May 26 – Kansas City, MO

Memorial Day Weekend seems like a very appropriate time to explore the World War I Museum and learn about the sacrifices made in the Great War. You enter the museum by crossing a bridge above a field of poppies representing the 9,000 combatant deaths of the war. 

The world was a very connected place because of colonial alliances in the early 1900s.  Videos, displays of uniforms and weapons help tell the story of a world at war. Life sized trenches show just how cramped and limited the fighting spaces were. 

Of special note is the “Pantheon de la Guerre”, a football field size painting that depicts the Allied leadership and forces. It was first displayed in Paris and the at the Chicago World’s Fair.

May 25 – Kansas City

Kansas City here we come!  Our first stop was the Money Museum at the Federal Reserve Bank.  We were able to view the automated, multi-story vault where millions of dollars are stored awaiting distribution to member banks.  Large counting machines inspect, count and package currency. Bills that are worn out are automatically shredded. Our parting souvenir was a bag of shredded money; I wonder if we can piece them back together?

The Hallmark Visitor Center was nearby at the Crown Center.  There we learned about founder, JC Hall who began by selling post cards in 1910.  Business in greeting cards expanded and the rest is history! Hallmark ranks in the 10 best companies to work for. We saw collections of ornaments, cards and toys and three presses used in card production.

After lunch we traveled to the Negro League Baseball Museum/American Jazz Museum at 8^th and Vine.  In the 1900s Jim Crow laws prohibited integrated professional baseball teams.  Black players formed their own teams and barnstormed the country playing all comers.  In 1945 Jackie Robinson was recruited from the Kansas City Monarchs to play on a major league team.  This historic event was a key moment in baseball and civil right, and it also prompted the decline of the Negro Leagues. Through video, uniforms, players stories and sculptures we saw what game day was like.

The American Jazz Museum brings jazz to life through sound clips, videos and record art. The Masters Exhibit highlights the music of Charlie Bird Parker, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald.  The Blue Room, designed to resemble a 1930s nightclub, features live music several nights a week.

Photographs were not permitted in either museum.