[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 179 (Friday, November 18, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1169-E1170]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   CELEBRATING DORAN CART'S RETIREMENT FROM THE NATIONAL WORLD WAR I 
                          MUSEUM AND MEMORIAL

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. EMANUEL CLEAVER

                              of missouri

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 18, 2022

  Mr. CLEAVER. Madam Speaker, it is with profound gratitude that I rise 
today to celebrate the decades-long career of Doran Cart, who has 
served as the Senior Curator at the National World War I Museum and 
Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri for the last eleven years. As the 
nation's leading expert on the material culture of the First World War, 
Doran's role in preserving and interpreting the history of this 
transformational conflict cannot be overstated. With his well-earned 
retirement fast approaching at the end of the year, let us take a 
moment to reflect on Doran's invaluable contributions not only to 
Missouri's Fifth Congressional District, but to the field of history at 
large.
  Having long understood the significance of studying the past, Doran 
earned his Bachelor of Arts in History from Indiana University in 1974, 
at which point he entered the museum field. Going on to earn a master's 
degree in Museum Administration/History from the University of 
California, Riverside in 1981, Doran became Curator at the Liberty 
Memorial nine years later, leading a professional staff of only two 
individuals. When the Memorial was closed in November of 1994 due to 
structural failure of its courtyards and stairways, a chain of events 
was set in motion that would soon make Doran Cart a household name in 
Kansas City and eventually a figure of national; and even 
international, prominence. Serving as the Memorial's point of contact 
for publicity related to the unfortunate closure, Doran worked 
tirelessly with various entities on restoration designs, 
implementation, and documentation. Spearheading efforts to pass a sales 
tax designed to generate funds for the Memorial's restoration, Doran 
led over 150 public programs extolling the importance of the Memorial 
and the need for public support. When Kansas City voters overwhelmingly 
approved the sales tax in 1998, it was made clear that Doran's message 
had resonated deeply with the surrounding community. At the time, I was 
serving my second term as the Mayor of Kansas City, and it is difficult 
to adequately express the sense of admiration I felt for Doran after 
his successful appeal to the public. With millions of visitors from 
around the world having made their way to Kansas City over the last 
twenty-four years to visit the hallowed grounds that Doran helped save, 
that sense of admiration has only grown.
  Looking beyond the restoration of the Memorial, Doran also played a 
pivotal role in the passage of a $20 million bond initiative to fund 
the construction of a new museum that would display the thousands of 
WWI-related objects and documents that the Liberty Memorial Association 
had collected since 1920, one year before the site's dedication. 
Approved by voters in 2004, the same year that the 108th Congress 
designated the Liberty Memorial as the National WWI Museum, the bond 
initiative was part of a $102 million project that turned the space 
underneath the original Memorial Courtyard into the Museum's main 
gallery. Throughout this massive undertaking, Doran worked closely with 
the architectural, construction, and design teams. From there, he 
worked on the design, creation, label writing, and installation of the 
Museum's primary exhibition, The World War, 1914-1919.
  Opened to the public on December 2, 2006 as the National World War I 
Museum and Memorial, the site has been home to countless special 
exhibitions over the last sixteen years, including Man and Machine: The 
German Soldier in World War I, Road to War: 1904-1914,

[[Page E1170]]

Over by Christmas, August-December, 1914, and Empires at War: Austria 
and Germany, all of which Doran helped piece together. Possessing a 
wide general knowledge of the First World War, along with an unmatched 
sense of expertise on the Museum's ever-expanding collection of objects 
and documents, Doran has been responsible for updating exhibits, 
acquiring new relics, and curating collections from around the globe. 
On top of exhibition production, his duties have included basic 
conservation, research, writing, and public outreach. Moreover, Doran 
has served as a consultant for World War I material culture for 
museums, television documentaries, books, films, and other projects 
originating from around the world. Through on-screen media 
presentations and interviews, including appearances on Fox News, the 
History Channel, and PBS, Doran has served as a faithful ambassador for 
the immense collections he has curated and made accessible to scholars 
and lay-people alike. By leading battlefield tours, speaking on radio 
programs, and writing for social and print media--including 
contributions to publications such as BBC History and the Kansas 
Magazine of History--Doran has represented the Museum nationally and 
internationally on all fronts. With the Museum being designated as a 
U.S. National Historic Landmark in 2006, and with the Liberty Memorial 
being recognized as our country's official World War I memorial in 
2014, Doran performed exceptionally well in this role.
  President Harry S. Truman, whose hometown I have had the distinct 
honor of representing in Congress, once explained that ``the only thing 
new in the world is the history you don't know.'' The lessons that 
history offers, however, can only be learned if the objects, documents, 
and stories that provide windows into the past are properly preserved. 
Since 1990, Doran Cart has done his part to ensure that the history of 
the First World War will not be lost, and much like the history he has 
preserved, Doran's work will never be forgotten. Let this statement in 
the Congressional Record, preserved for perpetuity by the Library of 
Congress, along with the sacred grounds of the National World War I 
Museum and Memorial, stand as lasting testaments to Doran's work. Madam 
Speaker, please join me in wishing Doran Cart a joyous retirement.

                          ____________________