Hall of Democracy

The Hall of Democracy, a 34,800-square-foot pavilion to be located in the heart of the Museum campus in 2018, will be the preeminent gateway for education, outreach, publishing, research and new media activities at the Museum. Its goal is to make WWII history and the Museum’s extensive collection of oral histories, photographs, artifacts, and archives more accessible to the public through new online and learning initiatives. The pavilion will house a special exhibits gallery; a WWII Media and Education Center with production studios and broadcast capabilities for the editing, production and dissemination of the Museum’s digital assets and programs; the Institute for the Study of War and Democracy; and a stunning library that will support research and public engagement.

Major centers of activities and initiatives in the Hall of Democracy will boldly advance a “museum without walls” agenda established in 2011 by the Museum’s Strategic Planning & Revisioning Task Force and later addressed in the institution’s capital expansion program. The Hall of Democracy will build on the Museum’s existing strengths and assets – in areas ranging from collections to teacher training—while ensuring future engagement with diverse audiences across the country and around the globe. Museum professionals and visiting scholars associated with this stunning pavilion, a capstone project for The National WWII Museum, will take full advantage of digitized research materials and rich opportunities for online education and other outreach.