Memories in stone and ink: how the United States used war memorials and soldier poetry to commemorate the Great War

Abstract

War occupies an important place in the collective memory of the United States, with many of its defining moments centered on times of intense trauma. American memory of World War I, however, pales in comparison to the Civil War and World War II, which has led to the conflict’s categorization as a “forgotten” war—terminology that ignores the widespread commemorative efforts undertaken by Americans in the war’s aftermath. In fact, the interwar period witnessed a multitude of memorialization projects, ranging from architectural memorials to literature. It is this dichotomy between contemporary understanding and the reality of the conflict’s aftermath that is at the heart of this study, which seeks to illuminate the prominent position held by the First World War in early twentieth century American society. The dissertation examines three war memorials: the Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri; the District of Columbia World War Memorial in West Potomac Park, Washington, D.C.; and Kansas State University’s Memorial Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas. The work also analyzes seven volumes of soldier poetry, published between 1916 and 1921: Poems, by Alan Seeger; With the Armies of France, by William Cary Sanger, Jr.; Echoes of France: Verses from my Journal and Letters, March 14, 1918 to July 14, 1919 and Afterwards, by Amy Robbins Ware; The Tempering, by Howard Swazey Buck; Wampum and Old Gold, by Hervey Allen; The Log of the Devil Dog and Other Verses, by Byron H. Comstock; and Rhymes of a Lost Battalion Doughboy, by Lee Charles McCollum. Despite the presence of some thematic similarities between the two modes of remembrance, each mode had different objectives and audiences, contributing to the creation of distinct and competing forms of collective memory regarding American involvement in the Great War. Taken together, the two modes provide a more complete picture of American memorialization to World War I than if studied independently. This interdisciplinary approach to understanding commemorative efforts during the interwar period is vital to understanding the war and its legacy, and thus beneficial to both historical scholarship and the public.