National World War I Memorial (Washington, D.C.)

U. S. national memorial in Washington, D. C.
the memorial and museum located in Kansas City, Missouri

The National World War I Memorial is a national memorial commemorating the service rendered by members of the United States Armed Forces in World War I. 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 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.

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 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 to the United States Capitol. The master plan proposed constructing a National Plaza (also called the Western Plaza), which would have required the demolition of Pershing Square, the Willard Hotel north of the square, and the two blocks of buildings and streets east of these tracts. The American Legion, 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 was built which did not require the demolition of Pershing Square). 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 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 park also has a fountain, a pond (which turned into an ice rink in the winter), and flower beds.

In 1931, the people of the District of Columbia erected the District of Columbia War Memorial on the National Mall 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, a 217 feet (66 m) tall tower with an artificial burning pyre atop it, located in Kansas City, Missouri. 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 2006. 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 push for a national World War I memorial arose from the successful effort to establish the National World War II Memorial. 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, CEO of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund, proposed rededicating the District of Columbia War Memorial 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 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 for the effort. Efn|Fountain had independently conceived the idea for the foundation after jogging past the District of Columbia War Memorial one day and formed his foundation in late 2008 or early 2009. In 2007, Representative Ted Poe (R Texas) met Frank Buckles, the last surviving American veteran of World War I. Referred to committee, the bill died there after senators Kit Bond and Claire McCaskill (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. Efn|Like Poe, Thune met Buckles and was impressed with him. By this time, Buckles had endorsed the World War I Memorial Foundation project, and Thune's legislation differed from Poe's in using that foundation as the primary memorial agent. Representatives from the National Park Service also testified in favor of the bill, noting that there was no longer any room on the National Mall for a major memorial. generating an outpouring of emotion, including an effort to have him lie in state in the United States Capitol 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. Poe's bill was referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the House Committee on Natural Resources. 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 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, (rather than the Mall). The bills specifically barred the National World War I Memorial from interfering or encroaching on the D. C. memorial, 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 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, by July 21, 2015. The jury was selected by members of the World War I Centennial Commission. The members of the jury were:Efn|The Centennial Commission also appointed a Design Oversight Committee (DOC) to serve as an advisor to the Jury on technical issues. Members of the DOC included representatives from the National Park Service, National Capital Planning Commission, United States Commission of Fine Arts, General Services Administration, United States Secret Service, American Battle Monuments Commission, District of Columbia Office of Planning, and Sandra Pershing (widow of Colonel John Warren Pershing, grandson of General John J. "Black Jack" Pershing). The Centennial Commission also established a subcommittee of its board of directors, known as the Governance Group, to coordinate the activities of the Jury and DOC, and to adjudicate any disputes. Members of the Governance Group were Mary Davidson Cohen, Ph. D., (former chair of the board of the National World War I Museum in Kansas City), Edwin Fountain, and Libby O'Connell, Ph. D. (historian). "An American Family Portrait", by STL Architects, Chicago, Illinois. "Heroes Green", by Counts Studio, Brooklyn, New York City, New York. "Plaza to the Forgotten War", by Johnsen Schmaling Architects, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. "The Weight of Sacrifice", by Joseph Weishaar of Brininstool+Lynch, Chicago, Illinois. "World War One Memorial Concept", by Kimmel Studio, Annapolis, Maryland.

In early November 2015, the Centennial Commission submitted the five finalist designs to the Commission of Fine Arts 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 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. In January 2016, it selected "The Weight of Sacrifice", by Joseph Weishaar, a 25 year old architect who graduated from the University of 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.

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.

On November 9, 2017, the World War I Centennial Commission held a ceremonial groundbreaking event at Pershing Park. United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs David Shulkin, D. C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, U. S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley, 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 2024.