Visit The National WWI Museum & Memorial in Kansas City

If you're planning a trip to Kansas City, Missouri, one of the must-see things to do in Kansas City is The National WWI Museum and Memorial at 2 Memorial Drive, Kansas City, MO 64108. Open Tuesday through Sunday from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, the WWI Museum and Memorial is the number one attraction in Kansas City and the number 5 ranked museum in the U.S.

Main Gallery

Located underneath the Liberty Memorial Courtyard, the Main Gallery houses original documents, objects, interactive tables, and videos of WWI. Exhibitions include a French Renault FT-17 tank, life-sized trenches, a crater created by a Howitzer shell, a chronology of the war, the Paul Sunderland bridge, and insights on the global nature of WWI at a time when there wasn't a global community.

Collections

In collaboration with the Edward Jones Research Center, the WWI Museum and Memorial has amassed more than 350,000 items from WWI, making it the largest such collection in the world. Narratives and items are presented factually with the objective of historical preservation rather than political persuasion and include anecdotes such as:

• The Second Lieutenant who carried a violin with him throughout France and paid a German prisoner to decorate its case.
• The conscientious Quaker objector who rebuilt homes in France after the war.
• Letters sent home from soldiers to their families.
• A pen-and-ink drawing entitled “An Ode to a Cootie.”

The Museum also has a searchable, online database of their global collection. The database is continually being updated and expanded and includes copyrighted material.

Annual Symposia

An annual symposium is held to explore the impact of war on society as well as the individual, and how understanding it can improve today's society.

Walk of Honor Bricks

The Walk of Honor is divided into three sections. Bricks may be purchased to honor those who served in WWI, veterans, family, friends, and organizations.

War Remains

War Remains is an interactive experience that takes an individual into the trenches of the Western Front as seen through the eyes of an American soldier. It's not a game. Rather, it's an interactive experience that's on a limited-run engagement.

Does This Memorial Celebrate War?

The WWI Museum was not established to celebrate war. Rather, it was intended to celebrate peace while remembering the sacrifices that were made to obtain it. The Museum was built by the residents of Kansas City as a memorial to those who had served in World War I and to reflect the public sentiment about the Great War that was supposed to end all wars.

Museum Gift Shop

If the museum is open, then the gift shop is open, and visitors are sure to find a souvenir for everyone on their list. It offers the most comprehensive selection of books and literature relating to WWI as well as other products.