Laurie Perry Cookingham was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 23, 1896. He served in France and Germany with the 310th Field Signal Battalion. His collection, contributed by the LaBudde Special Collections at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, includes a diary, letters, and photographs regarding his World War I service.
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| L. Perry Cookingham, in uniform |
Cookingham vividly described his experiences when the war ended in a letter to his parents on December 16, 1918. On the evening of November 10, 1918, his unit learned they would advance “over the top” the next morning. The men began making preparations for their attack, but before midnight they were told the advance had been cancelled and an armistice would begin at 11 A.M. Even though the end of the war was now in sight, fighting continued until the last possible moment. The men began their normal trench routine at 7 A.M. as a heavy barrage was underway. The firing continued with increased intensity until the clock hit 11 A.M. when a remarkable silence fell across the Western Front. With the armistice in effect, German soldiers walked across “no man’s land” to the American lines where they traded souvenirs with Cookingham and his comrades. After the visit, the Doughboys returned to work as if nothing had happened.
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| Diary entries dated June 4-July 11, 1918 |
After the armistice, the Americans began occupation duty in Germany. In the early days of his service, Cookingham had been told by veterans they would rather be at the front than in a rear area. Cookingham did not understand this at first, but while occupying Mayen, Germany, he realized what they meant. In the trenches there was constant work and excitement, but now all they did was drill.
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| Soldiers in full uniform, L. Perry Cookingham in center |
Cookingham enjoyed a long and successful career in public service after he got out of the army. In 1940, he became the city manager of Kansas City. Cookingham followed the corrupt regime of Tom Pendergast who had dominated local politics for years. Cookingham was such an effective leader he created a surplus in the debt ridden city after just one fiscal year on the job. He held the city manager’s job in Kansas City for nineteen years, the longest tenure for any major American city. In 1959, he resigned to take a similar position in Fort Worth, Texas. Cookingham retired from public life in 1963 and returned to Kansas City where he died on July 22, 1992.
Sources
L. Perry Cookingham Collection, 1918-1919. MS02. LaBudde Special Collections, University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO.
