The Truman Library - History at Your Fingertips

 We visited the Truman Library this weekend after it's extensive remodel. The museum was closed during most of 2020 for Covid and all of 2021 for the renovation. The end results were impressive. I attended the museum several times as a child and it was one of my favorites. My husband and I attended years later, and at that time it was under a different renovation, but we were able to see the traveling Smithsonian Presidential Portraits which was a big surprise and amazing to see. 

I wanted to highlight this museum for the upcoming spring break season. President Harry S Truman is not only local, he was very integral in molding several aspects of not only Independence, MO, but Kansas City as well. He was a County Court judge in Jackson County, he owned "Truman & Jacobson", a haberdashery, with his army friend Eddie Jacobson and the store was located at 104 West 12th Street in downtown KC, he was elected to the US Senate as a Democrat for the state of Missouri, the Vice-President under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, taking office after the death of Roosevelt, to become the 33rd President. He then became our  34th President, after a controversial early call for Thomas Dewey, from the press. In his post Presidential life, he was responsible for the creation of the Former Presidents Act.

President Truman was most known for his efforts to end WWII with the dropping of the A-Bomb on Hiroshima. What I didn't realize was how much he did during his very short time in office. Yes, he was the President after Roosevelt, and during his own four year term, but in those eight years he established his place in history. The museum is full of information regarding his time in office, his peace talks with leaders of other countries, handwritten letters to family and foes, his belief in Civil Rights, and so much more. We spent nearly two hours visiting the museum and we could have spent several more. 

Here are some photos from our time there that highlight this historical figure that is truly right in our own backyard.

President Truman was my grandfather's favorite president. When I asked my dad why, he said it was because he saw Truman as a simple man, he ended the war that he himself was in, and that he was a democrat. 

The exhibits within the museum are very interactive. McKinley enjoyed taking the quizzes, figuring out how to strategically aim bombs during WWI when Truman was a Captain in the army, examining the artillery, and pulling out all the draws in the haberdashery to learn more about the store. It held his interest in a way museums like this have in the past. And there is so much more to see than what I've share in photos. A replica of the Oval Office, cars that Truman owned, his personal office, and a mural painted by Thomas Hart Benton. Want to see all of this and more, head here for all the details and to purchase your time stamped tickets.

History at your fingertips!

XO,

Andrea