Liberty Memorial

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For the suburb of Kansas City, see Liberty, Missouri.

For other memorials to liberty, see Monument of Liberty.

The Liberty Memorial, located in Kansas City, Missouri, USA, is "America's National World War I Memorial," as designated by the United States Congress in 2004. The museum located underneath and around it is similarly "America's National World War I Museum." <ref>The National World War One Museum, libertymemorialmuseum.org. Accessed Sept. 2006.</ref> On September 21, 2006, Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne declared the memorial a National Historic Landmark. [1]

1 History
2 Restoration
3 National World War I Museum
4 Photos
5 External links
6 Sources

[edit] History

The memorial was designed by Harold Van Buren Magonigle who won a design competition.

Image:DiazVictoryMemorialKC.jpg

It was dedicated on November 11, 1926, by U.S. President Calvin Coolidge. In attendance at the groundbreaking ceremony on November 1, 1921 were Lieutenant General Baron Jacques of Belgium, Admiral Lord Earl Beatty of Great Britain, General Armando Diaz of Italy, Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France and General John Pershing of the United States. In 1935 bas reliefs by Walker Hancock of Jacques, Diaz, Pershing, Beatty and Foch were unveiled.

The Liberty Memorial is the official World War I monument and museum of the United States. Its grounds include two Sphinx sculptures, two museums, and the centerpiece 217-foot (66 m) tower, among other things. A new, larger museum opened in 2006 beneath the observation deck surrounding the tower.

[edit] Restoration

The monument underwent an extensive $30 million restoration project beginning in early 2000 and concluding in May 2002. The restoration also created a space beneath the Memorial for the new museum.

[edit] National World War I Museum

On December 2nd, 2006, the National World War I Museum opened at this site. The cost of the museum totalled approximately $26 million, $20 million of which was raised by city bonds, the rest by Federal and private sources. The displays include a field of 9,000 red poppies, each of which represents 1,000 combat deaths. Visitors enter the museum to a glass floor suspended several feet above this field. <ref name=Museum>Associated Press National World War I museum opening in Missouri. Accessed Dec 1, 2006</ref>

[edit] Photos

Liberty Memorial Photos

[edit] External links

"Liberty Memorial" Official website.
Aber, Sarajane Sandusky, "An Architectural History of the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri". University of Missouri-Kansas City, 1918-1935.
Creighton, Neal, (Maj. Gen. U.S. Army retired), "The Liberty Memorial". Association of the U.S. Army, November 2002.
Myers, Richard B., (General U.S. Army; Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff), "Liberty Memorial Rededication". Kansas City, MO, Saturday, 25 May 2002
Liberty Memorial Association, "Murals at Liberty Memorial". 1961 (Photos and description of murals adapted to Memory Hall of the Liberty Memorial in the 1940s-1950s; MacMorris, Daniel) [Kansas City Public Library]
Millstein, Cydney, "Historic American Buildings Survery of Liberty Memorial". Architectural and Historical Research, April 1, 2000.