Rosedale World War I Memorial Arch
Owner: Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, KS
Architect: John Leroy Marshall
Dates:
Groundbreaking, July 20, 1923
Erected 1923-24
First Dedication, September 7, 1924
Second Dedication, 1962
Dedication for 50th Anniversary, July 4, 1974
Added to National Register of Historic Places, August 2, 1977
Restored, 1988
Memorial Monument placed, 1993
Medium: Limestone veneer over bricks
Description:
Recruits from the Kansas National Guard became the Rainbow Division, making up the 117th Ammunition Train in World War I. The first six companies were recruited in Rosedale, Kansas, which later became a part of Kansas City, Kansas.
On May 12, 1919, veterans returned to Rosedale to streets decorated in rainbow colours. The name of Hudson Boulevard was changed to Rainbow Boulevard "in honor of the Rosedale boys who gave their lives in France and those who saw service there."
After World War I ended, the citizens of Rosedale wanted to express their gratitude to the men from their community who had served in the Rainbow Division and other units during the war and perpetuate their memory for future generations.
Architect John Leroy Marshall was a citizen of Rosedale and one of the first students of Architecture at the University of Kansas. He had also served during World War I. Marshall was hired to design a memorial. His design for the arch was influenced by the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, but more closely resembles the Washington Square Arch in New York City.
General Henri Gourand, the one-armed commander of the 4th French Army, was the guest of honor at the groundbreaking ceremony on July 20, 1923. He turned the first earth with a gold spade.
The Rosedale World War I Memorial Arch was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 2, 1977. The data page for it can be found here.
The Memorial Monument, placed under the arch in 1993, honors all Rosedale natives who gave their lives in service of their country in World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. The monument is double-sided with identical plaques and inscriptions on both sides.
