Museums

The One and Only

Posted at May 28, 2008 12:39

By B.J. Alderman

THE NATIONAL WORLD WAR I
Museum at the Liberty Memorial at Kansas
City opened its doors almost a year ago to
rave reviews. At the only national World War
I museum in the country, visitors enter the
exhibits via a transparent walkway over a noman’s-
land battlefield filled with nine thousand
blooming poppies. Inside, the collection of
more than fifty thousand artifacts orients visitors
to the World War I era, its causes, and its
lasting effects as well as the personal aspects of
fighting under trench warfare conditions.

Originally funded by donations from veterans
and built immediately after the end
of the Great War, the Liberty Memorial was
dedicated by President Calvin Coolidge in
1921. Captain Harry S. Truman, World War
I veteran and future president of the United
States, served on the decorating committee for
the event. Guests of honor included the victorious
military leaders of Belgium, Italy, France,
Great Britain, and Missouri’s own General John
J. Pershing, the only time these men were ever
together in one place.

In this modern era of museums when history
draws the visitor in by making the past a
personal experience through the use of exhibits,
this museum presents a well-rounded story
of the fighting on all sides, both before and
after the entrance of U.S. troops.

Recently, seventy-eight-year-old Cecil
Chappelow of Kansas City accompanied his
daughter and two teenage granddaughters from
southern California to the museum, and each
generation found the afternoon intriguing and
educational. Cecil says that the exhibits effectively
tell the story of the wartime experience
in a “well integrated manner: the era, people,
uniforms, weapons from different countries.”
His granddaughters enjoyed the photo exhibit
at the entrance and information about the U.S.
Army Nurse Corps volunteers who became
part of the British Expeditionary Force.

The museum houses the letters of nurse
Florence Edith Hemphill, a native of Chanute,
Kansas, who noted: “We had had quite a good
many Americans in this last week. Some of
them are seriously wounded, some gassed, and
some just slightly wounded. I am so glad we are
getting to take care of some of them anyway.
They are mighty nice boys and they are so glad
to see someone from home.”

Further into the museum, visitors are able
to peek into three different trench setups to
gain a sense of how the French, German, and
British forces lived during much of the fighting.
In like fashion, weapons and uniforms of
many nations are presented side by side.

The museum also documents the war
through film. Film footage taken during the
war captures conditions and provides context
for the artifacts contained in the museum.

Standing at the top (via elevator) of the
Liberty Memorial provides another impressive
exhibit—a spectacular view of the Kansas City
metropolitan area.

The National World War I Museum at the
Liberty Memorial is located at 100 West 26th
St. at Kansas City. Hours are 10 AM to 5
PM Tuesdays through Sundays, closed major
holidays. Visit www.nwwone.org or call 816-784-
1918 for more information.

October 2007

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