Soldiers' Memorial
The history
1315 Chestnut Street, 1936–38, Mauran, Russell & Crowell — black granite piers, four heroic figures for Courage, Vision, Loyalty and Sacrifice, and an open cenotaph court in the middle with the names of the 1,075 St. Louisans killed in the First World War cut into the floor. Franklin Roosevelt laid the cornerstone in 1935 and Truman dedicated it in 1938. Closed for years, restored by the Missouri Historical Society and reopened in 2018; the museum is free.
In brief
The Soldiers Memorial Military Museum in downtown St. Louis, Missouri is a memorial and military museum, at 1315 Chestnut Street, owned by the City of St. Louis and operated by the Missouri Historical Society. Interior east and west wings contain display cases with military displays and memorabilia from World War I and subsequent American wars. The open-air central breezeway contains a massive black marble cenotaph upon which are engraved the names of all of St. Louis' war dead from the first world war. The building was designed by St. Louis architectural firm Mauran, Russell & Crowell in a stripped Classical style, with a severely simplified form and limited ornament. It was dedicated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1936 and officially opened to the public on Memorial Day, 1938. Four monumental sculptural groups representing figures of Loyalty, Vision, Courage and Sacrifice by sculptor
Read more →The archival photograph
