Harry S. Truman Library and Museum-Independence MO-Presidential Library Truman

Designed as a circular structure, the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in Independence opened to the public in 1957. It was the first library created under the Presidential Libraries Act of 1955. It sits on a small hill facing highway 24 in Truman's old hometown, and he, his wife, daughter and son-in-law are all buried in the library courtyard.

The library opens with a short film about the life of President Truman, and then visitors are invited to check out 2 floors of exhibits about the life and deeds of the former president. The amount of material the library has been able to amass or acquire is impressive. As one of 12 Presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration, the library has had more than 13,000 researchers come specifically to study its files.

The library files include 15,000,000 pages of manuscript material, of which 6,500,000 are White House files. There are also 30,000 books, 112,000 photographs, 1,000 hours of audio and some 75 hours of video. Don't forget the 10,000 magazines and mountains of microfiche, either.

Custodians of the library accept that most people will not be interested in seeing the whole collection. Thus, the library is in one area while a museum celebrating the life of the former president provides a faster visual tour. Of the 28,000 potential objects which could be displayed, the exhibits focus on the past president's Missouri roots, reproductions of his White House office, and some of the gifts he received from foreign leaders while president.

The museum is open daily, with longer hours on Thursday nights and shortened hours on Sundays. Adult admission is just under $10, with discounts for students and seniors. The museum is closed on most national holidays, and large group tours should be arranged in advance with the museum docents to ensure a proper level of guide support is available.