Liberty Memorial

Standing tall at 217 feet of tubular steel and concrete, the Liberty Memorial is not just a beloved Kansas City landmark, but also a national treasure of tribute to the fallen soldiers of the Great War (the first one). The memorial was conceived in 1920–just two years after the Armistice–by a group of powerful city leaders including J.C. Nichols and R.A. Long. Its dedication ceremony in 1921 was attended by President Calvin Coolidge, accompanied by an assemblage of the Allied Forces’ top military personnel, gathered in one place for the first time. Since that monumental day, the Liberty Memorial and its grounds have gone through periods of neglect and disrepute (in the latter-half of the 20th century it was a popular “cruising” spot for local gay men, eliciting a fair share of phallic jokes). In 2006, the site was repurposed to house the nation’s first and only World War I museum, restoring honor to the powerful landmark and its war.