Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray, South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio. Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Steudebaker, television…
| President | Harry Truman |
| Location | Independence, MO |
| Operated By | National Parks Service |
| When Visited | August 2, 2018 |
| Who With | Solo visit |
| Presidential Significance | Site includes the home Truman lived in for most of his life, plus other neighborhood buildings that were significant in his life. |
| Pre-Visit Reading | I’d had really good intentions of reading Truman by David McCullough for several months prior to this visit, but had not actually started it. |
This is a recent one! I visited the Harry S. Truman National Historic Site just a few days ago, and I still have the opening lines from We Didn’t Start the Fire running on repeat in my brain. This was actually one of three Harry Truman sites I visited that day (I also went to his Presidential Library and birth place). That was a lot of Truman, but in a good way.
The National Historic Site covers a good portion of Independence, MO. (Yes, the jumping-off point from the classic PC game Oregon Trail. Fortunately for me, this visit did not end with me dying of dysentery.). The main attraction is the house that was “home” for Harry for most of his life, which the NPS offers guided tours of. There are also several other buildings throughout the town that pertain to his life there. These are mostly privately owned and not open to the public, although the NPS does let you know what all the sites are so you can do a walking (or driving) tour.
I started at the Visitor Center, which is where you buy the ticket for the house tour. This was especially exciting for me, as I had paid $80 for my National Parks Service annual pass in March, and prior to this visit it had covered $73 in fees…here it covered my $7 ticket, bringing the total to exactly $80, meaning the pass had paid for itself. Hitting that on the nose was way more satisfying than it should have been. Even better, I still get to use it for seven more months! (I love the NPS).
Besides offering tour tickets and general info, the visitor’s center had a brief film, a gift shop, and…display cases showing off Harry Truman’s resort fashion!
After a few minutes at the visitor center, I walked the five blocks to the Truman house at 219 Delaware Ave. (a picture of the house is at the top of this post). My tour had seven people on it (max tour size is eight) and was lead by the most obsessive tour guide I have ever encountered at one of these places.
This guy certainly had personality, but it’s a bit hard to describe. First off though, he was super into all things Truman and very protective of the house. He treated us as if we were simultaneously criminals he needed to protect the house from, and his close confidants that he wanted to share insider secrets with and vent to about his plight of managing other visitors to the home. He was certainly proud of his Truman knowledge, and loved to name-drop all the Truman family members he’s met, with a certain reverence in his voice, but also told us up front that he was going to be honest and not sugar coat anything. Then he almost giddily told us Bess Truman’s father had killed himself. He was a trip.
We started off right outside the gate in front of the home, which was originally Bess Truman’s grandparents’ home. Our guide gave us a little intro and established early on that he was a bit of a control freak. He was explicitly clear that there were to be absolutely no photos in the home, but then, as if was doing us a special favor since we were buddies, informed us that if we couldn’t handle that, he would take our photos on the porch afterwards. Then he told us we had to turn our phones off. Not silenced, not on airplane mode, but completely off. I’ve toured many old homes and while a lot allow non-flash photos, it’s not unusual to go to one that doesn’t allow any photos, but this is the only time I’ve had to turn my phone off. This was necessary because, as he explained, some people had done things with phones in the home and it was an issue. I’m still kicking myself for not asking what.
We entered the house from the back porch, where Truman used to read five papers every day, which lead into the kitchen. This is where he reminded us about his pledge to be honest with us, and informed us that the Trumans liked wallpaper. This was said jokingly, but was very true. There was wallpaper on the ceiling…no lie. The kitchen was very unpretentious, and looked very much like a kitchen that was frozen in time since the early 80s, because that was was what it was (Bess died in 1982). The guide let us know about the secret service agents he had talked to who said the house looked just like it did when they protected the Trumans.
Before we left the kitchen, he went on a tangent about one of Truman’s grandsons. He explained that the grandson doesn’t give a lot of talks, but told us that if we ever got an opportunity, definitely go. “Let’s just say he has a lot of great stories,” he said, as he closed his eyes and tilted his head back, a blissful smile transforming his face as he savored his memories of the grandson’s stories. That he didn’t share with us. (OK, he did share one about the grandson finding out his grandfather was president after someone at school told him.)
From there, we continued through the first floor (the second floor was not part of the tour). We were allowed to walk on the carpeted path, and our guide noted when somebody strayed. As we made our way through the hall, there were a couple times where he graciously allowed us, two at a time, to stand at designated spots and look into Truman’s study or at the coat rack that still has his coat and hat. At the end we saw the room where he met with visitors, and the living room with the console TV. “Now, remember I said I would be honest with you,” he reminded us, followed by a dramatic pause. We all leaned in a little, anticipating the morsel of insider intelligence he was undoubtedly about to bestow upon us. It was sure to be juicy, maybe some dark secret. What could it be?
“Bess Truman loved baseball.”
Amazingly, I was able to regain my composure enough to finish the tour. Unlike the wallpaper comment, this was not presented in a joking manner. It did lead into an anecdote about Margaret Truman scheduling her wedding on opening day for baseball, but it was at this point that I had to give up on the hope that we were going to really get any earth shattering revelations here. After that we got our promised photos on the porch and went on our way.
After the tour, I went and saw the other sites noted by the Parks Service. In total, I probably spent an hour and a half between the visitor center, house tour, and self-guided neighborhood tour. This was a pretty good site and definitely worth a visit, especially in conjunction with a visit to Truman’s Presidential Library, which is just about a mile down the road. I would definitely go again if I was in the area, although I’m not 100% sure if I would hope for a different tour guide or the same one.
