President Harry S. Truman Plaque (1957)

(United Press Telephoto used with permission)

On September 12, 1957, a plaque honoring President Harry S. Truman's work on the family farming homestead was dedicated at the Truman Corners Shopping Center in Grandview, MO and remains there as of January 2012. Context photos are below:

A working plaster casting is on Steven Rebeck's studio wall in 1956 and was evidently modified especially by eliminating shoulders on the lower level before casting.

The plaque features President Truman in the center. Upper right is his father, John Anderson Truman and below is John's mother, Mary Jayne (Holmes) Truman. Upper left is President Truman's mother Martha Ellen (Young) Truman and below is the President's brother John Vivian Truman, who worked on the farm also.

At the age of 22 in 1906, Harry Truman moved to the family farm and, when his father died in 1914, ran the 600 acre operation. His “common sense” attitudes are attributed by some to his working years there which came to an end with a 1917 enlistment in WWI followed by his political career. It was during this period that visits and correspondence with Bess (Wallace) in Independence, MO later blossomed into their marriage.

Photos courtesy of the Grandview Area Chamber of Commerce