King's Chapel's World War I Memorial

Veterans Day, the anniversary of the November 11, 1918 Armistice that brought the First World War to an end, provides an opportunity to reflect on King’s Chapel and its community during World War I. ​

Within a month of the Armistice, King’s Chapel formed a Committee on the War Memorial, dedicated to erecting a permanent memorial honoring King’s Chapel members involved in the war. The memorial, as seen today, was the culmination of several years of discussion and planning – it was ultimately unveiled and dedicated on November 11, 1925. During those years, the committee revealed their own understanding of how a memorial serves a dual role of honoring a recipient, while preserving the attitudes and values of the community and era that created it. For example, the committee debated whether to honor all members who served in the military during the war, or just those who lost their lives. Should they create a static memorial such as the marble archway that exists today or, maybe, a living memorial, such as a proposed annual lecture series during Lent?

Ultimately, the decision was made to honor 3 individuals who died in service of the U.S. Military or while working abroad during the war. The memorial was to be erected with funds raised by the committee, not the congregation, leaving much of the fundraising efforts to the families of those being honored. This is how the church, 100 years ago, wanted their community to be remembered, through the stories of 3 individuals (pictured below): Edward Blake Robins, Jr., Hamilton Coolidge, and Helen Homans. 

King’s Chapel’s monthly calendar, circulated shortly after the war’s close, began the work of memorializing its members. After expressing the community’s sadness in the losses experienced, the Reverend Howard Brown wrote that King’s Chapel 

“also has a right to cherish a very noble pride in their accomplishments and their memory. [They] gave themselves without reserve to the cause for which the nation fought, and the service that they rendered displayed rare courage and intelligence.”

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