Liberty Memorial

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The fighting of the World War ended on November 11, 1918.  After the guns on the European battlefields were silenced, and the huge celebrations that followed had died down, concerned citizens in the United States reflected on this cataclysmic event and the losses sustained.  What could be done to remember and honor those who had served?  Just two weeks after the Armistice, a meeting of Kansas City leaders brought forth the idea for the creation of a lasting monument and memorial.

 R. A. Long became the founding president of the Liberty Memorial Association and its leading spokesman.  He said, “From its inception it was intended that this Memorial should represent on the part of all people, a living expression for all time of the gratitude of a grateful people to those who offered and who gave their lives in defense of liberty and our country.”

 A community-based fund-raising drive in 1919, led by Long, J. C. Nichols, and other Association members, raised over $2 million in less than two weeks through public subscription in Kansas City and around the nation.  This staggering accomplishment reflected the passion of public opinion about the Great War.  Following the drive, a national architectural competition led to the selection of an architect.  A 1921 site dedication and a 1923 ground-breaking followed, and in 1926 the Liberty Memorial opened to the public amidst great national interest and acclaim.

 In 2002 a massive restoration project drew to a close, bringing the Memorial back to the excellent physical condition that Mr. Long would have recognized.  Subsequently, an additional $26.5 million was raised to complete dramatic underground expansion of the Liberty Memorial Museum, recently designated by federal law as “America’s National World War I Museum.”  Work was then begun on a 30,000 sq. ft. core exhibition on the history of WWI and a 20,000 sq. ft. research center to hold the Museum’s library, archives, and collections storage.

 With this physical expansion has come an expansion of the organization’s mission as well.  Dedicated to becoming an important educational institution for the Kansas City area and the nation, the Liberty Memorial Museum recently opened the R. A. Long Educational Center.  This facility, supported by the R. A. Long Foundation, promises to play a critical role in the on-site educational programming.

Eli Paul
Museum Director

“We pay tribute today to the memory of a man because the good he has done for our town and country will never end ... a man who made dreams come true ... tireless and of fearless courage ... to achieve day after day for the city he loved.

There is a skyline in the lives of great men as there is a skyline in a city.  From humble beginnings and lower constructers arise the peaks.  Such men are the leaders of their time, dominating the fields in which they labor.  They serve as stepping stones to greater things to be.”

The following was published in the Kansas City newspaper on November 1, 1921.

‘Full credit for (the conception of the plan) is given to R. A. Long – who since has been head of the association that handled the project.

It was at a dinner in the Hotel Muehlebach at which twenty men, high in business and professional life in Kansas City, were present.  The time was but a few days after the signing of the Armistice agreement, November 11, 1918.

A plan was advanced by the host for the construction of a “Soldier Memorial,” to cost about four or five hundred thousand dollars.  It was greeted enthusiastically and met with almost instant approval until it reached the far end of the “festive board.”

Mr. Long cast the opposing vote.  He rose and scorned the idea as far beneath the populace of a city such as Kansas City.

“We should not erect a building for utilitarian purposes,” he said.  “Its constant use by future generations will in time desecrate it.

“We should construct for those veterans who fought for liberty and the honor of our country, a monument that will reach into the skies and remain an everlasting tribute to their spirit of courage, honor, patriotism and sacrifice.

“To do this, we should raise 2 or 3 million dollars.”

The host, who was relating the story, said two or three men at the table came near to fainting when the force of Mr. Long’s words had taken effect and the realization of what an enormous task would confront them had developed.

The plan was discussed, however, and when Mr. Long had finished talking it was agreed his plan was the more fitting for Kansas City.

Later the Liberty Memorial Association was formed and he was chosen its president, a position he has held continuously since.’