May 23, 2026

By Adam Howard, Executive Director

Last week, members and friends of the International Churchill Society gathered in Tuxedo Park, New York, for a remarkable visit to one of the lesser-known yet deeply consequential landscapes of the Second World War.

Tuxedo Park is often remembered for its Gilded Age elegance, its lakeside setting, and its place in American social history. Founded in 1886 by Pierre Lorillard IV, it became a private retreat for leading American families and, famously, helped popularize the tuxedo dinner jacket. Yet behind the gates and grand houses of this secluded community lies another story: one of scientific brilliance, private initiative, wartime urgency, and transatlantic cooperation.

Our visit allowed us to walk in the footsteps of innovators whose work helped change the course of the war. At the center of that story was Alfred Lee Loomis: a financier, scientist, and extraordinary private citizen who transformed his Tuxedo Park estate into a world-class laboratory. Before the war, the Loomis Laboratory attracted some of the greatest scientific minds of the age, including figures associated with modern physics, precision timekeeping, ultrasonics, and early technological research. It was a place where ideas were not simply discussed but tested, funded, and advanced.

That private laboratory became profoundly important in 1940. Britain stood alone in its darkest hour. Winston Churchill understood that victory would require not only courage and endurance but also technological superiority and American cooperation. In an act of extraordinary strategic trust, Churchill authorized the Tizard Mission to bring some of Britain’s most valuable scientific secrets to the United States, including the resonant cavity magnetron, a breakthrough device essential to the development of high-powered microwave radar.

Those secrets represented more than technology; they represented sacrifice. Britain shared knowledge it could scarcely afford to risk losing because Churchill understood that the survival of free nations depended on building the Anglo-American alliance before it formally existed. At Tuxedo Park, Loomis recognized the significance of what Britain had entrusted to America. He moved quickly, using his own resources and scientific network to accelerate research that would help lead to the MIT Radiation Laboratory and major advances in radar.

Radar gave the Allies new eyes in the fight against U-boats and in the air war over Europe. The story of Tuxedo Park reminds us that history is not made only in cabinet rooms and on battlefields. It is also made in laboratories, private homes, workshops, libraries, and quiet places where individuals decide that their talents and resources must serve a cause larger than themselves.

For ICS, this is exactly the kind of history we seek to bring to life. Churchill’s leadership was never isolated from the wider world of scientists, soldiers, diplomats, industrialists, and citizens who responded to the demands of their time. Tuxedo Park offers a powerful example of how vision, trust, ingenuity, and risk converged in the service of victory.

We are deeply grateful to those who joined us for this special gathering and to the friends of the Society who helped make the visit possible. We are especially appreciative of our hosts, Bob and Julie Daum, for bringing this piece of history to life. These intimate programs allow us to connect Churchill’s legacy to the places, people, and decisions that shaped the modern world.

This summer, we will continue that work with another special program at Hyde Park focused on Churchill, Roosevelt, strategy, trust, and the making of the Atlantic alliance. In August, ICS will host a small donor fundraising event connected to Hyde Park, along with a larger free public presentation at the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum. It will offer another opportunity to examine the relationship between Churchill and Roosevelt and the enduring importance of the partnership they forged.

We hope you will continue to follow these programs and join us when you can. The best way to stay informed about upcoming ICS events, member opportunities, special visits, and public programs is to become a member of the International Churchill Society.

Join ICS, stay connected, and be part of the ongoing work to preserve, interpret, and share Churchill’s legacy for a new generation.