Not sure if this is the best place to place this thread but…all the pics of of Arms Uniforms and Equipment after the first one so I was going to put it there but it is in a memorial so….…..
(Moderators if this would be more appropriate elsewhere please move)

I just came in form a 5 hour drive from Kansas City. Missouri where I visited the new US National WWI Museum (its web site can be found here www.libertymemorialmuseum.org/ ). The museum opened at the start of December. and is inside the refurbished original 1920s national WWI memorial. (just over from Union Station on Pershing Street) I have attached just a few photos below. I had not seen any comments on the museum here (I did a quick search but might have missed them) So here are a few observations.

I must say I was pretty impressed with the Museum, it is not huge but it has a nice well organized collection set out in a way that will work for a population who is far less familiar with WWI than would be the case in the Europe (or Australia / Canada etc). I think some of the designers of the Holocaust museum worked on this as there are some design similarities.
You enter the exhibit over a Perspex bridge – below which is a piece of no mans land covered in poppies, there are 9000 of them, each representing 1000 deaths in the conflict… it is actually quite effective and not as trite as it sounds.

The exhibits are arranged in a circular fashion and you move round anti-clockwise. In the center is a diorama / cinema where they show an opening/"orienting" film – telling the basic story of WWI – actually quite a nice 10 min summary. (There are excellent audio-visual elements all the way through including lots of photographs and sound booths where it is possible to listen to extracts of poems, stories and interviews. There are some nice interactive computer simulations in the middle – aimed probably at children but some of them are quite complex…I had fun anyway!) The film is projected over a long diorama (full size) which looks like it is based on some of the photographs of Tommies slogging along a duckboard trail through the mud of Passchendaele – its is nicely done and at points lit from the side so large shadows are cast on the projection wall – reminiscent of the figures in Nash's paintings…..

The first half of the semi-circle is pre 1917, the second half post 1917. The coverage given to the war prior to US involvement is pretty impressive given it is a US National Museum – although massively focused on the Western Front – there are mentions of Gallipoli etc (see picture) and other theatres. There are also exhibits which talk about the involvement of forces from the empires of Britain/France etc. I was a little worried that the tone would be rather "Gung-ho here come the gallant yanks to save the day" but there was far, far less of this than I would have expected – and the commentary on Belleau Wood and engagements specifically mention that within the context of the wider conflict they were relatively small engagements.
Like the IWM there are "trench exhibits" – these are much harder to photograph because you do not walk though them but peer into them through spy holes and small windows (the biggest about large enough to get your head/shoulders through) There are soundtracks etc playing in them. They are a little neat and orderly but what is nice is they model three distinct "types" (British/French/German) and talk about the differences – although no real explanation that I saw of how/why the Germans were able/willing to build theirs in a more substantial fashion. Nice comparisons though and well done.

There are nice collections of small arms and equipment and some good larger examples. Is should point out the collection is still actively seeking donations and collecting and I have no doubt that now it has "national status" objects and collections currently languishing on obscure places will (or at least should) be collected and centered on this museum (as far as I know the ONLY dedicated WWI museum in the US). It is more than just a collection of 'kit" one of the themes of the museum is the political significance of WWI in the US both domestically and as an emergent international power

The staff members I spoke with were extremely helpful and knowledgeable – I spoke at length with the director of educational programming and with the archivist in the research section. (I was seeking assistance on a project I am starting at my workplace)

The research section is relatively small but growing. I was surprised to find they had really a pretty good selection of BRITISH UNIT HISTORIES… (I am guessing 50+ - I may be able to obtain a list) The public section is well organized and accessible. They have a good number of US unit histories too- although there is a primary source section /documents section (appointments needed) I believe it is relatively limited – and most of the primary items are displayed in the exhibits. I have no doubt however this will grow; the archivist was very helpful also.

General feel of the museum (despite being within the original building) is new and well organized – with room to grow. I was a little disappointed that there was relatively cursor coverage (though there was some and what there was, was good) given to African American contributions – I might have missed it but I saw nothing on the 1919 intervention in Russia... there was however good coverage of French and German (in fact probably more French and German than British – perhaps donations are in order! – given the recent thread I couldn't help notice their Australian in the Gallipoli case was in his shirtsleeves – no KD tunic!)

I have just selected a few pictures I have a lot more if there is any interest. It was worth the 600mile roundtrip as far as I was concerned – not sure it would warrant a transatlantic trip all on its own but if you happened to be in the Midwest of the US it might well be worth a significant diversion.
I will no doubt be returning at some point thought this year and will be in communication with the archivist and education director as my project develops. If I might be of assistance to anyone in this respect please let me know. One additional interesting and encouraging fact was there was an orientation being given to perhaps 100 area schoolteachers and the museum has an interesting educational program where they loan out a box of artifacts to schools (a sort of "granddad's trunk) for the children to explore – there are supporting materials to go with this. The one I peeked into had a helmets, some letters, mess kits forage cap medals – a period newspaper.
I have many more pics but here are a few to give a flavour.
Sorry for the wall of text!
Chris

Thanks for that, I've been to Liberty Memorial twice before this was completed but after the restoration. The voters of Kansas City actually passed a tax increase to fund this. Across the street is the fine old railroad station with an exhibit on men going to WW1 through it.

I lived in KC up until the middle of November 2006; before moving to Australia. We were able to pay a visit to the memorial's interim solution, when my (at the time) fiancee (now wife) paid me a visit. I got some photos somewhere of the insides of both of the side buildings where they were showing some of their material.

As for the memorial and the tax increase etc - that was all voted on sometime in the 1990's iirc; the memorial was (probably still is) - under the jurisdiction of the Kansas City Park District, and the poor old place was allowed to become so dilapidated that the memorial grounds were closed ( for fear that someone would fall through to roof of the underground parts. It was a pretty sad state of affairs. It is also a hidden gem. The walls inside those two "outbuildings by the central tower held some (I guess) fresco type maps of all different fronts- cannot recall if they had anything from the Eastern fronts, but I know they had more than just where the US was involved. I recall, specifically, one on the Palestine Campaign.

Another interesting part of the memorial, is the large wall that faces Union station, as it has a huge sculpture across the base.

The place is somewhat comparable to the ANZAC memorial in Hyde Park in Sydney (both built about the same time period- an art deco type look).

I will try to find what I did with my photos from a few years ago and post them somewhere like photobucket or something.

I appreciate hearing about what the place looks like now; as we had to leave before the new museum portion was opened.