Episode 4: The National World War I Museum and Memorial – Jonathan Casey (Missouri and The Great War, Part 2)

It was supposed to be the war to end all wars. At the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918, the guns on the battlefield fell silent to mark the signing of the armistice that ended World War I. Yet, for all the hope of peace and a return to normalcy, this First World War, as it would later be called, merely marked the opening act of a century dominated by global conflict. As we come upon the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I, the Our Missouri Podcast is launching a three part series on "Missouri and The Great War." Each episode in this series will focus on different aspects of the war ranging from soldiers and civilians on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean to how the conflict has been remembered in memory and monuments. In this episode, Jonathan Casey, director of the archives and Edward Jones Research Center at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, offers tips on how researchers can find relevant documents related to the war and explains how the museum prepared for the World War I centennial.

Episode Image: Liberty Memorial, Kansas City, Missouri, 1921 [J. C. Nichols Company Scrapbooks (K0054), SHSMO]

About the Guest: Jonathan Casey serves as the director of the archives and Edward Jones Research Center at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City. He holds a bachelor's degree in history from the College of William and Mary and a master's degree in museum studies from the University of Kansas. In addition to managing the museum's collection of over 100,000 items, Casey has also traveled to several World War I sites in the United States and Europe to give programs on the war's lasting impact.