“From Brooklyn to Blenheim and Beyond— The Influence of Winston Churchill's Mother" A Special Lecture by Randolph Churchill II & Jennie Churchill Repard

@ The Bijou Theatre
When: 
Tuesday, October 7, 2014 - 7:00am to Wednesday, October 8, 2014 - 7:45am

Winston Churchill’s roots were British and American. He was uniquely placed to stand up for the shared values of freedom and liberty so nearly lost in those dark days of 1940.  Churchill’s beautiful and captivating mother, Jennie Jerome, born in Brooklyn in 1854, was a New Yorker through and through. She met Lord Randolph Spencer Churchill in a whirlwind romance, and they married against both parents’ wishes.  But she was no social butterfly.  She cultivated an amazing personal network, and she left no stone unturned in her determination to advance her eldest son’s career.  Less known but no less striking are her personal roles: providing relief to sufferers during the Irish famine; nursing the wounded in the Boer War, for which she organized her own hospital ship; and, in the First World War, helping to run hospitals. She had passion, grit, and determination to improve her society, and there can be no doubt that today she would be one of the great political power brokers. But working within the constraints of her time, she sought to influence through others.

Randolph Churchill, with help from his sister Jennie – her great-great-grandmother’s namesake – will bring light and focus on this remarkable woman and the role she played in the Churchill story. They will also discuss the romance between Randolph Churchill and his American-born wife, Jerome, as well as Winston Churchill’s role in the D-Day Invasion and World War II.

This lecture is presented by the East Tennessee Historical Society in partnership with the Bijou Theatre.  Admission is free and open to the public.  The program begins at noon at the Bijou Theatre, 803 S. Gay Street, Knoxville.  For more information on the lecture, you may call 865-215-8824.

Randolph Churchill II and Jennie Churchill Repard
Jennie Jerome Churchill with sons John and Winston (on right)
Sponsors: 
Bijou Theatre