KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County, including Independence. Share your story idea with Tod.
—
One of Kansas City's true cultural treasures is marking a major milestone.
President Calvin Coolidge officially opened the Liberty Memorial, as it was originally called, on Nov. 11, 1926. Now, 100 years later, the National World War I Museum and Memorial remains as relevant as ever.
"One of the things about a museum like this is to constantly remember the massive human cost of conflict," John Hosler, a visitor to the National World War I Museum and Memorial who works as a military history professor at Fort Leavenworth’s Command and General Staff College, said. “... It's crucial that we remember the sacrifice of the past, and Veterans Day is one of the great opportunities we have, along with Memorial Day, to remember that.”
For a century, the Liberty Memorial — as it was originally called — has embellished the city skyline.
"It's kind of hard to imagine Kansas City without it," Hosler said.
The museum, which was reimagined two decades ago, tells an important story, according to Hosler, and some visitors were surprised by the museum's age.
"It looks brand new. I didn't know it was 100 years old," said visitor John Padgett.
Padgett, who lives in Seattle, was in town to visit his mom. He brought her to the museum on Monday.
"I learned so much, and it's a beautiful facility and everything,” Padgett said. “I think it's a great way to spend a day here in Kansas City.”
The museum's leadership sees the centennial as a reflection of a larger mission.
"This place reminds us that we have a shared responsibility to be in service to one another, so that we can experience the sort of life that we would yearn for," explained Matthew Naylor, the museum's president and CEO.
Local hotelier Doug Gamble presented the first check from a unique revenue-sharing partnership with the World War I Museum and other nonprofits, which I first told you about last spring. A portion of bookings referred by the museum to the Spark by Hilton Kansas City Streetcar Plaza are donated back.
"If you have not been here and visited, you are doing yourself a disservice," Gamble said. “... This staple, this institution, it's intertwined with the fabric of Kansas City.”
Roughly 80% of the museum’s 200,000 annual visitors come from outside a five-mile radius around Kansas City, and Gamble said guests at his hotels regularly say visiting the museum and memorial was a big draw.
"I'm very confident this next century is going to present fabulous opportunities for us to serve the people of Kansas City, and for the people of Kansas City to claim this, continue to claim this as their own," Naylor said.
When I asked Gamble whether he hoped to look as good at 100, he had a quick reply.
"That's a rigged question there," Gamble said.
The National World War I Museum and Memorial's centennial Veterans Day ceremony begins Wednesday at 10 a.m. It will include a keynote address from Lt. Gen. Jim P. Isenhower III, the Commanding General of U.S. Army Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth.
Wednesday is also the final evening to catch the Liberty's Beacon artistic light installation, which is best viewed from the north lawn from 6 to 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday or Wednesday evening.
Additionally, military veterans and active-duty service members receive free admission, which is 50% of the general public.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
