Kansas City's Liberty Memorial Readies for World War Centennial

From the Jan. 10, 2014, Kansas City (Mo) State "As World War I centennial approaches, Liberty Memorial museum will take center stage" by Matt Campbell.

The Liberty Museum is the largest repository of Great War items other than London's Imperial War Museum.

The Society for Military History will have 600 in attendance for their annual meeting at the museum in April. The World War I Centennial Commission, created by Congress, is anchored at the Liberty Memorial and will hold a conference in August which will be streamed online under the heading "Guns of August."

World War I was the first modern mechanized war and led to the collapse of empires. The beginning of the war will be marked this August, but another peak interest will be in 2017, the 100th anniversary of the United States' entry into it.

The Liberty Memorial Association is a private group, but manages the publicly-owned monument and will also be striving to raise money with the increased interest. It had its inception back in 1919, when Kansas City raised $2.5 million to create the Liberty Memorial which was dedicated in 1925.

A Place I'd Sure Like to Visit This Year. --DaCot