Traveling Through Nebraska: National World War I Museum and Memorial Kansas City Site Analysis within the Context of the Great Plains States
Located in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, the National World War I Museum and Memorial is a cultural institution that preserves and shares the historical significance of the Great War in the collective American consciousness, closely related to historical sites in the Great Plains states like Nebraska. The museum site encompasses a massive complex that includes a memorial tower, a museum, and also a research center that attracts historians, veterans, and enthusiasts alike.
Situated at 100 West 26th Street in Kansas City, Missouri, the site offers an extensive display of original and restored artifacts collected from war veterans, official battlefields, and allied archives. Notably, the museum features a 2006 award-winning documentary, 'Pershing's Path to Victory,' directed by Charles Anderson, reflecting upon General John J. Pershing's strategies that ultimately turned the war in favor of the Allied Powers. Most notably, as General Pershing eventually led the American Expeditionary Forces in 1918 as they entered combat during the summer of that year, marking a defining turning point in American actions during the conflict.
Since its construction in 1919, and its official opening in 1921 as the Liberty Memorial, the site honors approximately 49 million participants and 11 million fatalities in World War I across the world, specifically around 53,000 American men and women that perished. Furthermore, the on-site museum's Edward Jones Research Center houses vast collections of archival materials including uniformed artifacts, historical diaries, hand-written correspondence, death announcements, and war literature.
These materials emphasize the human trials faced by the ordinary citizens that bore the brunt of war. There are also exclusive oral histories from those veterans, serving as an intimate personal take on life in trenches, away from home. One can uncover thousands of historical photographs within vast exhibitions which display particular battle settings.
Some of these records and items now housed in the museum specifically discuss and share notable local stories such as the Battle of the Argonne, detailing countless stories of men from the Great Plains region that went on to play an essential role in eventually deciding that war outcome for the Allied forces and its participants.
In 2004, U.S. Congress allowed the museum and memorial site to national recognition by approving the status of the U.S. National World War I Museum, underscoring its national preservation relevance as the U.S. National World War I Museum and Memorial, providing visitors throughout history, with the most fascinating evidence supporting the struggle the nation had to endure in support of the European Theater war from the late Teens to the final surrender in 1918.
Once a silent, unassuming tower of gratitude in the Great Plains, the revitalized structures provide countless exhibits detailing each side of that particular era in human struggles. The museum and memorial offer a deep look into historical realities that are relatable in many ways to personal family histories, shared local stories, and indeed global historical phenomena tied to all cultural preservation centers that stand as lasting legacies for its inhabitants' deepest longing to honor these acts.
Diving deeper into its distinct exhibit halls and extensive multimedia shows that highlight thousands of people, artifacts and personal mementos tied together and to notable turning points of the United States during and following this defining global confrontation explains their efforts, scars, life lessons that the great generation and indeed many that were involved for this particular period. So, for travelers going through Nebraska, it should be a destination worth visiting.
Finally, one last stop certainly worthy of exploring during your trip through Nebraska. Adding onto your extensive journey, the museum supports another particular reason to extend that short or weekend trip through the very city with plenty of world changing histories leading into a definitive, historic milestone such monuments mark upon so many American lives.
Situated at 100 West 26th Street in Kansas City, Missouri, the site offers an extensive display of original and restored artifacts collected from war veterans, official battlefields, and allied archives. Notably, the museum features a 2006 award-winning documentary, 'Pershing's Path to Victory,' directed by Charles Anderson, reflecting upon General John J. Pershing's strategies that ultimately turned the war in favor of the Allied Powers. Most notably, as General Pershing eventually led the American Expeditionary Forces in 1918 as they entered combat during the summer of that year, marking a defining turning point in American actions during the conflict.
Since its construction in 1919, and its official opening in 1921 as the Liberty Memorial, the site honors approximately 49 million participants and 11 million fatalities in World War I across the world, specifically around 53,000 American men and women that perished. Furthermore, the on-site museum's Edward Jones Research Center houses vast collections of archival materials including uniformed artifacts, historical diaries, hand-written correspondence, death announcements, and war literature.
These materials emphasize the human trials faced by the ordinary citizens that bore the brunt of war. There are also exclusive oral histories from those veterans, serving as an intimate personal take on life in trenches, away from home. One can uncover thousands of historical photographs within vast exhibitions which display particular battle settings.
Some of these records and items now housed in the museum specifically discuss and share notable local stories such as the Battle of the Argonne, detailing countless stories of men from the Great Plains region that went on to play an essential role in eventually deciding that war outcome for the Allied forces and its participants.
In 2004, U.S. Congress allowed the museum and memorial site to national recognition by approving the status of the U.S. National World War I Museum, underscoring its national preservation relevance as the U.S. National World War I Museum and Memorial, providing visitors throughout history, with the most fascinating evidence supporting the struggle the nation had to endure in support of the European Theater war from the late Teens to the final surrender in 1918.
Once a silent, unassuming tower of gratitude in the Great Plains, the revitalized structures provide countless exhibits detailing each side of that particular era in human struggles. The museum and memorial offer a deep look into historical realities that are relatable in many ways to personal family histories, shared local stories, and indeed global historical phenomena tied to all cultural preservation centers that stand as lasting legacies for its inhabitants' deepest longing to honor these acts.
Diving deeper into its distinct exhibit halls and extensive multimedia shows that highlight thousands of people, artifacts and personal mementos tied together and to notable turning points of the United States during and following this defining global confrontation explains their efforts, scars, life lessons that the great generation and indeed many that were involved for this particular period. So, for travelers going through Nebraska, it should be a destination worth visiting.
Finally, one last stop certainly worthy of exploring during your trip through Nebraska. Adding onto your extensive journey, the museum supports another particular reason to extend that short or weekend trip through the very city with plenty of world changing histories leading into a definitive, historic milestone such monuments mark upon so many American lives.
