Okay, so I’ve been digging into this World War I Centennial Commission thing, and let me tell you, it’s been a journey. I mean, who knew there was so much involved in putting together a national memorial? I certainly didn’t, not until I started this whole project.
It all began when I stumbled upon some info about Edwin Fountain. Turns out, this guy was a big deal on the World War I Centennial Commission, appointed back in 2013. That got me curious, so I started poking around, trying to figure out what this commission was all about and what they were up to.
The main thing, it seems, is that they’re building a National World War I Memorial in Washington, D.C. Pretty cool, right? They picked this spot called Pershing Park, which is right across from the White House Visitor Center. It is a good place.
Next, I dove into the history. The US declared war on Germany on April 6, all because of the Zimmermann Telegram and those German submarine attacks. It is history.
- Started reading up on Edwin Fountain’s role as Vice Chair.
- Found out he’s a partner in some fancy Washington firm.
- Learned about the commission’s plans to redevelop Pershing Park.
Then things got real interesting. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) gave their thumbs up to the memorial’s design concept. From what I gather, there was a lot of back-and-forth on this, but they finally got the green light.
Diving Deeper into the Memorial Plans
So, what’s this memorial going to look like? I managed to find some details on that too. There’s going to be this massive 58-foot long sculpture called “A Soldier’s Journey.” Sounds impressive, doesn’t it? Apparently, it’s supposed to complete some “quartet of national memorials” in D.C. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but it sounds important.
I kept digging, trying to piece together the whole story. I watched interviews with Fountain, read articles, and browsed through the commission’s website. It was a lot of information to sift through, but slowly but surely, I started to get a clearer picture of what was going on.
Final Thoughts
This whole thing has been quite the learning experience. I went in knowing next to nothing about the World War I Centennial Commission, and now I feel like I could give a presentation on it. It just goes to show, you never know what you’ll uncover when you start following a thread of curiosity. I can say that I did learn something interesting.
It is also important to remember history. Building this memorial in Washington is a good thing. I think more people should learn about it.
Anyway, that’s my little adventure in the world of the World War I Centennial Commission. I hope you found it at least somewhat interesting. Who knows what I’ll stumble upon next? There’s always something new to learn, right?
