1920s
In the 1920s, a group called the “Gold Star Mothers” was
established by St. Louis mothers who had lost a son or daughter in WWI. The
group decided to honor the 1185 soldiers, sailors, marines and nurses who died in the War by creating a memorial plaque
for each one of them. Beginning in 1926, the gold-plated
plaques, along with European sycamore trees, that were known as Gold Star trees, were installed in a Court of Honor. The Court of Honor was located
in the median of Kingshighway Drive, which was changed to Kingshighway Memorial
Drive, from Easton Avenue North to West Florissant (today Martin Luther King
Blvd to Interstate 70). Each plaque was the size of a discus. The upper side of the plaque featured a five pointed star, which is the symbol for the nation's war dead. Within the star was the name,
rank, unit, and cause of death for each honoree. The reverse side of the plaque stated when and by whom the plaque was commissioned.
Some plaques were paid for by family members while others were paid for by public donations.
Unfortunately, funds were not set aside for the Memorial’s
upkeep and in less than ten years, it fell into disrepair. As a result, grass
and dirt covered many of the plaques. Sadly, the memorial was destroyed by road construction in the 1960s and 1980s.
1960s
According to the February 8, 1960, edition of the St. Louis Post Dispatch, during the
construction of the Mark Twain Expressway (Interstate 70), more than 100 of the
bronze plaques were removed along with approximately 100 trees from the Memorial. A spokesman for the construction company stated that “each concrete encased bronze marker was carefully removed by hand and turned
over to the Department of Parks, Recreation and Forestry.” The article clearly states that the plaques had been stored in a warehouse in North St. Louis; however, it appears that they have
been lost because there is no record of their current location.
1980s
Construction in the early 1980s to widen Kingshighway required
that the remaining plaques be removed and discarded. Some members of the construction crew belonged to the American Legion Post, # 15, Rollo-Calcaterra Post. They joined with other members of their post to save as many plaques as possible. With the help of metal detectors, the Post located 752 of the original 1185 plaques. The salvaged plaques were placed in barrels
and stored in the basement of the Soldiers Memorial building in downtown St.
Louis. The plan to reinstall them, ideally on the grounds of the Soldier's Memorial never materialized. Skip Berger, Commander of Post #15, moved the plaques to a garage
near the American Legion post headquarters in South St.Louis for safe keeping while he worked to find a permanent home for them. More importantly, he felt that these veterans who made the ultimate sacrifice should never
be forgotten.
2000s
Berger’s mission received a huge boost on May 17, 2007 when a local
news station, KSDK, aired a story on the plaques. Jefferson Barracks Museum Curator,
Marc Kollbaum and Assistant Curator, Janet Wilzbach saw the segment and contacted
the American Legion Post # 15.
They were very interested in the plaques because they were curating an exhibition on St. Louisans in the war. The Jefferson Barracks County Park displayed a
total of 403 of the plaques. In addition to being on view in the Museum Exhibit, they were
on view at the Visitor’s Center and Powder Magazine. The plaques were very
popular with the public and many visitors read the inscriptions and learned about St.
Louisans who lost their lives in WWI. The exhibit made Berger even more determined to find a permanent home for the plaques. That permanent home became the Jefferson
Barracks National Cemetery.
The American Legion Post #15, with the help of the Jefferson
Barracks Chapel Association, the National Cemetery Association, the Veterans
Administration and the St. Louis Economic Council, developed a proposal and raised funds for the new Memorial . The St. Louis Economic Council helped to secure a grant of $250,000.00 from the Port Authority which covered the cost of the Memorial. The groundbreaking for the Memorial was May 10, 2012. The Memorial
was rededicated on September 30, 2012.
The Memorial consists of two black
granite walls that symbolize the two sections of Kingshighway where the original Memorial was located. Also, a row of trees aligns each wall symbolizing the
trees that were planted at the original memorial.
To learn more about the history of the World
War I Court of Honor Memorial visit www.stl-lestweforget.org. This website was created by American Legion Post #15.
Sources
WWI Court of Honor
Project – Lest We Forget Local Media Coverage http://stl-lestweforget.org/coverage.htmlHidden Memorials May See Sun Again
WWI Memorial Needs New Home
100 Plaques Honoring War Dead Removed in Path of Highway
