Missouri Democrat House Minority Caucus Moves To Make Kansas City Home To National World War I Memorial

Here's the press release that hopes to make Kansas City's Liberty Memorial official and maybe thwart the efforts at the same designation for some competing sites . . .

House Democrats seek National WW I Memorial designation
for Liberty Memorial in Kansas City

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – State Rep. Mike Talboy on Tuesday filed a resolution asking Congress to declare Liberty Memorial National World War I Museum in Kansas City as the National World War I Memorial. All 72 members of the House Democratic Caucus have signed on as co-sponsors of the measure.

“The Liberty Memorial is an honored Kansas City landmark and with its existing status as the National World War I Museum, adding the national memorial designation just makes sense,” said Talboy, D-Kansas City. “This is important not just for Kansas City and Missouri but for the entire country.”

In 1919, Kansas City residents and community leaders launched a fundraising drive to build a memorial to the veterans of what was then known as The Great War. The effort raised more than $2.5 million in just 10 days. The site of the Liberty Memorial was dedicated on Nov. 1, 1921, and the supreme commanders of each Allied country spoke at the event, including American Gen. John J. Pershing, a Missouri Native. The memorial was completed three years later.

In 2004, Congress designated the Liberty Memorial, which at the time was undergoing a $102 million expansion and renovation, as the National World War I Museum. The new national museum opened on Dec. 2, 2006.

Talboy’s resolution, HCR 41, is simply a recommendation to Congress, which is considering establishing a national World War I memorial. Both of Missouri’s U.S. senators – Democrat Claire McCaskill and Republican Kit Bond – have sponsored federal legislation to grant the Liberty Memorial the national memorial designation.

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