National World War II Museum, Military history museum in Central Business District, New Orleans, United States
The National World War II Museum is a history museum in New Orleans that focuses on American involvement in World War II. The exhibits feature personal narratives, interactive digital displays, and large collections of original artifacts and documents from the war period.
Plans for the museum date to 1964, when Dwight Eisenhower told historian Stephen Ambrose that Andrew Higgins, whose New Orleans firm built the LCVP landing craft, "won the war for us". It opened as the National D-Day Museum on June 6, 2000, in the 1888 Weckerling Brewery building. Congress designated it the national WWII museum in 2003, but the name changed only in 2006 after Hurricane Katrina.
The museum preserves personal stories from soldiers and civilians through photographs, artifacts, and recorded accounts. Visitors can explore these testimonies and understand how the war changed lives across different groups.
The museum is located in the Central Business District of New Orleans and is easy to navigate with clear signage throughout its multiple levels and themed areas. Plan to spend several hours exploring the collections and exhibits at your own pace.
The museum's site on Andrew Higgins Drive is named for the New Orleans industrialist whose Higgins Industries built the LCVP landing craft. Dwight Eisenhower told historian Stephen Ambrose that Higgins "won the war for us", a remark that set the museum project in motion in 1964. A Higgins boat is usually on display in the Louisiana Memorial Pavilion.
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