The 100 Cities / 100 Memorials Grant Application Evaluation Period Has Begun

At the end of World War I, thousands of war memorials of every size were built in local communities across the country.

Over the decades, exposure to the elements, neglect and even vandalism has befallen these national heritage treasures. We must act now – to restore both their physical beauty and our awareness of the men and women they memorialize.

To help motivate and support this restoration, the 100 Cities / 100 Memorials program launched on July 15, 2016 with $200,000 in initial funding for a national matching grant challenge. The funds were provided by the World War One Centennial Commission and the Pritzker Military Museum & Library.

On July 15, 2017 the grant application period ended and all submission were received. This began a simple compliance process where co-program managers, Susan Mennenga for the PMML and Theo Mayer for the WW1CC reviewed each submission to ensure each contained all of the required components and elements outlined in the competition manual. For example, each qualifying project needed to have identified the owner of the memorial and received a written authorization from the owner to do the restoration or conservation. Other requirement include a plan with a scope, a budget and a schedule.

To evaluate the individual submissions an austere Review Committee has been assembled, each of whom are assigned a group of submissions to read, review and rate based on common evaluation rubric. The Review Committee will then make a recommendation to the program leadership on awarding that project a matching grant. Once completed in Mid-August, the entire Review Committee will meet so that all committee members have chance to be introduced to all the proposed projects.

We are very proud to present the following members on the 100 Cities / 100 Memorials Review Committee

• US WWI Centennial Commissioner John Monahan - American Legion National Finance Commission and Treasurer of the American Legion Charities, Inc.
• US WWI Commissioner Dr. Matthew Naylor - President and CEO of the the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City
• CPT Lynn W. Rolf III - Director of Programs at Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
• Joseph Weishaar - Architect in training and winning designer for the National WWI Memorial at Pershing Park in Washington DC
• Eugene P. Hough - Executive Director of Saving Hallowed Ground
• Dr. Mark Levitch - art historian at the National Gallery of Art, and founder/president of the World War I Memorial Inventory Project
• Michael Knapp - Chief of Historical Services at the American Battle Monuments Commission
• Donna L. Crisp - National Vice Chair, Commemorative Events, World War One Centennial/Treaty of Versailles for the Daughter of the American Revolution

We want to thank this austere group who have volunteered their precious time to help us review and evaluate the submissions.

But most of all we want to thank those who have undertaken these projects.

We acknowledge that participating in this program has required a lot of time, effort and dedication from each submitting team. The scope, quality, variety, and most of all the deeply held commitment that these submitting teams have demonstrated is wonderful and as you review them often humbling. We want to thank and congratulate every submitting team on the amazing projects that they have presented us with.