Phillips Joins NCWC Advisory Board

BLYTHEVILLE, Ark. (September 24, 2024) – Victoria Phillips, historian and author of “Martha Graham’s Cold War: The Dance of American Diplomacy,” has joined the National Cold War Center (NCWC) Advisory Board.

A longtime teacher and writer on the cultural history of the Cold War, Phillips’ work has appeared in various publications, including the New York Times and Ballet Review.

A Global Fellow at the Wilson Center, Phillips co-directs the Cold War Archival Research fellowship and the History, Culture and Diplomacy project at the London School of Economics (LSE). She also serves on various boards of directors and is co-founder of the Global Biography Working Group (Global.Bio). In the 2020-21 academic year, Phillips received the university award for Innovation in Teaching from the LSE.

“The cultural history of the Cold War is one of the most intriguing stories of the 20^th century,” said Phillips. “I hope to provide a unique perspective that paves the way for more people to learn about this world-altering conflict.”

Phillips’ next book, which she is working on under contract with Wolfson College and the Oxford University Centre for Life Writing, will be a biography of State Department employee and academic Eleanor Lansing Dulles.

“Victoria Phillips’ expertise in the cultural history of the Cold War is an incredible asset to the NCWC Advisory Board,” said Christian Ostermann, Co-chair of the National Cold War Center Advisory Board and Director of the History and Public Policy Program at the Wilson Center. “Phillips’ work humanizes the Cold War by providing unique glimpses into the lives of individuals who influenced the conflict, through their impact on art and culture.”

The National Cold War Center is a federally designated museum that will be located on the campus of the former Blytheville Air Force Base (originally known as the Blytheville Army Airfield), which opened in 1942 as a training facility for World War II pilots. In 1958, the base was converted to a Strategic Air Command alert mission. It remained a key U.S. military command for three decades – through events such as the Cuban Missile Crisis and the signing of the treaties officially ending the Cold War in the early 1990s. The NCWC is targeting a grand opening date in the fall of 2027. Once open, the NCWC will serve as the United States’ official museum of the Cold War.