassing the modest intentions of its founders, The National WWII Museum not only provides today’s visitors with authentic historical context but also will serve as a valuable educational resource for generations to come.