During World War I, Blue Stars hung in the windows of homes where a family member was serving in the armed forces, and if that person died in the war, the Blue Star was covered with a Gold Star to signify the sacrifice of a life for the country. Across the nation, groups of mothers who lost children in the war emerged to support one another and returning soldiers. In St. Louis, the Gold Star Mothers were led by Mrs. Frank de Garmo, who also led the National Society of 1917 World War Registrars. After the war, the St. Louis Gold Star Mothers and the National Society of 1917 World War Registrars worked with the City of St. Louis parks department to honor sons and daughters who died in service by promoting the Gold Star Court of Honor. Beginning on Arbor Day 1923, Memory trees were planted in the grassy medians of Kingshighway Boulevard from Easton Avenue, now Martin Luther King Drive. Later, eight-inch round bronze plaques were cast for each St. Louisan who died in the war, each bearing a large star and the person's name, rank, outfit, cause of death, and branch of service. Beginning in 1926, a total of 1,185 plaques were placed flush with the ground before the memorial trees and at other points along Kingshighway as far as Florissant Avenue, while this section was renamed Kingshighway Memorial Boulevard. The landscaped corridor of grass medians, trees, medallions, and a flagpole lasted from the 1920s until the 1960s, when construction of the Mark Twain Expressway required removal of medians near Bircher Boulevard and the city removed and stored more than 100 plaques. In the 1980s, further changes along Kingshighway threatened the remaining plaques, and members of the Rollo-Calcaterra American Legion Post 15 collected those still in the medians. Of the original 1,185 plaques, 752 were saved, restored, and incorporated into this memorial.
