Waddell & Reed and Ivy Funds have created an ambitious and unconventional acknowledgement of the firm’s 75th anniversary: in partnership with the National World War I Museum, a custom 18-wheel “big rig” truck has been transformed into a traveling gallery that will visit 75 communities across the country, stopping at a variety of local museums and cultural institutions to raise funds and awareness.

Dubbed the Honoring Our History tour, the unique traveling museum offers a free, interactive and educational experience designed in concert with the National World War I Museum—the first and only American museum solely dedicated to preserving the artifacts, history and personal experiences of a war that brought dramatic impact and still echoes today. Funds raised at each stop will be divided equally between each local museum and the National World War I Museum, based in Kansas City, Mo.

The trench room in the Honoring Our History traveling gallery.

The traveling gallery features a variety of artifacts, videos, an authentic walk-through trench that simulates the war environment, audio tracks, headlines and historical descriptions. It allows visitors the chance to experience the tight conditions of trench warfare and see the relatively primitive tools, weapons, equipment, and uniforms, amid sounds and sights of war 100 years ago.

The gallery is outside the Missouri History Museum on June 19, 2012, from 10am to 6pm, and admission is free.