U.S. observes centennial of entry into World War I
vanquish Germany and the conflict ended in 1918, more than 9 million people were lost to combat, some 116,000 of them Americans.
“World War I may not be part of the cultural narrative,” Naylor, whose grandfather served with the British in France a century ago, told The Associated Press on Tuesday. “But it is a defining period of history that reshaped the U.S. and birthed the American century. This gives us an opportunity to honor that.”
He figures the memorial’s selection for the centennial was a nod to the city’s push to make the monument happen, thanks to a burst of postwar patriotism that over 10 days in 1919 raised $2.5 million — the equivalent to about $35 million today. Children pitched in, going door-to-door collecting money in what was “an early 20th century story of crowdsourcing,” museum spokesman Mike Vietti said.
So noteworthy was the achievement that Allied commanders from Belgium, Great Britain, Italy, France and the U.S. gathered in 1921 to dedicate the site, across the street from the Kansas City train station that more than half of U.S. troops passed through before being shipped overseas.
When the monument was completed five years later, more than 150,000 turned out to hear President Calvin Coolidge dedicate it.
But years of deferred maintenance led the site to be closed in 1994. A massive $102 million transformation followed, funded by a sales tax, bond issue and private donations. The exterior was repaired, and the design firm behind attractions such as Washington’s Holocaust Memorial Museum was tapped to create a new museum that would tell World War I’s story of assassination, empires swept away and new nations born.
The site — its 200,000 visitors last year spanning more than 70 countries — was made official in legislation that President Barack Obama signed in 2014.