In 1914, the world experienced bloodshed on a global level hitherto unknown. The scale of the conflict was so historically confounding to observers that no one knew how to describe it, and none of the names popularly adopted did it justice: the Great War, the “war to end all wars,” and the World War, which would only hold its exclusivity for two decades. All turned out to be inaccurate, and history has since settled on World War I.

While World War II is much closer in vintage to its predecessor than to our time, it remains just recent enough where some of us know veterans (like my late father), and there are many, many more popular movies and books about WWII. There simply is no WWI equivalent of Patton, Saving Private Ryan, Great Escape, Bridge on the River Kwai, Dirty Dozen, Kelly’s Heroes, Thin Red Line or even Inglourious Basterds (sic). The one WWI movie that is truly famous is Lawrence of Arabia, and most viewers don’t even think of it in those terms.

So compared with its not so distant follow up, World War II, most Americans - including myself - know surprisingly little about what actually happened in the First World War. That is why you should consider a trip to Kansas City, home of the National World War One Museum.

Liberty Memorial, KC

The National World War One Museum sits beneath poignant Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, MO.

I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Kansas City a couple of times, but to be honest, I have gone mainly for the city’s famous barbecue, which is world class, living up to its lofty reputation, both diverse in style and widely excellent. On my last visit I also dropped in to the WWI museum, and I was astonished, both at how much I learned and how interesting and excellent a facility it was.

Technically it is the National World War One Museum at Liberty Memorial. The Memorial itself is a hilltop obelisk of sorts,  honoring those who died in the war. Right afterwards an astonishing $2.5 million was raised by local citizens in just ten days (according to the museum’s website the equivalent of $34 million today), and all five Allied commanders gathered in one place for the first time in history to see its groundbreaking. The Memorial was finished and dedicated - by President Coolidge - in 1926, but the museum, which sits underneath, was not added for another 80 years.

WWI show

The centerpiece of the museum is a multi-media theatrical presentation.

Designated the National WWI Museum by Congress, the 80,000 square foot, $100 million-plus facility is highly interactive and was designed by Ralph Appelbaum Associates, the same architectural firm that did the acclaimed Holocaust Memorial in Washington, DC. It is circular, and divided into two parts, representing the war before and after US intervention, with a sensory-intensive multi-media film presentation in between. Interactive displays are the main course, allowing you to poke your head into the horrors of trench warfare and other immersive settings. As good as the physical design is, and it’s excellent, what wowed me was the educational aspect, how much I learned about a major historical event of which I was sadly uninformed, and in so little time.

Kansas City also has a surprising number of other stellar museums, from world-class art to jazz, and I previously wrote in detail about visiting for my Great Urban Weekend Escapes column. Don’t forget the barbecue.

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