ON THIS DAY: March 7, 1932, Winston Churchill gives speech in Oakland

PITTSBURGH — Winston Churchill spoke at Oakland’s Carnegie Music Hall on March 7, 1932, as part of the Pittsburgh Lecture Series. It was his only visit to Pittsburgh.

Churchill had almost 30 years’ experience in British politics and appointed offices by the time of his visit and was generally considered to be retired from government service. The lecture was part of a national tour that was intended to shore up his finances following losses in the Wall Street Crash of 1929.

More than 1,000 people were in attendance to hear Churchill gives his lecture in Pittsburgh.

Winston Churchill British politician Winston Churchill when he called on President Herbert Hoover during his visit to U.S.A., at the White House in Washington in 1929. (AP Photo) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Winston Churchill lecture announcement Winston Churchill lecture announcement. (Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System)

Winston Churchill 14th October 1931: British politician Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) at the start of his election campaign. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images) (Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Vote For Me 27th October 1931: Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) stands in the back of an open car waving to the crowds as he goes to visit a polling booth at Epping where he was a candidate. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images) (Keystone/Getty Images)

Watchf AP- NEW YORK International News ENGLAND APHS60213 WINSTON CHURCHILL; CHARLIE CHAPLIN -COMEDIAN AND POLITICIAN MEET Charlie Chaplin, right, visits with Winston Churchill September 19, 1931. Chaplin was the guest of Churchill at the politician's home at Westerham, Kent, England. Chaplin is visiting in Europe in connection with his latest film. (AP Photo ) (AP- NEW YORK)

Winston Churchill Harris & Ewing, photographer. Winston Churchill, left; at White House, Washington, D.C. United States Washington D.C. District of Columbia Washington D.C, 1932. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016879476/. (Library of Congress)

Winston Churchill Winston Churchill behind microphones in Jan. 1939. (AP Photo/Staff/Puttnam) (Len PUTTNAM/ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Winston Churchill British politician Winston Churchill when he called on President Herbert Hoover during his visit to U.S.A., at the White House in Washington in 1929. (AP Photo) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Winston Churchill Harris & Ewing, photographer. Winston Churchill at the White House, Washington, D.C., 1932. (Library of Congress)

In his speech, he emphasized the importance of maintaining a strong military and the common role the United Kingdom and the United States had to play in keeping world peace.

“But how tragic it would be, if, after a protracted program of disarmament, we were to learn that the English-speaking peoples were the only ones so anxious about peace,” Churchill told the crowd.

Nine months later, Adolf Hitler became the chancellor of Germany.

Churchill was not in government service at the time and was considered by many to be out of politics for good. But he was also an avid writer, known for newspaper and magazine articles in addition to writing books, and it was in that capacity that he was invited to lecture in Pittsburgh. In fact, writing was his primary source of income at that time and he visited the United States several times while researching his final four-volume historical series, “A History of the English-Speaking Peoples” (1956-1958).

In February 1932, Churchill had made a point of going to the battlefield at Gettysburg. A portion of volume four was published separately as “The American Civil War” (1961). A letter from the Gettysburg National Military Park’s superintendent noted that the weather was poor, but that Churchill had asked many unexpected questions of the guide and “the distinguished gentlemen expressed himself as well pleased with the trip.”

After Hitler came to power on Jan. 30, 1933, Churchill began expressing alarm and was back on the path to prominence in British politics.

Winston Churchill lecture announcement Winston Churchill lecture announcement. (Archives & Special Collections, University of Pittsburgh Library System)