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Photo, Print, Drawing Flanders Field American Cemetery & Memorial, Wortegemseweg 117, Waregem, West Flanders (Belgium), BEL

[ Photos from Survey HALS US-7  ]

More Resources

[ Drawings from Survey HALS US-7  ]
[ Data Pages from Survey HALS US-7  ]
[ Photo Captions from Survey HALS US-7  ]

About this Item

Title

  • Flanders Field American Cemetery & Memorial, Wortegemseweg 117, Waregem, West Flanders (Belgium), BEL

Names

  • Historic American Landscapes Survey, creator
  • Cret, Paul Philippe
  • U.S. Department of War
  • Gibbs, George, Jr.
  • Phillips, W. L.
  • Swartwout, Egerton
  • Bottiau, Alfred-Alphonse
  • Lahalle & Levard
  • U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA)
  • Lyall, Earl Harvey
  • U.S. Department of War, Office of the Quartermaster General, Graves Registration Service
  • Adams & Cie
  • Susse Freres
  • Stevens, Christopher M., project manager
  • McNatt, Jason W., field team
  • Davidson, Paul, field team
  • Odom, Bradley, delineator
  • Davidson, Lisa Pfueller, historian
  • Grogan, Brian C., photographer
  • American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), sponsor

Created / Published

  • Documentation compiled after 2000

Headings

  • -  chapels
  • -  officers' quarters
  • -  formal gardens
  • -  Art Deco architectural elements
  • -  Beaux-Arts architectural elements
  • -  hedges (plants)
  • -  memorial landscapes
  • -  war (World War I)
  • -  commemoration
  • -  commemorative landscapes
  • -  cemeteries
  • -  national cemeteries
  • -  Belgium--West Flanders (Belgium)--Waregem

Latitude / Longitude

  • 50.873614,3.452335

Notes

  • -  Significance: Flanders Field American Cemetery & Memorial is one of eight overseas World War I cemeteries designed and administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC), a federal agency created in 1923. The practical necessity of burying American soldiers who died during the conflict was first handled by the War Department through the Quartermaster General's Graves Registration Service (GRS). Like the GRS, the ABMC was required to consult with the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts in creating permanent memorials overseas, including redesigning the existing War Department cemeteries with memorial chapels and other features. During the 1920s Flanders Field became part of a larger effort to create lasting and impressive memorials to the American war effort in England, Belgium, and France. Flanders Field, located in Waregem, Belgium, is the only ABMC World War I cemetery in Belgium. Another World War I cemetery is located outside London, England, and the remaining six in northern France. In addition to memorial chapels at each cemetery, ABMC also saw to the construction of eleven free-standing World War I memorials at various sites in the three countries. There are two small memorials in Belgium, with the largest monuments at the site of major military accomplishments in France. ABMC hired prominent French-born American architect Paul P. Cret as its consulting architect in 1925. Cret guided every aspect of the ABMC construction program from finalizing locations and selecting architects to inspecting progress and making maintenance recommendations. Cret also personally designed the Chapel and renovated the site plan for Flanders Field, with this construction taking place between 1928 and 1930. Graves Registration Service architects had already established the basic form of the site, with a brick wall around a roughly rectangular cemetery and the main access road oriented diagonally from the corner gate. The gate with carved stone pylons and a handsome brick Visitor's Building/Superintendent's Quarters were built by the War Department during 1923-24. Cret's main contributions were the octagonal stripped classical Chapel, its location in a central sunken lawn, and three rond-points radiating from the center with stone urns. He also advised on everything from design and placement of benches to selection of annual plantings. Through Cret, the architecture and landscapes of the ABMC display a sophisticated Beaux Arts Classical approach, with the Art Moderne details and forms that characterized some of the best civic architecture of the 1920s and 30s.
  • -  Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N86
  • -  Survey number: HALS US-7
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1922-1923 Initial Construction
  • -  Building/structure dates: 1928-1930 Subsequent Work

Medium

  • Photo(s): 36
  • Color Transparencies: 6
  • Measured Drawing(s): 15
  • Data Page(s): 110
  • Photo Caption Page(s): 4

Call Number/Physical Location

  • HALS US-7

Source Collection

  • Historic American Landscapes Survey (Library of Congress)

Repository

Control Number

  • us0010

Rights Advisory

Online Format

  • image
  • pdf

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not license or charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot grant or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute the material.

Ultimately, it is the researcher's obligation to assess copyright or other use restrictions and obtain permission from third parties when necessary before publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the Library's collections.

For information about reproducing, publishing, and citing material from this collection, as well as access to the original items, see: Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscape Survey (HABS/HAER/HALS) Collection - Rights and Restrictions Information

  • Rights Advisory: No known restrictions on images made by the U.S. Government; images copied from other sources may be restricted. https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/res/114_habs.html
  • Reproduction Number: ---
  • Call Number: HALS US-7
  • Access Advisory: ---

Obtaining Copies

If Digital Images Are Displaying

You can download online images yourself. Alternatively, you can purchase copies of various types through Library of Congress Duplication Services.

HABS/HAER/HALS materials have generally been scanned at high resolution that is suitable for most publication purposes (see Digitizing the Collection for further details about the digital images).

  • Photographs--All photographs are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Call Number and Item Number that appear under the photograph in the multiple-image display (e.g., HAER, NY,52-BRIG,4-2).
    • If possible, include a printout of the photograph.
  • Drawings--All drawings are printed from digital files to preserve the fragile originals.
    • Make note of the Survey Number (e.g., HAER NY - 143) and Sheet Number (e.g., "Sheet 1 of 4"), which appear on the edge of the drawing. (NOTE: These numbers are visible in the Tiff "Reference Image" display.)
    • If possible, include a printout of the drawing.
  • Data Pages
    • Make note of the Call Number in the catalog record.

If Digital Images Are Not Displaying

In the rare case that a digital image for HABS/HAER/HALS documentation is not displaying online, select images for reproduction through one of these methods:

  • Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room and request to view the group (general information about service in the reading room is available at: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/info/001_ref.html). It is best to contact reference staff in advance (see: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/address.html) to make sure the material is on site. OR
  • P&P reading room staff can provide up to 15 quick copies of items per calendar year (many original items in the holdings are too old or fragile to make such copies, but generally HABS/HAER/HALS materials are in good enough condition to be placed on photocopy machines). For assistance, see our Ask a Librarian page OR
  • Hire a freelance researcher to do further selection for you (a list of researchers in available at: https://www.loc.gov/rr/print/resource/013_pic.html).
  • You can purchase copies of various types, including quick copies, through Library of Congress Duplication Services (price lists, contact information, and order forms for Library of Congress Duplication Services are available on the Duplication Services Web site):
    • Make note of the Call Number listed above.
    • Look at the Medium field above. If it lists more than one item:
      • The entire group can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.
      • All the items in a particular medium (e.g., all drawings, all photographs) can be ordered as photocopies or high-quality copies.

Access to Originals

Please use the following steps to determine whether you need to fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room to view the original item(s). In some cases, a surrogate (substitute image) is available, often in the form of a digital image, a copy print, or microfilm.

  1. Is the item digitized? (A thumbnail (small) image will be visible on the left.)

    • Yes, the item is digitized. Please use the digital image in preference to requesting the original. All images can be viewed at a large size when you are in any reading room at the Library of Congress. In some cases, only thumbnail (small) images are available when you are outside the Library of Congress because the item is rights restricted or has not been evaluated for rights restrictions.
      As a preservation measure, we generally do not serve an original item when a digital image is available. If you have a compelling reason to see the original, consult with a reference librarian. (Sometimes, the original is simply too fragile to serve. For example, glass and film photographic negatives are particularly subject to damage. They are also easier to see online where they are presented as positive images.)
    • No, the item is not digitized. Please go to #2.
  2. Do the Access Advisory or Call Number fields above indicate that a non-digital surrogate exists, such as microfilm or copy prints?

    • Yes, another surrogate exists. Reference staff can direct you to this surrogate.
    • No, another surrogate does not exist. Please go to #3.
  3. If you do not see a thumbnail image or a reference to another surrogate, please fill out a call slip in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room. In many cases, the originals can be served in a few minutes. Other materials require appointments for later the same day or in the future. Reference staff can advise you in both how to fill out a call slip and when the item can be served.

To contact Reference staff in the Prints and Photographs Reading Room, please use our Ask A Librarian service or call the reading room between 8:30 and 5:00 at 202-707-6394, and Press 3.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Historic American Landscapes Survey, Creator, Paul Philippe Cret, U.S. Department Of War, George Gibbs, W. L Phillips, Egerton Swartwout, Alfred-Alphonse Bottiau, et al., Grogan, Brian C, photographer. Flanders Field American Cemetery & Memorial, Wortegemseweg 117, Waregem, West Flanders Belgium, BEL. Belgium West Flanders Waregem, 2000. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/us0010/.

APA citation style:

Historic American Landscapes Survey, C., Cret, P. P., U.S. Department Of War, Gibbs, G., Phillips, W. L., Swartwout, E. [...] American Battle Monuments Commission, S., Grogan, B. C., photographer. (2000) Flanders Field American Cemetery & Memorial, Wortegemseweg 117, Waregem, West Flanders Belgium, BEL. Belgium West Flanders Waregem, 2000. Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/us0010/.

MLA citation style:

Historic American Landscapes Survey, Creator, et al., photographer by Grogan, Brian C. Flanders Field American Cemetery & Memorial, Wortegemseweg 117, Waregem, West Flanders Belgium, BEL. Documentation Compiled After. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/us0010/>.