The National World War I Memorial is a
national memorial commemorating the service rendered by members of the
United States Armed Forces
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...
in
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The 2015 National Defense Authorization Act authorized the
World War I Centennial Commission to build the memorial in Pershing Park, located at
14th Street and
Pennsylvania Avenue
Pennsylvania Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the White House and the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland. In Maryland it is also Maryland Route 4 (MD 4) ...
NW in Washington, D.C. The park, which has existed since 1981, also contains the ''
John J. Pershing General of the Armies'' commemorative work. In January 2016, the design commission selected the submission "The Weight of Sacrifice", by a team consisting of Joseph Weishaar,
Sabin Howard, Phoebe Lickwar, and GWWO Architects, as the winning design,
which is expected to be completed by 2024.
On April 16, 2021, the flag was raised at the memorial and President Biden spoke at a virtual ceremony opening it to the public.
Pershing Park
![Pershing Park - Washington DC - 2010-0015](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Pershing_Park_-_Washington_DC_-_2010-0015.JPG)
The Pershing Park site was originally occupied by a variety of 19th-century structures until about 1930, when the federal government took legal title to the block and demolished the structures on it. Legislation officially designating the plot as Pershing Square subsequently was adopted by Congress in 1957. Development of the square proved controversial, as different groups offered competing proposals for memorials to
John J. Pershing, who had served as
General of the Armies
General of the Armies of the United States, more commonly referred to as General of the Armies, is the highest military rank in the United States Army. The rank has been conferred three times: to John J. Pershing in 1919, as a personal accola ...
in World War I. These disagreements led to inaction, and by 1962 the square remained bare and often cluttered with trash. In September 1963, District of Columbia officials finally planted grass and flower beds to temporarily beautify the square.
In November 1963, the President's Council on Pennsylvania Avenue proposed a master plan for the redevelopment of Pennsylvania Avenue NW from the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
to the
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...
. The master plan proposed constructing a National Plaza (also called the Western Plaza), which would have required the demolition of the Pershing Square, the
Willard Hotel
The Willard InterContinental Washington, commonly known as the Willard Hotel, is a historic luxury Beaux-Arts hotel located at 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Downtown Washington, D.C. It is currently a member oHistoric Hotels of America the offi ...
north of the square, and the two blocks of buildings and streets east of these tracts. The
American Legion
The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...
, among others, kept pushing for a grand statue of Pershing for the square, but all plans for the park were suspended until the Pennsylvania Avenue master plan could be finalized.
National Plaza was never constructed. Instead, a much smaller
Freedom Plaza
Freedom Plaza, originally known as Western Plaza, is an open plaza in Northwest Washington, D.C., United States, located near 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, adjacent to Pershing Park. The plaza features an inlay that partially depict ...
was built which did not require the demolition of Pershing Park (as the square was now known). Designs for a statue and memorial to Pershing and for the larger park were finalized in the 1970s, and Pershing Park constructed simultaneously with Freedom Plaza from 1979 to 1981. The park was slightly enlarged due to the realignment of Pennsylvania Avenue NW along the area's north side. Pershing Park formally opened to the public at 11:45 AM on May 14, 1981.
The
American Battle Monuments Commission
The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is an independent agency of the United States government that administers, operates, and maintains permanent U.S. military cemeteries, memorials and monuments primarily outside the United States.
...
paid the $400,000 for the park.
Pershing Park contains a statue of General Pershing by
Robert White, as well as memorial walls and benches behind the statue describing Pershing's achievements in World War I.
The sculpture was dedicated in October 1983.
The park also has a fountain, a pond (which turned into an
ice rink
An ice rink (or ice skating rink) is a frozen body of water and/or an artificial sheet of ice created using hardened chemicals where people can ice skate or play winter sports. Ice rinks are also used for exhibitions, contests and ice shows. The ...
in the winter), and flower beds.
Pershing Park is owned by the government of the District of Columbia, but administered by the National Park Service as an official unit of the park system (managed under the agency's
National Mall and Memorial Parks
National Mall and Memorial Parks (formerly known as National Capital Parks-Central) is an administrative unit of the National Park Service (NPS) encompassing many national memorials and other areas in Washington, D.C. Federally owned and administ ...
administrative group).
More than 400 demonstrators were illegally arrested in Pershing Park in September 2002 during
anti-globalization protests
The anti-globalization movement or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist ...
against the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
and
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...
.
National World War I Memorial
![John J](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/John_J._Pershing_Memorial.JPG)
In 1931, the people of the
District of Columbia
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
erected the
District of Columbia War Memorial
The District of Columbia War Memorial commemorates the citizens of the District of Columbia who served in World War I. Located on the National Mall, it was constructed in 1931 as a domed, peristyle Doric temple.
History
The memorial was built to ...
on the
National Mall
The National Mall is a Landscape architecture, landscaped park near the Downtown, Washington, D.C., downtown area of Washington, D.C., the capital city of the United States. It contains and borders a number of museums of the Smithsonian Institut ...
to honor individuals from the District who had served in the U.S. armed forces in World War I. But the largest of the country's World War I memorials was the
Liberty Memorial
The National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri was opened in 1926 as the Liberty Memorial. In 2004, it was designated by the United States Congress as the country's official war memorial and museum dedicated to World War ...
, a tall tower with an artificial burning pyre atop it, located in
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...
. A Memorial Court surrounded the tower, with a Memory Hall (dedicated to the memory of Kansas Citians who died in the war) on the east and a Museum Building on the west. Ground was broken on the memorial on November 1, 1921, and it opened on November 11, 1926. But no national memorial commemorating World War I was erected over the next 70 years, which upset World War I veterans.
The Liberty Memorial suffered from neglect over the years, and the tower was closed to the public in 1994. A $102 million renovation and expansion effort began in 2000, and the memorial reopened in 2002.
The expansion, which added a museum space, a research center, a theater, a cafeteria, and modern storage for the museum's extensive collection, opened in 2006.
The National World War I Museum
With the 2000 Liberty Memorial renovation under way, Senator
Kit Bond
Christopher Samuel "Kit" Bond (born March 6, 1939) is an American attorney, politician and former United States Senator from Missouri and a member of the Republican Party. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, he defeated Democrat Harriett W ...
(
R-
Missouri
Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
) introduced a resolution (S.Con.Res. 114) giving official federal recognition to the Liberty Memorial as "America's National World War I Museum". The designation was only honorific, but it did not pass.
In 2004, with the
National World War II Memorial
The World War II Memorial is a national memorial in the United States dedicated to Americans who served in the armed forces and as civilians during World War II. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
The memorial consists ...
about to open in Washington, D.C.,
Representative
Representative may refer to:
Politics
* Representative democracy, type of democracy in which elected officials represent a group of people
* House of Representatives, legislative body in various countries or sub-national entities
* Legislator, som ...
Karen McCarthy
Karen McCarthy (March 18, 1947 – October 5, 2010) was an American educator and politician. She served as the U.S. representative for the fifth district of Missouri from 1995 to 2005.
Early life
McCarthy was born in Haverhill, Massachuset ...
(
D-Missouri) introduced legislation (H.Con.Res. 421) to designate the Liberty Memorial as "America's National World War I Museum". In the Senate, Senator
Jim Talent
James Matthes Talent (born October 18, 1956) is an American politician who was a U.S. Senator from Missouri from 2002 to 2007. He is a Republican and resided in the St. Louis area while serving in elected office.
After serving for eight years ...
(R-Missouri) sought agreement to amend S. 2400, the Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2005, with identical language. Talent's amendment was unanimously adopted on June 15, 2004, and the bill passed both houses of Congress. President
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
signed the legislation into law on October 28, 2004 ().
Early legislative efforts to create a National World War I Memorial
![Liberty Memorial 18July2008](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Liberty_Memorial_18July2008.jpg)
The push for a national World War I memorial arose from the successful effort to establish the
National World War II Memorial
The World War II Memorial is a national memorial in the United States dedicated to Americans who served in the armed forces and as civilians during World War II. It is located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
The memorial consists ...
. Legislation to establish the National World War II Memorial was introduced in 1987, and after several unsuccessful efforts passed Congress on May 12, 1993. It was dedicated on May 28, 2004. In fall 2000,
Jan Scruggs
Jan Craig Scruggs (born 1950) is a United States Army veteran who served in the Vietnam War, and later founded the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, which built the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Scruggs was the ...
, CEO of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, proposed rededicating the
District of Columbia War Memorial
The District of Columbia War Memorial commemorates the citizens of the District of Columbia who served in World War I. Located on the National Mall, it was constructed in 1931 as a domed, peristyle Doric temple.
History
The memorial was built to ...
in honor of all World War I veterans. Scruggs claimed that a member of Congress was working on legislation to effect the change, but no bill was introduced in the
106th Congress or the three successive Congresses.
In 2008, the
American Legion
The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...
called for conversion of the District of Columbia War Memorial as well. To give added impetus to the effort, local attorney Edwin Fountain formed the World War I Memorial Foundation to solicit funds and
lobby
Lobby may refer to:
* Lobby (room), an entranceway or foyer in a building
* Lobbying, the action or the group used to influence a viewpoint to politicians
:* Lobbying in the United States, specific to the United States
* Lobby (food), a thick stew ...
for the effort.
D.C. Council member
Jack Evans (in whose ward the D.C. War Memorial was located) and
Eleanor Holmes Norton
Eleanor Holmes Norton (born June 13, 1937) is an American lawyer and politician serving as a delegate to the United States House of Representatives, representing the District of Columbia since 1991. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Earl ...
, D.C.'s
Delegate
Delegate or delegates may refer to:
* Delegate, New South Wales, a town in Australia
* Delegate (CLI), a computer programming technique
* Delegate (American politics), a representative in any of various political organizations
* Delegate (Unit ...
to Congress, became honorary trustees of the foundation.
In 2007, Representative
Ted Poe
Lloyd Theodore Poe (born September 10, 1948) is an American politician who represented Texas's 2nd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 2005 to 2019. Poe was the first Republican to represent the 2nd district. ...
(R-
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
) met
Frank Buckles
Frank Woodruff Buckles (born Wood Buckles, February 1, 1901February 27, 2011) was a United States Army corporal and the last surviving American military veteran of World War I. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917 at the age of 16 and served wi ...
, the last surviving American veteran of World War I.
Buckles expressed his dismay that there was no national World War I memorial, and Poe began to champion his cause. Poe introduced legislation the next year, titled the Frank Buckles World War I Memorial Act (H.R. 6696), that authorized the
American Battle Monuments Commission
The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is an independent agency of the United States government that administers, operates, and maintains permanent U.S. military cemeteries, memorials and monuments primarily outside the United States.
...
to either take over the District of Columbia War Memorial or to build a new one on the same site. The bill also established a World War I Memorial Advisory Board to assist in raising funds to build the memorial.
Referred to committee, the bill died there after senators Kit Bond and
Claire McCaskill
Claire Conner McCaskill (; born July 24, 1953) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Missouri from 2007 to 2019 and as State Auditor of Missouri from 1999 to 2007.
McCaskill is a native of Rolla, Missouri. She g ...
(D-Missouri) grew concerned that the "new" memorial would compete with the Liberty Memorial in their state.
McCaskill and Rep.
Emanuel Cleaver introduced legislation (H.R. 7243 and S. 3589) to designate the Liberty Memorial as the National World War I Memorial.
Separately, Bond and Cleaver introduced legislation (H.R. 6960 and S. 3537) to establish a World War I Centennial Commission to develop and implement programs to commemorate the centennial of World War I.
These bills all died in committee, as did McCaskill's (S. 760)
and Bond's (S. 761) reintroductions in 2009. Cleaver combined the two bills as H.R. 1849,
which passed the House but was never taken up by the Senate.
Separately, Senator
John Thune
John Randolph Thune ( ; born January 7, 1961) is an American politician and businessman serving as the senior United States senator from South Dakota, a seat he has held since 2005, and as the Senate minority whip since 2021. A member of the Re ...
(R-
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
) introduced legislation (S. 2097) to allow Fountain's World War I Memorial Foundation to take over the D.C. War Memorial and re-establish it as the National World War I Memorial.
Efforts to rename the D.C. War Memorial gained support when the D.C. Council voted in 2009 to support the Thune bill.
Hearings were held on Thune's bill, at which Frank Buckles (now 108 years old) testified.
Representatives from the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
also testified in favor of the bill, noting that there was no longer any room on the National Mall for a major memorial.
But it, too, died in committee, as did Poe's companion legislation in the House (H.R. 482).
Creating the World War I Centennial Commission
Legislation finally passed in the
112th Congress, compromising by designating both sites as national memorials, as suggested in 2008 by attorney Edwin Fountain.
Senator Thune offered his support for this in December 2009.
![Path of bouquets 03 - DC War Memorial - Memorial Day - Washington DC - 2014](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/Path_of_bouquets_03_-_DC_War_Memorial_-_Memorial_Day_-_Washington_DC_-_2014.jpg)
Much activity preceded passage of the final bill. On February 1, 2011, Senator
John D. Rockefeller IV
John Davison "Jay" Rockefeller IV (born June 18, 1937) is a retired American politician who served as a United States Senate, United States senator from West Virginia (1985–2015). He was first elected to the Senate in 1984, while in office as ...
(D-
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...
) introduced compromise legislation (S. 253) which (a) established a World War I Centennial Commission and (b) designated both the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City and the District of Columbia War Memorial in Washington, D.C., as National World War I Memorials.
Rockefeller's bill authorized the World War I Memorial Foundation to raise funds and oversee the transformation of the D.C. memorial. But citizens of the District of Columbia were increasingly opposed to losing their hometown memorial. The Rhodes Tavern-D.C. Heritage Society, a prominent local historic preservation organization, advocated turning Pershing Square into the memorial, as a commemorative statue to General Pershing already occupied the site.
The World War I Memorial Foundation opposed the Pershing Square site as too isolated by busy D.C. streets and argued that being off the National Mall diminished the importance of the war. The foundation also opposed any new designation for the Liberty Memorial for the same reason.
On February 27, Frank Buckles died of natural causes, generating an outpouring of emotion, including an effort to have him lie in state in the
United States Capitol
The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill ...
rotunda. On March 8, Rep. Poe introduced the Frank Buckles World War I Memorial Act (H.R. 938) again, but this time it matched Rockefeller's bill that designated both memorials and created a centennial commission.
This represented an agreement by the Missouri delegation, Thune, and Poe.
As with his 2009 bill, Poe's new effort authorized the World War I Memorial Foundation to raise funds, design the memorial, and oversee its erection.
Poe's bill was referred to the
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
The Committee on Oversight and Reform is the main investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives.
The committee's broad jurisdiction and legislative authority make it one of the most influential and powerful panels in the ...
and the
House Committee on Natural Resources
The U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources or Natural Resources Committee (often referred to as simply Resources) is a Congressional committee of the United States House of Representatives. Originally called the Committee on Interior and Ins ...
. On January 24, 2012, the
Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Federal Lands held hearings on the bill.
Opposition to the takeover of the D.C. War Memorial was growing. On July 8, 2011, Del. Norton introduced H.Res. 346, a non-binding resolution which expressed the sense of the House of Representatives that the District of Columbia War Memorial should remain dedicated solely to the residents of the District of Columbia. Norton's change in position came about after she came to perceive the redesignation of the memorial as a diminishment of the District of Columbia, similar to the lack of voting rights for District residents.
D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray
Vincent Condol Gray (born November 8, 1942) is an American politician who served as the mayor of the District of Columbia from 2011 to 2015.
He served for one term, losing his bid for reelection in the Democratic primary to D.C. Council member ...
and the Association of the Oldest Inhabitants of the District of Columbia also opposed the redesignation effort.
With time running out in the 112th Congress, and less than two years before the start of the World War I centennial, on September 10, 2012, Rep. Poe introduced the World War I Centennial Commission Act (H.R. 6364), which established the World War I Centennial Commission to oversee World War I centennial commemorations, programs, and observances. The bill also designated the Liberty Memorial as the "National World War I Museum and Memorial", a symbolic designation to improve its national prominence prior to the war centennial. In June 2012, Poe agreed to abandon his effort to redesignate the District of Columbia War memorial,
and Del. Norton agreed to support construction of a national World War I memorial on the National Mall.
Instead, his bill authorized the World War I Memorial Foundation to create a new commemorative work on at
Constitution Gardens
Constitution Gardens is a park area in Washington, D.C., United States, located within the boundaries of the National Mall. The park is bounded on the west by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, on the east by 17th St NW, on the north by Constitu ...
, on the north side of the National Mall between the
Vietnam Veterans Memorial
The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a U.S. national memorial in Washington, D.C., honoring service members of the U.S. armed forces who served in the Vietnam War. The site is dominated by two black granite walls engraved with the names of those s ...
and the
Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and the ...
. During
markup of the bill by the Committee on Natural Resources on December 5, 2012, the bill was amended to reduce the acreage allotted to and for the memorial to be erected on any federal land within the District of Columbia (including the National Mall). The bill was unanimously approved by the committee, It passed the House on a voice vote on December 12. Senator McCaskill offered an amendment in the nature of a substitute which removed the designation of the Liberty Memorial as the National World War I Museum and Memorial, and removed the authority to build a memorial in Washington, D.C. The Senate approved the amended bill on December 21. A
conference committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
agreed to the Senate's changes. On December 31, the House approved the Senate-amended bill. President
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
signed the legislation into law (P.L. 112-272) on January 14, 2013, only establishing the
United States World War I Centennial Commission
The United States World War I Centennial Commission was created by an Act of Congress in 2013. This Act was passed in order to honor and recognize the centennial of America's involvement with World War I. The Commission is in charge of planning, d ...
.
Creating two National World War I Memorials
![Gates-Buckles](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Gates-Buckles.jpg)
By summer 2012, D.C. officials, Norton, and their congressional supporters were pushing for a national World War I memorial at Pershing Park. The D.C. Council passed a nonbinding resolution to that effect in June.
Norton's shift in attitude came after National Park Service officials convinced her that allowing construction on the Mall would severely weaken the
Commemorative Works Act, to which a 2003 amendment had all but banned new memorials on the Mall.
Meanwhile, discussion among members of Congress had turned toward giving the World War I Centennial Commission authority to build the new memorial. The centennial commission also concluded that there was no room on the Mall to build a memorial.
Rep. Poe reintroduced his memorial legislation (H.R. 222) on January 14, 2013, but it was never acted on. The World War I Memorial Act of 2014 (S. 2264; H.R. 4489), was introduced by McCaskill in the Senate and Cleaver in the House.
Similar to the Poe legislation, the bills designated the Liberty Memorial as "a 'World War I Museum and Memorial'" and authorized a World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C, as "a 'World War I Museum and Memorial.'" They authorized the World War I Centennial Commission (rather than the World War I Memorial Foundation as in Poe's bill) to oversee design and construction of this memorial, and specified that it should be built in Pershing Park
(rather than the Mall). The bills specifically barred the National World War I Memorial from interfering or encroaching on the D.C. memorial,
which won them the backing of Delegate Norton, D.C. Council chair
Phil Mendelson
Philip Heath Mendelson (born November 8, 1952) is an American politician from Washington, D.C. He is currently Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, elected by the Council on June 13, 2012, following the resignation of Kwame R. Br ...
, and the World War I Centennial Commission—which had recommended the site.
The memorial would cost about $10 million and retain the Pershing commemorative work already at the site.
Edwin Fountain, now a member of the World War I Centennial Commission, pledged an open design competition and said that the commission would seek to have the memorial completed by November 11, 2018—the centennial of the closing date of the war.
Both bills were bitterly opposed by the World War I Memorial Foundation. Its president, David DeJonge, pressed for construction on the National Mall. Construction at Pershing Park, he said, "will contribute to a systematic extinction to the memory of World War I ... I think
his
His or HIS may refer to:
Computing
* Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company
* Honeywell Information Systems
* Hybrid intelligent system
* Microsoft Host Integration Server
Education
* Hangzhou International School, in ...
is a grievous error."
With action on both the bills stalled,
time was running out in the 113th Congress for action. McCaskill and Cleaver believed that if a memorial was to be built in time for the anniversary of the end of the war, authorization of a D.C. memorial could no longer wait.
Cleaver and Poe met at the end of 2013, and Poe agreed to abandon his proposal so that a memorial could be built in time for the war's centennial.
Cleaver conceived the idea of inserting the bill's language into the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act.
When it (H.R. 4435) reached the House floor in May, Cleaver and Poe successfully co-sponsored an amendment to insert the memorial language into the bill.
On December 2, the language of S. 2264/H.R. 4489 was again inserted into the defense bill as Subtitle J of Title XXX of Division B of H.R. 3979, the
Carl Levin and Howard P. "Buck" McKeon National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2015.
H.R. 3979 had passed the House on March 11, and the Senate on April 7. After extensive debate and amendments, the House adopted the measure on December 3,
and the Senate on December 12. President Obama signed the legislation into law on December 19, 2014 ().
With passage of the bill, the World War I Memorial Foundation suspended its effort to place the memorial on the National Mall.
Design competition
![Aerial view of pershing park](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Aerial_view_of_pershing_park.jpg)
On May 20, 2015, the World War I Centennial Commission launched a design competition for the National World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C.
The competition for the memorial, which the commission said should cost $21 million to $25 million,
contained two phases. In Phase I, any member of the public from any country
could submit a sketch and 250-word design proposal (along with a $100 submission fee)
by July 21, 2015.
A jury would select the three to five best entries, each of which would receive a $25,000 honorarium.
The finalists, who would be announced on August 4, 2015,
would proceed to Phase II, where they would pair with a professional design firm to flesh out their design and present it formally to the Commission.
The commission hoped to have a ground-breaking on November 11, 2017 (
Veterans Day
Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans of the United States Armed Forces (who were discharged under conditions other than di ...
).
The memorial site drew criticism in August 2015. Architect M. Paul Friedberg, who designed Pershing Park, told the ''
Stars and Stripes'' that he was deeply upset by plans to destroy or radically change the park and threatened legal and other actions to have it preserved. Landscape architect Charles Birnbaum, founder and president of the Cultural Landscape Foundation, called Pershing Park Friedberg's "seminal work", and began a petition to have the park added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
.
The jury was selected by members of the World War I Centennial Commission. The members of the jury were:
* Ethan Carr, Ph.D., FASLA – professor of
landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...
at the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...
* Maurice Cox, FAIA – architect and urban design and planning expert
* Benjamin Forgey – journalist, author, and former architecture critic for ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''.
*
Harry G. Robinson III, FAIA – Dean Emeritus of the School of Architecture and Design at
Howard University
Howard University (Howard) is a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and accredited by the Middle States Commissi ...
and former chairman of the
United States Commission of Fine Arts
The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the U ...
* John F. Shortal, Ph.D. – Brigadier General in the
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
(retired) chief historian for the
Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...
* Allison Williams, FAIA – architect and design director for
AECOM
AECOM (, ; formerly AECOM Technology Corporation) is an American multinational infrastructure consulting firm.
AECOM has approximately 51,000 employees, and is number 157 on the 2019 Fortune 500 list.
The company's official name from 1990 t ...
* Jennifer Wingate, Ph.D. – Associate Professor of Fine Arts at
St. Francis College
On August 19, 2015, the jury announced the five finalist designs for the memorial. They were:
*"An American Family Portrait", by STL Architects, Chicago, Illinois.
*"Heroes Green", by Counts Studio,
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, New York City, New York.
*"Plaza to the Forgotten War", by
Johnsen Schmaling Architects,
Milwaukee
Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...
,
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
.
*"The Weight of Sacrifice", by Joseph Weishaar of Brininstool+Lynch, Chicago, Illinois.
*"World War One Memorial Concept", b
Kimmel Studio Annapolis
Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
.
Design reviews
In early November 2015, the Centennial Commission submitted the five finalist designs to the
Commission of Fine Arts
The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States, and was established in 1910. The CFA has review (but not approval) authority over the "design and aesthetics" of all construction with ...
for its advice and approval. But the agency had strong criticisms of each of the designs. In a letter to the commission, Commission of Fine Arts Secretary Thomas Luebke wrote that "the competition designs appear to proceed from the underlying assumption that the existing park design is a failure, whereas its problems are the direct result of inadequate maintenance. They commented that many features of the park—such as the berms and other topographical elements which help create a sheltered space at the center of the park and which are eliminated in most of these schemes—are the very characteristics of the design that make the existing park an appropriate setting for a contemplative memorial. Thus, they criticized the competition program for understating the value and importance of the existing park design, and they encouraged conceiving of the project as a new memorial within an existing park."
''
Washington City Paper
The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial mix is focused ...
'' reporter Kriston Capps noted that "none of the five finalist designs comes close to complying with the wishes of the CFA", but that it was still too early to say if the design process needed to be restarted.
The
National Capital Planning Commission
The National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) is a U.S. government executive branch agency that provides planning guidance for Washington, D.C., and the surrounding National Capital Region. Through its planning policies and review of developmen ...
, the other federal agency with approval authority over the memorial, was scheduled to review the five designs on December 3, 2015.
The five finalists made formal submissions to the Centennial Commission in December 2015. In January 2016, it selected "The Weight of Sacrifice", by Joseph Weishaar, a 25-year-old architect who graduated from the
University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...
. He developed the design while he was an intern. Also selected was sculptor
Sabin Howard, landscape architect Phoebe Lickwar (FORGE Landscape Architecture), and GWWO Inc./Architects.
Commission of Fine Arts approval
On July 19, 2018, the Commission of Fine Arts gave its approval to a modified memorial design. The changes replaced the existing fountain with a stand-alone wall featuring high-relief sculptures facing east. A cascade down the western side of the wall fed a scrim (which replaced the existing pool). The CFA required Sabin to revise his sculpture design 18 times over 18 months before it gave final approval.
Design approval by the NCPC and other agencies was still pending.
By Veterans Day 2018, the Centennial Commission said it had raised $20 million of the projected $40 million cost of the memorial. The organization was still aiming to dedicate the memorial in November 2021. In December 2019, it was announced that the memorial had received its building permit and work was set to begin. The first phase of the project includes rebuilding the existing park, with the addition of a peace fountain, pool basin, multiple berms and plazas and groves of trees.
Rockville-based Grunley Construction Co. is the project's general contractor.
Groundbreaking
![National World War I Memorial 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9f/National_World_War_I_Memorial_2.jpg)
On November 9, 2017, the World War I Centennial Commission held a ceremonial groundbreaking event at Pershing Park.
United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs
The United States secretary of veterans affairs is the head of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, the department concerned with veterans' benefits, health care, and national veterans' memorials and cemeteries. The secretary is a me ...
David Shulkin
David Jonathon Shulkin (born July 22, 1959) is an American physician and former government official. In 2017, Shulkin became the ninth United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs and served under President Donald Trump. He was the Under Secretar ...
, D.C. Mayor
Muriel Bowser
Muriel Elizabeth Bowser (born August 2, 1972) is an American politician serving since 2015 as the eighth mayor of the District of Columbia. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously represented the 4th ward as a member of the Council ...
, U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen.
Mark A. Milley
Mark Alexander Milley (born June 20, 1958) is a United States Army general who serves as the 20th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He previously served as the 39th chief of staff of the Army from August 14, 2015 to August 9, 2019, and hel ...
, and others participated in the groundbreaking.
Sabin Howard is sculpting 38 figures for a bronze relief that is 10% larger than life-size in his studio in New Jersey. Each figure takes 600 hours of work, even with 3D-printed
armatures. The design, ''A Soldier's Journey'', shows the story of a soldier who leaves his family, sees combat and the loss of comrades, and returns to his family after receiving medical care. It expected to be completed in fall 2023 or spring 2024.
Notes
References
Bibliography
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External links
U.S. World War One Centennial Commission– National Park Service
{{Washington DC landmarks
1957 establishments in Washington, D.C.
Federal Triangle
Parks in Washington, D.C.
Monuments and memorials in Washington, D.C.
World War I memorials in the United States
National Memorials of the United States