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| Established | November 11, 1926; 99 years ago (1926-11-11) |
|---|---|
| Location | Penn Valley Park,Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Public transit access | Streetcar,bus |
| Nearest parking | Onsite (no charge) |
| Website | theworldwar |
National World War I Museum and Memorial | |
 Museum in the Kansas City skyline | |
| Coordinates | 39°04′49″N94°35′10″W / 39.08028°N 94.58611°W /39.08028; -94.58611 |
| Built | 1926; 99 years ago (1926) |
| Architect | Harold Van Buren Magonigle, Westlake Construction Company George Kessler,landscape architect |
| Architectural style | Beaux Arts Classicism,Egyptian Revival |
| NRHP reference No. | 00001148 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | September 20, 2006[1] |
| Designated NHL | September 20, 2006[2] |
TheNational World War I Museum and Memorial is located inKansas City, Missouri, United States. Opened in 1926 as theLiberty Memorial, it was designated by theUnited States Congress in 2004 as the country's officialmuseum dedicated toWorld War I. In 2014, as part of the Centennial recognition, Congress added the designation as the country's officialwar memorial. A non-profit organization manages it in cooperation with the Kansas City Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners.[3] The museum focuses on global events from thecauses of World War I before 1914 through the1918 armistice and1919 Paris Peace Conference. Visitors enter the exhibit space within the 32,000-square-foot (3,000 m2) facility across a glass bridge above a field of 9,000red poppies, each representing 1,000 combatant deaths.[4] As of 2025, the museum’s collection includes more than 350,000 items, making it one of the largest World War I collections globally.[5]
The museum was closed in 1994 for renovations and reopened in December 2006 with an expanded facility to exhibit an artifact collection begun in 1920.[6]
Soon afterWorld War I ended, a group of 40 prominent Kansas City residents formed the Liberty Memorial Association (LMA) to create a memorial to those who had served in the war. For president, they chose lumber baron andphilanthropistRobert A. Long, who had personally donated a large sum of money.[7] James Madison Kemper was treasurer of the association, who had been briefly in 1919 the President ofCity Center Bank that was founded by his father,William T. Kemper. Real estate developerJ. C. Nichols was a lead proponent, and businessman and philanthropistWilliam Volker helped the city acquire the land.George Kessler was the landscape designer.[8]Thomas Rogers Kimball, former president of theAmerican Institute of Architects, assistedHenry M Beardsley in selecting the architect,Harold Van Buren Magonigle.[9]
In 1919, the LMA led a fund drive that included 83,000 contributors and collected more thanUS$2.5 million in less than two weeks (equivalent to $45.3 million in 2024), driven by what museum curator Doran Cart has described as "complete, unbridled patriotism".[10] This prevented the monetary problems that had plagued theBunker Hill Monument for theAmerican Revolutionary War inBoston one century earlier.[11]
The groundbreaking ceremony on November 1, 1921, was attended by 200,000 people,[10] including Vice PresidentCalvin Coolidge, Lieutenant GeneralBaron Jacques of Belgium,Admiral of the FleetLord Beatty ofGreat Britain, GeneralArmando Diaz of Italy, MarshalFerdinand Foch of France,General of the ArmiesJohn J. Pershing of the United States, and 60,000 members of theAmerican Legion. The local veteran chosen to present flags to the commanders was a Kansas City haberdasher,Harry S. Truman,[12] who would later serve as 33rd President of the United States from 1945 to 1953. The finished monument was dedicated on November 11, 1926, by 30th President Coolidge, in the presence ofQueen Marie of Romania.[13] Coolidge announced that the memorial "...has not been raised to commemorate war and victory, but rather the results of war and victory which are embodied in peace and liberty ... Today I return in order that I may place the official sanction of the national government upon one of the most elaborate and impressive memorials that adorn our country. The magnitude of this memorial, and the broad base of popular support on which it rests, can scarcely fail to excite national wonder and admiration."[14]
In 1935,bas reliefs byWalker Hancock of Jacques, Beatty, Diaz, Foch, and Pershing were unveiled.[15]
In 1961 the monument was rededicated by former President Harry S. Truman. The local effort to restore[16] the fading monument was headed by Armand Glenn, the local head of the central district legion. Local companyHallmark provided support, and on November 11, 1961, on its 40th anniversary, there was a large dedication ceremony on the memorial grounds. A crowd of 15,000 watched Truman preside over the service.
In 1981–1982, corresponding to its 60th anniversary, the building revealed new exhibits under improved lighting sources.[16]: 142
The memorial was closed in 1994 due to safety concerns because aging had produced problems with drainage and the original construction. Local shopping malls voluntarily helped to display part of the museum collection while the memorial was unavailable. When the poor condition of the building became an embarrassment for the city,[10] Kansas City voters in 1998 passed a limited-run sales tax to support the restoration.[17] Plans were made to expand the site with a museum to accommodate the LMA's growing collection. Local, national, and international support provided$102 million (equivalent to $197 million in 2024), ultimately revealed at its 2006 reopening.[18]
In 2004, Congress named it the nation's official World War I museum, and construction started on a new 80,000-square-foot (7,400 m2) expansion and theEdward Jones Research Center underneath the original memorial, which was completed in 2006. The Liberty Memorial was designated a National Historic Landmark on September 20, 2006.[19]
A substantial renovation, estimated at$5 million, began in December 2011.[20] It included $170,000 in energy efficiency upgrades and improvements to the artificial flame atop the tower.[21] After several months of dormancy, the flame was relit on February 1, 2013. Security was upgraded, certain limestone sections were repaired, and the brush was removed.[20][21]
In 2016, it was announced that Wylie Gallery would be constructed within unused space on the east side of the museum building.[22][23] It was part of a $6.4 million upgrade made possible by a fundraising campaign[24] coinciding with the tenth anniversary of the museum's 2006 reopening. The gallery was opened in 2018[25] and houses traveling exhibits from around the world.[22][24]
On December 19, 2014, PresidentBarack Obama signed legislation recognizing it as "a 'World War I Museum and Memorial'", which resulted in the redesignation of the entire site as the National World War I Museum and Memorial.[26]
The national design competition was managed byThomas R. Kimball, a former president of theAmerican Institute of Architects (AIA). After discord within the organization locally, the design contract was finally awarded to New York architectHarold Van Buren Magonigle. A disagreement between the Kansas City Chapter of AIA members and Kimball over the rules caused almost half of the local members to resign in April 1922. They immediately formed the Architectural League of Kansas City, which was merged into the AIA in the early 1930s. Unlike the AIA at the time, the Architectural League of Kansas City provided membership to less experienced architects and drafters and provided social and educational opportunities. Regardless of the controversy, many local architects submitted entries, including those who resigned from the AIA. The jury unanimously awarded the contract to Magonigle.[27]
The main doors at the bottom of a large set of stairs are made from ornamental bronze, and the walls of the first-floor lobby are finished inKasota stone[28] quarried inKasota, Minnesota. The first-floor corridor and the grand stairway are finished intravertine imported from Italy.[28] At night, the top of the 217-foot-tall (66-meter) memorial tower emits a flame effect from steam illuminated by bright red and orange lights. The illusion of a burningpyre can be seen from some distance. Overall, the memorial rises 265 feet (81 meters) above the surrounding area.[29]
The tower is crowned with four sculptures, the Guardian Spirits. Carved by Robert Aitken and each standing 40 feet (12 m) tall, they represent protectors of peace, each holding a sword and named for a virtue: Honor, Courage, Patriotism, and Sacrifice.[citation needed]
The tower and buildings are designed in the classicalEgyptian Revival architecture style with alimestone exterior.[28] The foundation was constructed using sawedgranite, and the exterior ground-level walls are made of Bedford stone. On opposite sides of the main deck of the Liberty Memorial are Exhibition Hall and Memory Hall.[30] Memory Hall includes murals originally painted for thePanthéon de la Guerre in Paris, and adapted by LeRoy Daniel MacMorris[16]: 99–111 in the 1950s.
Between each hall and the tower, above the museum entrance, sit two stone Assyriansphinxes, named "Memory" and "Future", covering their faces with their wings. Memory faces East, shielding its face from the horrors of the European battlefields. Its counterpart faces West and shrouds its eyes from a future yet unseen.[30]
The underground portion was designed byRalph Appelbaum Associates and expanded the original facilities.[31] The north side of the museum, opposite the main entrance and below the Liberty tower, contains a large work of art upon its wall, which is visible from neighboringUnion Station.
The grounds were designed byGeorge Kessler[33] who is also famous for his pioneeringCity Beautiful design for the Kansas City park and boulevard system.[34] Kessler Road borders the west side.
Just outside the museum entrance is a large elliptical fountain, and on each side is a tapering staircase ascending to the memorial deck above. The approach from the south contains the Walk of Honor, a series of engraved bricks in three sections commemorating veterans of World War I, veterans of all wars, and honored civilians.[35]
[I]t took seventeen years to build the 221 foot (67 meter) granite monument because the supporters of the project kept running out of funds. As a matter of fact, the monument committee had to eventually sell 10 of the 15 acres they had purchased for the monument...
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