Teaching World War I in the 21st Century 1 | Page 26

Armistice, city residents raised more than $2.5 million
in only 10 days (over $34 million in terms of today’s

money) to construct a memorial for those who served

during the World’s War. On November 11, 1926, when

the doors opened to this beautiful complex, with its art

nouveau structures, soaring tower, low-bas relief frieze
and gardens, President Calvin Coolidge spoke to the

largest crowd ever addressed by a U.S. president to that
day, saying:

It [The Liberty Memorial] has not been
raised to commemorate war and victory,
but rather the results of war and victory which
are embodied in peace and liberty….Today
I return in order that I may place the official
sanction of the national government upon one
of the most elaborate and impressive memorials
that adorn our country. The magnitude of
this memorial, and the broad base of popular
support on which it rests, can scarcely fail to
excite national wonder and admiration.”

Coolidge’s speech reflected popular sentiment in his

era, but today, when broad-based public knowledge of
World War I is meager, his words seem almost quaint.

Two Interactive Study Stations engage people of all ages with compelling
information from World War I.

in most Allied nations, there is no national tradition
of silence on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th

month, when the guns were silenced on Armistice Day.

Some testing and standards systems may not encourage
profound competence on World War I. Prior to

becoming a National World War I Museum curator, I

was a classroom teacher who created and used a lesson

plan called “World War I in One Day” in a World History
course that covered the beginning of time to the Gulf

Wars. It is an extreme challenge to address the content
required.

How can that be? Based on the evidence we see from

Small Commitments for Big Impact:

impervious or unconcerned about a cataclysmic event

and relevant for present and future generations. It is

daily interaction with a public in awe of the legacies
of those who lived through World War I, the conflict
is assuredly not because modern-day citi zens are

that resulted in 37 million casualties round the globe.

So why don’t we know more about World War I in the
United States?

Admittedly, Coolidge spoke many years before Stephen
Spielberg’s movie War Horse, but there is more to

cognizance than pop culture. Americans do not share
a common modern memory of this globe-altering

event. The war no longer has an oral tradition because
its veterans have passed away. Protected from the

physical effects of the conflict by two oceans, we do not

routinely pass by geographic reminders, like the craters

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left behind on Western European battlefields. Unlike
Essays & Resources

At the National World War I Museum, our mission

is to inspire thought, dialogue, and learning to make
the experiences of the World War I era meaningful

important to recognize the meaning that conflict has
in the modern world. In order for members of the

present generation to recognize the relevance of World
War I in their future decisions—for example in foreign

policy choices within the Middle East—we must inspire
thought and dialogue on the Great War in classrooms
and communities today.

There is never enough time as a teacher, but commit

Learn More

to learning more. There is abundant new scholarship
on the conflict, with some books topping The New