Originally named Liberty Memorial High School, it was completed in 1923 as a monument to the Lawrence High School students and graduates whose died in service during World War I. Of the 300 Lawrence youth who served, 144 hadn't yet graduated from high school. This number includes the two high school girls who died while serving as nurses.
The auditorium of the school was planned as a memorial hall. It includes stained glass windows made in Belgium representing various regiments of some fallen students. The most striking image to me is the large inscription of a Rudyard Kipling poem, adorning the wall over the stage. All that they had they gave - they gave - in sure and single faith. There can be no knowledge reach the grave To make them grudge their death Save only they understood That, after all was done We the redeemed denied their blood And mocked the gains it won.
All student assemblies, plays, concerts, etc are held in this auditorium. My own children attended middle school here, and it was always a sobering reminder of the children who were lost in service.
Monuments & Memorials
"The centennial of World War One offers an opportunity for people in the United States
to learn about and commemorate the sacrifices of their predecessors."
from The World War One Centennial Commission Act, January 14, 2013
World War One was a watershed in American history. The United States' decision to join the battle in 1917 "to make the world safe for democracy" proved pivotal in securing allied victory — a victory that would usher in the American Century.
In the war's aftermath, individuals, towns, cities, counties, and states all felt compelled to mark the war, as did colleges, businesses, clubs, associations, veterans groups, and houses of worship. Thousands of memorials—from simple honor rolls, to Doughboy sculptures, to grandiose architectural ensembles—were erected throughout the US in the 1920s and 1930s, blanketing the American landscape.
Each of these memorials, regardless of size or expense, has a story. But sadly, as we enter the war's centennial period, these memorials and their very purpose—to honor in perpetuity the more than four million Americans who served in the war and the more than 116,000 who were killed—have largely been forgotten. And while many memorials are carefully tended, others have fallen into disrepair through neglect, vandalism, or theft. Some have been destroyed. Watch this CBS news video on the plight of these monuments.
The extant memorials are our most salient material links in the US to the war. They afford a vital window onto the conflict, its participants, and those determined to remember them. Rediscovering the memorials and the stories they tell will contribute to their physical and cultural rehabilitation—a fitting commemoration of the war and the sacrifices it entailed.
Memorial Hunters Club
We are building a US WW1 Memorial register through a program called the Memorials Hunters Club. If you locate a memorial that is not on the map we invite you to upload your treasure to be permanently archived in the national register. You can include your choice of your real name, nickname or team name as the explorers who added that memorial to the register. We even have room for a selfie! Check the map, and if you don't see the your memorial CLICK THE LINK TO ADD IT.
