National War War I Museum & Memorial, Part II of II

 Part I of my visit to the National World War I Museum & Memorial is here.

After the history of medicine conference ended, I took a quick second trip back to the National World War I Museum and Memorial across the street. I went up the elevator to the viewing tower and saw the special exhibit on children's experiences.

It's a small elevator, built in the space allocated for the original lift in the 1920s, but with more modern mechanics. A volunteer runs the elevator, with only fits 6-8 people. 

Below: looking south from the top of the tower.

Downtown Kansas City, with Union Station in the foreground and the Crown Westin Hotel in the bottom right.

Close-up of downtown.

Looking at the lawn at the foot of the tower.

One of the more interesting features of the special exhibit hall was the mural entitled the "Pantheon de la Guerre" painted by French artists Pierre Carrier-Belleuse and Auguste Gorguet. I believe the figures represent real and idealized members of the Allies. At 40 feet tall and almost 400 feet long, it was first displayed as a cyclorama in Paris in 1918. It was shown at the Chicago Exposition in 1933 but then forgotten outside a warehouse in Baltimore for more than two decades until restauranteur William Haussner bought it. Some pieces were donated to the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, while others returned to Baltimore. Although I ate at Haussner's Restaurant once before it closed in 1999, I can't remember if the WWI mural scraps were on display.

Above right: a child's American Red Cross dress-up outfit. Below x2: German embroidery cards with  patriotic designs and messages such as a Zeppellin and "Through conflict to victory."

Below: a Black American family remembers their war hero

(along with George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Woodrow Wilson.

There were a number of artefacts from the Boy and Girl Scouts,

such as this leader's trench coat with many patches on the arm.

Above: a child's set of toy soldiers parading through a farming village.

Below left: a German poster. Below right: view of the display hall with the mural on the back wall.