War Memorial Auditorium Building

In 1925 Tennessee, Davidson County, and Nashville dedicated the War Memorial Auditorium as an enduring tribute to their sons ad daughters who served the nation on land, sea, and in the air during the First World War. The division of history of the Department of Education collected the names of servicemen who died and whose names would be placed on the bronze plaques that were placed on the building circa 1929. Leopold and Belle Kinney Scholz's gilded bronze Victory statue, part of the original design, was dedicated in 1931. Originally seating 2,200 and featuring excellent acoustics, the auditorium became the performance home of the Nashville Symphony from 1925 to 1980, the home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1939 to 1943, and a frequent stop on the African American Theater Circuit in the 1950s.