The past week has been a perfect storm of activity at my house. My father and brother flew in from Philadelphia last Tuesday, just a few days before my husband’s parents showed up on their way from Florida to Arizona (ahhh, retired life.). The kids have been overwhelmed by grandparent attention and movies, shopping trips, Worlds of Fun and more.
Everyone leaves tomorrow. And it is certainly time. But today, we needed something to do. My first choice was the National World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial. Alas, it’s closed on Mondays. Drat. So, my father, brother, sister, brother-in-law and my seven-year-old son accompanied me to the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in Independence instead.
Despite being a Kansas City resident for all but six years of my life, I had never been to the Truman Library before today. And it was really great. I am now embarrassed that it took me this long to get there.
On the main level, there is an exact replica of the Oval Office at it existed during Truman’s administration. Narration in this room is provided by none other than Harry Truman (via a recording made prior to his death in 1972). The rest of the main level exhibits chronicle current events and issues faced by Truman during his presidency. The end of World War II, economic problems and boom, the Cold War and more.
Downstairs, a beautifully curated and displayed permanent exhibit outlines Truman’s personal life (as opposed to political life) during his presidency and also his life before and after the White House. A second, temporary exhibit downstairs chronicles Truman’s life in photographs.
The exhibits are thoughtful and extremely well-done. Truman’s archives – especially his daily agendas and his correspondence – are a tremendous wealth of information and insight into both the man and the times. I absolutely loved it. We ended up spending almost four hours at the museum.
As for the kids? I think they enjoyed it less, to be honest. My brother is 16 years old (he’s actually my half-brother). He isn’t an overly studious kid, preferring sports to school for the most part. He told me that he enjoyed the lower level exhibit better due to a number of interactive displays – trivia games, videos and such.
My seven-year-old politely listened to me as I explained certain aspects of history to him in the presidential exhibits but most of it was over his head. He thought the Oval Office was pretty cool. He engaged a bit more in the lower level exhibits. He enjoyed the photographic exhibit, especially the sections which showed Truman as a child and young adult. He also seemed to have fun with the interactive portions of the museum. Educationally though, the subject matter was just too much for him right now.
He really liked the gift shop. And we are now the proud owners of many, many Truman Library postcards.
I would highly recommend visiting the Truman Library if you get the chance. Your best family audience will probably be middle-school and older (maybe older elementary schoolers but you’ll probably have to gauge your child’s interest in history to make the call). It is open Monday through Saturday from 9am to 5pm and Sundays from 12pm to 5pm. Adult admission is $8; kids 6 to 15 are $3, 5 and under are free.
* Top photo by Marshall Astor; bottom photo by my crappy cell phone camera
