TRUMAN AND CIVIL RIGHTS

Join us for an evening of riveting storytelling exploring the genesis and legacy of Executive Order 9981, issued by Truman 75 years ago to end segregation in the U.S. Armed Forces. Robin Givhan, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and our moderator for the evening, will be joined by Brig. Gen. Terrence A. Adams, Judge Richard Gergel and Adriane D. Lentz-Smith, Ph.D. In July, the Truman Library Institute organized the national commemoration for E.O. 9981. The three-day Symposium in Washington, D.C. has been hailed as one of the most important events of its kind—and now it’s coming to Kansas City, for one night only!

Click here for full event details and guest bios.

The 17th Annual Bennett Forum on the Presidency is offered exclusively to Truman Library Institute members and VIP guests. 

• Student / Teacher level = 1 free ticket
• Basic level = 2 free tickets
• Family level and higher = 4 free tickets

Claim your free tickets (in-person or virtual) today!

MEMBER REGISTRATION

Become a member today to receive your exclusive invitation to this special event.

JOIN

On Sunday, December 3, Museum visitors are invited to celebrate the season at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum

1-3 p.m. – Decorate holiday cookies with Harry (portrayed by John G. Pritchard) in the Truman Library Atrium.
To register for Holiday Cookies with Harry, please email number of attendees, with names, to Truman.Events@nara.gov.

2-3 p.m. – Enjoy a festive handbell performance by poco Rezound!, the chamber group associated with Rezound!, an auditioned community handbell choir with members from the greater Kansas City area. This nationally acclaimed ensemble has captivated audiences with their expressive music and engaging style at local concerts and on numerous tours throughout the country. poco Rezound! brings the beautiful music of handbells to a more diverse range of settings. Light refreshments will be served.
To reserve a seat for poco Rezound!, please email number of attendees, with names, to Truman.Events@nara.gov.

For additional details or questions, please contact azalea.michelwhitley@nara.gov.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! Romney: A Reckoning is a remarkably illuminating biography of one of America’s most fascinating political figures—including news-making revelations from Mitt Romney himself about dissension within today’s Republican Party—written with his full cooperation by an award-winning writer at The Atlantic.

Based on dozens of interviews with Romney, his family, and his inner circle as well as hundreds of pages of his personal journals and private emails, this in-depth portrait by award-winning journalist McKay Coppins shows a public servant authentically wrestling with the choices he has made over his career. In lively, revelatory detail, the book traces Romney’s early life and rise through the ranks of a fast-transforming Republican Party and exposes how a trail of seemingly small compromises by political leaders has led to a crisis in democracy. Ultimately, Romney: A Reckoning is a redemptive story about a flawed politician who summoned his moral courage just as fear and divisiveness were overtaking American life.

McKay Coppins is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he covers politics, religion, and national affairs. His New York Times bestseller Romney: A Reckoning was published by Scribner in October 2023. A former visiting fellow at the University of Chicago’s Institute of Politics, Coppins has won the Aldo Beckman Award from the White House Correspondents Association for his coverage of the Trump presidency and the Wilbur Award for religion journalism. He also is the author of The Wilderness, a 2015 book about the battle for the future of the Republican Party. He lives near Washington, D.C., with his wife and children.

Please note: this event is presented by the Truman Library and does not include a public reception. The book event is free and open to the public. To register, please send number of attendees with names to Truman.Events@nara.gov. For additional details or questions, contact azalea.michelwhitley@nara.gov.

Just in time for holiday giving, Members can double their discount in the Museum Store at the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum. Stuff the stockings with must-have and award-winning histories, as well as unique gifts, hand-crafted jewelry, distinctive home accents, presidential apparel, educational resources, children’s games and crafts, and much more.

Members save 20% on these and all items during Double Discount Days, December 17-23. To receive your Member discount for online purchases, please order by phone at 816.268.8261.

Museum Store Hours: Sunday 12-5; Monday-Saturday 9-5

JUST EXTENDED!

The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum proudly presents Rooted among the Ashes: Hibakujumoku / A-bombed Trees, featuring the photography of Katy McCormick. Having explored Japan’s two Atomic-bombed cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, McCormick’s photography portrays the survivor trees or hibakujumoku, subjected to the first use of Atomic bombs in 1945. Standing in school yards, temple grounds, and city squares, the A-bombed trees are living memorials, rooted among the ashes just below the surfaces of now-thriving cities. Predicated on “walking and remembrance,” the exhibition invites a promenade through space and time, memory and history, urging reflection upon how the past haunts the present—warning, teaching, urging care.

This special exhibition has been extended through December 2023 and is included with general admission. Truman Library Institute Members enjoy free admission.

PLAN YOUR VISIT

President Harry S. Truman’s background did not suggest he would become a champion of civil rights. But, for this soldier-turned-president, the abuse and brutal lynchings of black WWII veterans were a call to action. Believing in the “brotherhood of all men before the law,” he became the first president to authorize a civil rights committee, speak before the NAACP, and call for anti-lynching laws and an end to poll taxes. When Congress failed to act, President Truman desegregated the military and the civilian government workforce. Explore this historic turn in the nation’s struggle to safeguard constitutional rights in the newest exhibit at The Box Gallery, presented in partnership with the Truman Library Institute.

This exhibit will be on display at The Box Gallery from November 8, 2023 through January 19, 2024. The exhibit, along with the opening reception, are free and open to the public. For venue details, please visit The Box Gallery.

View Exhibit Opening Photos

To Secure These Rights is a traveling exhibit and will be available to rent beginning April 1, 2024. To learn more, contact Cassie Pikarsky, director of strategic initiatives, at Cassie.Pikarsky@TrumanLibraryInstitute.org.

Join artist and Truman Library events manager Azalea Michel-Whitley for the inaugural Paint & Sip brunch. Inspired by the Thomas Hart Benton mural Independence and the Opening of the West, you’ll create a keepsake while sipping mocktail mimosas and enjoying light brunch refreshments.

This hands-on experience is organized by the Truman Library; registration is required. The event is included with admission; Members free. Limit: 30 participants.

To register for this “Paint & Sip” event, please email Azalea Michel-Whitley at azalea.michelwhitley@nara.gov.