Following World War I, local veterans, the Tennessee Historical Society, and the Nashville Engineering Association advocated for the creation of a permanent memorial to World War I. They lobbied Governor A.H. Roberts (1868-1946) and the state legislature, and, in 1919, the land was acquired. The city, county, and state all pledged money for the memorial's construction. Completed in 1925, War Memorial Auditorium was designed in the Neoclassical style. Through the large fluted Doric columns is an open atrium and a bronze statue of Victory, designed by the husband and wife sculpting team Belle Kinney (1890-1959) and Leopold Scholz (1877-1946). The auditorium was home to WSM's Grand Ole Opry from 1939 until 1943 and the Nashville Symphony until c.1981. The Military Branch of the Tennessee State Museum and the offices of the Tennessee Historical Society are also located on the lower level. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.
War Memorial Auditorium
36.164, -86.7836
Description
Following World War I, local veterans, the Tennessee Historical Society, and the Nashville Engineering Association advocated for the creation of a permanent memorial to World War I. They lobbied Governor A.H. Roberts (1868-1946) and the state legislature, and, in 1919, the land was acquired. The city, county, and state all pledged money for the memorial's construction. Completed in 1925, War Memorial Auditorium was designed in the Neoclassical style. Through the large fluted Doric columns is an open atrium and a bronze statue of Victory, designed by the husband and wife sculpting team Belle Kinney (1890-1959) and Leopold Scholz (1877-1946). The auditorium was home to WSM's Grand Ole Opry from 1939 until 1943 and the Nashville Symphony until c.1981. The Military Branch of the Tennessee State Museum and the offices of the Tennessee Historical Society are also located on the lower level. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.