National World War I Museum and Memorial

The National World War I Museum and Memorial is located in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. Opened in 1926 as the Liberty Memorial, it was designated by the United States Congress in 2004 as the country's official war memorial and museum dedicated to World War I. A non-profit organization manages it in cooperation with the Kansas City Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners. The museum focuses on global events from the causes of World War I before 1914 through the 1918 armistice and 1919 Paris Peace Conference. Visitors enter the exhibit space within the 32,000-square-foot (3,000 m²) facility across a glass bridge above a field of 9,000 red poppies, each representing 1,000 combatant deaths. As of 2025, the museum’s collection includes more than 350,000 items, making it one of the largest World War I collections globally.

The museum was closed in 1994 for renovations and reopened in December 2006 with an expanded facility to exhibit an artifact collection begun in 1920.

Soon after World War I ended, a group of 40 prominent Kansas City residents formed the Liberty Memorial Association (LMA) to create a memorial to those who had served in the war. For president, they chose lumber baron and philanthropist Robert A. Long, who had personally donated a large sum of money. James Madison Kemper was treasurer of the association, who had been briefly in 1919 the President of City Center Bank that was founded by his father, William T. Kemper. Real estate developer J. C. Nichols was a lead proponent, and businessman and philanthropist William Volker helped the city acquire the land. George Kessler was the landscape designer. Thomas Rogers Kimball, former president of the American Institute of Architects, assisted Henry M Beardsley in selecting the architect, Harold Van Buren Magonigle.

In 1919, the LMA led a fund drive that included 83,000 contributors and collected more than US$2.5 million in less than two weeks (equivalent to $45.3 million in 2024), driven by what museum curator Doran Cart has described as "complete, unbridled patriotism". This prevented the monetary problems that had plagued the Bunker Hill Monument for the American Revolutionary War in Boston one century earlier.

The groundbreaking ceremony on November 1, 1921, was attended by 200,000 people, including Vice President Calvin Coolidge, Lieutenant General Baron Jacques of Belgium, Admiral of the Fleet Lord Beatty of Great Britain, General Armando Diaz of Italy, Marshal Ferdinand Foch of France, General of the Armies John J. Pershing of the United States, and 60,000 members of the American Legion. The local veteran chosen to present flags to the commanders was a Kansas City haberdasher, Harry S. Truman, who would later serve as 33rd President of the United States from 1945 to 1953. The finished monument was dedicated on November 11, 1926, by 30th President Coolidge, in the presence of Queen Marie of Romania. Coolidge announced that the memorial "...has not been raised to commemorate war and victory, but rather the results of war and victory which are embodied in peace and liberty ... Today I return in order that I may place the official sanction of the national government upon one of the most elaborate and impressive memorials that adorn our country. The magnitude of this memorial, and the broad base of popular support on which it rests, can scarcely fail to excite national wonder and admiration."

In 1935, bas reliefs by Walker Hancock of Jacques, Beatty, Diaz, Foch, and Pershing were unveiled.

In 1961 the monument was rededicated by former President Harry S. Truman. The local effort to restore the fading monument was headed by Armand Glenn, the local head of the central district legion. Local company Hallmark provided support, and on November 11, 1961, on its 40th anniversary, there was a large dedication ceremony on the memorial grounds. A crowd of 15,000 watched Truman preside over the service.

In 1981–1982, corresponding to its 60th anniversary, the building revealed new exhibits under improved lighting sources.