Walter Cronkite Memorial

You don’t have to travel far to reach an outstanding memorial to one of the most legendary journalists in modern times.

The Walter Cronkite Memorial offers a multitude of insights about a truly outstanding native son of St. Joseph, MO. The memorial is prominently housed on the campus at Missouri Western State University. The memorial is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Leah Spratt Hall Atrium. A huge banner draped on the building’s exterior makes the memorial facing Downs Drive easy to find on the southeast portion of the campus.

Many consider Walter Cronkite as one of the most significant American journalists of the 20th Century.  Certainly Cronkite, as anchor of CBS News, was a voice not only objectively reporting some of the most dramatic times in our country’s history but also influencing public opinion and even impacting official government policy.

“And that’s the way it is…”

“Of all humankind’s achievements in the 20th Century …the one event that will dominate the history books a half millennium from now will be our escape from our earthly environment and landing on the moon… The first landing on the moon was, indeed, the most extraordinary story of our time.” — Walter Cronkite, “A Reporter’s Life” 1996

An ardent supporter and developer of the memorial is Dr. Robert Vartabedian, president of Missouri Western State University. Last Thurday Dr. Vartabedian acted as a memorial tour guide for journalists attending the 126th annual meeting of Northwest Missouri Press Association.

The audio and visual displays, including a replica studio of the CBS Evening News studio, chronicle not only the man but many events influencing today’s realities. In this sense, the memorial is not a museum — although, obviously, many college students enrolled in classes today have no personal memories watching Cronkite on television.

The first memorial display entitled “And that’s the way it is…” features 39 TV screens capturing the most significant history-making events during Walter Cronkite’s journalism career.

“The interview styles today are so very different from Cronkite’s era,” says Dr. Vartabedian. “Today’s news seems like one big editorial comment by comparison.

“Cronkite was so good because he started in the print media. As a youngster he was a prolific reader and memorized whole portions of the World Book Encyclopedia. He sold magazines to make money as a kid. He worked on his school newspapers in junior high and senior high and also in college. He was a World War II correspondent. He went into radio and finally into television (worked at KCMO in Kansas City).”

Most agree that Walter Cronkite mixed his considerably high IQ with a seasoned dose of journalist savvy. Yet, he reported in a common language easy to understand, using his distinctive baritone voice in a measured way where a pause spoke volumes. He was a pioneer in the use of visual aids in TV reporting.

Walter Cronkite was the third generation of his family, born and raised in St. Joseph. His father was a dentist, and a dentist’s chair from his practice is on display at the Patee House Museum in St. Joseph.

“Cronkite was an observer of human behavior but very objective in his reporting.  Cronkite was a Midwesterner whose values reflected the Heartland. He referred to himself as a kid from St. Joseph — unless he was in Kansas City where he referred to himself as a kid from Kansas City.”

The memorial to Walter Cronkite at Missouri Western started about eight years ago. Dr. Vartabedian describes an humble beginning when space was created in the existing atrium of Spratt Hall. Inquiries to the Cronkite family eventually pointed to a cousin, Kate, who put memorial planners in contact with Madlene Adler who worked as Walter Cronkite’s chief of staff.

“The Cronkite children have been very, very supportive,” Dr. Vartabedian says. “After that first display, the memorial just kinda took off. The family really only made one request and that was for their mother, Mary Elizabeth ‘Betsy’ Cronkite,” to be properly recognized.”

According to Dr.Vartabedian, the only problem the memorial faces in its future is space. He speculates that there may be as many as 20 storage bins filled with authentic artifacts from Walter Cronkite’s career and personal life. Since there are only two other places where a memorial to Cronkite are known, most if not all of this could be housed at Missouri Western.

The Cronkite Memorial in St. Joseph was dedicated in November, 2013. The memorial is now in Phase 4 of development and features many items of significance. Ten of the 12 Emmy Awards given to the broadcaster are displayed here. A replica of the World War II Waco combat glider that Cronkite used during his coverage of the 101st Airborne’s Operation Market Garden in Holland hangs from the ceiling. Cartoon caricatures drawn by artist Al Hirschfeld, once commissioned for advertising purposes by CBS, are displayed. Touch-panel kiosks display videos dedicated to the events that Cronkite covered.

The University is a benefactor of a $1 million gift from CBS which provides for student internships, each valued at $100,000 as Cronkite Fellowships.

Video stories about Walter Cronkite frequently take to the road. Three live multi-media shows are currently in production, including “Harry & Walter: Missouri’s Native Sons” with live actors performing in the roles of Harry Truman and Walter Cronkite. There are plans to produce a similar show featuring former Sen. Thomas Eagleton with Cronkite. A production entitled “King and Cronkite” is being finished now, thanks to a gift from the family of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. Robert Vartabedian, president of Missouri Western State University, explained the time line display describing the life of journalist and St. Joseph native Walter Cronkite during the 126th meeting of the Northwest Press Association last Thursday.

“Most people do not realize that King’s famous ‘I Have A Dream’ speech is not in the public domain,” Dr. Vartabedian says. “Dr. King never was elected to a public office so the rights to that speech are privately held. The market value for the use of that speech is now in excess of $750,000 but, thankfully, the King family has given us all rights to use it here for free — they think that much of our memorial.”

And so will you. A visit to the Cronkite Memorial at Missouri Western State University is just a click away online: https://www.missouriwestern.edu/wcm/   Even better is for you to personally broaden your knowledge and insight about one of the journalist giants of modern time by visiting the Memorial for yourself on the university campus at St. Joseph.

On Saturday, Nov. 5, a public celebration of the 100th birthday of Walter Cronkite is planned at Missouri Western State University, St. Joseph. Celebrations are also announced for July 11 at the Union Station in Kansas City and on Sept. 23 at the Lincoln Center in Washington, D.C.