Local Programs

The National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial

On November 21, 1921, more than 100,000 people gathered on the grounds across from Kansas City’s Union Station. They came to watch as General George Pershing and military leaders from the five Allied nations dedicated the site for a monument to those who had fallen in the Great War.

Most remarkable was the single-minded purpose that brought so many together in the Heart of America that day. Just two weeks after the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918, Kansas City leaders first met to plan a lasting tribute to those who’d given their lives in defense of liberty. In only ten days they had raised more than 2.5 million dollars!

By 1926, construction was complete, and President Calvin Coolidge delivered the dedication speech to a teeming crowd of 150,000. Through the decades that followed, the Memorial stood vigil, an epilogue in stone to the globe-shaking events of 1914-1918. Veterans and their families, ordinary people and true scholars all came to honor and reflect upon the sacrifices so many bravely made.

Then, in 2004, Liberty Memorial began a new phase in its distinguished life. Congress designated $102 million to renovate it and build a National World War One museum at the tower’s base. The new complex opened to the public in 2006.

Now, visitors begin their experience by crossing over a field of poppies that evoke the blood-soaked battlefields of Europe, passing among artifacts and armaments, and literally winding their way into a replica of the trenches where much of the war was fought!

The effect is felt by all—from school groups who arrive knowing little about “the war to end all wars” to serious historians who devour its detailed collections. In fact, as geopolitical tensions continue to simmer, officers from the training school at Fort Leavenworth frequently come to seek lessons from mistakes of the past. And as always, the structure itself lends a breathtaking backdrop to the concerts and celebrations that flavor our town.

As we approach the 100th anniversary of the conflict’s beginning, it’s a perfect time to share the story of our nation’s only World War One Museum with Public Television viewers across the country.

To that end, KCPT proposes to produce and nationally distribute an hour-long documentary about the origins and importance of this monument, which stands proudly in the middle of America. A piece that will illuminate not only the resources housed at the museum, but the resourcefulness that brought it into being. Filmed in HD, this portrait of “A Place to Remember” will convey the eloquent beauty and epic sadness contained within our Liberty Memorial. National Emmy Award winning (Best Documentary 2005—BeGood, Smile Pretty) documentarian, Randy Mason, will executive produce.