While interviewing for a job as membership programs director at what was then The National D-Day Museum, Stephen J. Watson said he recalls the transformational moment that took him from interested job candidate to eager recruit.
“(Founding president/CEO) Nick Mueller and Hugh Ambrose, son of (museum co-founder) Stephen Ambrose, shared the vision to grow and develop the museum in a way that would tell the full story of the second World War,” he said. “It was thrilling, and I knew this was where I wanted to be. I said, ‘I’m in.’”
Twenty years and $400 million in developments later, Watson, now president and CEO of The National World War II Museum, saw this vision come to fruition with the November 3 opening of the Liberation Pavilion, the last of seven permanent exhibit halls and developments for the museum. The pavilion’s opening capped off the weeklong “D-Day to Liberation: Road to Victory Celebration,” which featured numerous events, including the 2023 Congressional Medal of Honor Society Convention saluting 60 new Medal of Honor recipients. The festivities also included a parade honoring 42 World War II veterans, home front workers and Holocaust survivors.
“It was an amazing conclusion to an incredible journey,” Watson recalls. “This museum has grown while the population of the World War II generation has dwindled. We always said there was a sense of urgency to have these World War II veterans present as we completed the project. To host and recognize these individuals, as well as the Medal of Honor recipients, was a great privilege.”
But the recent milestone does not mean the end of development for the museum. In addition to refreshing and redeveloping exhibits and programs, Watson and his team are creating a comprehensive strategy to expand the museum’s education programs and outreach potential. One concept is a Leadership Training Center, where participants — ranging from high school students to executives — can hone their leadership skills using World War II case studies and methodologies. Museum leadership also hopes to strengthen institutional outreach to classrooms nationwide, especially in higher education.
“We must do more than have a great museum in New Orleans,” Watson explains. “The people of the World War II generation are gradually leaving us, making our mission even more imperative. We will continue to find ways to ensure that this story is told.”
