Today we’d like to introduce you to Cory Crowley.
Hi Cory, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
In 2019, after a nationwide search which included bids from 27 cities, Arlington was selected as the home for the National Medal of Honor Museum. We broke ground on National Medal of Honor Day – March 25 – in 2022, and opened our doors to the public three years later on March 25, 2025.
After a career working in the United States Senate and running my own public affairs firm, I began with this historic project in 2019 as the board was beginning consider bids and in the process of selecting a city. After selecting Arlington, we then moved to the design competition phase and selected a design by world famous architect Rafael Viñoly.
Viñoly’s design is instantly iconic – five massive columns each symbolizing a branch of the United States Armed Forces who have received a Medal of Honor, holding up a massive steel box which represents the heavy burden men and women in uniform shoulder for all of us every day.
The National Medal of Honor Museum is more than a building and exhibits. It is a vault for the values the Medal of Honor represents – courage and sacrifice, commitment and integrity, citizenship and patriotism. These values are shared by the more than 40 million individuals who have served in the Armed Forces since the Medal of Honor was established by President Lincoln during the Civil War and by the fewer than 4,000 service members who have earned this recognition.
The National Medal of Honor Museum isn’t a war museum or history museum. It is a biography museum. In it, we tell the stories of ordinary individuals who took extraordinary action for others. We tell these stories to inspire America and help everyone who visits realize we are ALL born with the potential to be extraordinary.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We announced Arlington as the home for the Museum in October of 2019. In February of 2020, we launched a $300 million capital fundraising campaign. Weeks later, COVID shut the world down and we had to learn how to approach potential donors and share the magnitude of our vision all over the phone or zoom. We persevered and received our first major gift over the phone from an amazing philanthropist in Aspen who gave us $20 million. Her gift inspired several others and within months we had raised the first $60 million.
The challenges of the pandemic persisted even after we broke ground as global supply chains were horribly disrupted and we struggled to get materials and products. The Museum building is an incredible feat of design and engineering. Multiple components could only be made by a single source. For example, the massive spiral stairs leading to the exhibit deck were made by one of the world’s largest ship builders in the Netherlands, because no one else has the equipment to bend steel of this size into a radius.
It was never hard to overcome these and other significant challenges when we stopped to remember what the individuals this museum celebrates had overcome to receive the Medal of Honor.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I began my career with a start in politics working for then Governor George W. Bush’s campaign for president in 2000. I didn’t know then that 20 years later it would become a full circle moment when I joined the National Medal of Honor Museum project because President Bush is one of our Honorary Directors. He and Mrs. Bush have been very involved and incredibly supportive of the project from day one.
After President Bush was sworn in to his first term, I went to work on Capitol Hill for my home state Senator – Chuck Grassley of Iowa. I had an amazing 10 year career in the Senate and only left in 2011 because after being exposed to and working on so many different issues and topics, I knew there was so much beyond Capitol Hill I wanted to do and experience. I hung out my own shingle and started a public relations firm. It is that work that brought me to the National Medal of Honor Museum when a dear friend I had known through politics called and asked to hire my firm for the Museum.
It was an extremely small staff in the very early days and so I, even as a consultant, was 100% member of the team. Over the years, as the organization grew and transformed, my role grew as well. Today, I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to be standing in as the chief executive following the departure of our President and CEO in December.
What matters most to you? Why?
Inspiring America to realize we are all born with the potential to be extraordinary. Any one of us can do something courageous and you don’t need to wear a uniform to do it. Through visits to the Museum, or interacting with the many programs and curriculums offered by the National Medal of Honor Griffin Institute, people of all ages will hear themes of character and be equipped to live and lead with honor.
Medal of Honor recipients aren’t different from us, but their selfless actions do represent the best of what we can all be. Everyone can see themself reflected in a Medal of Honor story because there are recipients from every state, every religion, every economic and ethnic background. They were teachers, mechanics, athletes, executives, race car drivers, sons, daughters, and parents. Ordinary people who took extraordinary action.
Pricing:
- Full priced museum entry is $30 for adults with discounts for students and military
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mohmuseum.org
- Instagram: @mohmuseum
- Facebook: @mohmuseum
- LinkedIn: National Medal of Honor Museum
- Twitter: @mohmseum
Image Credits
National Medal of Honor Museum
