Harry S. Truman Library and Museum

The Harry S. Truman Library, the first Presidential Library to be created under the provisions of the 1955 Presidential Libraries Act, was established to preserve the papers, books, and other historical materials relating to former President Harry S. Truman and to make them available to the people in a place suitable for exhibit and research. At present the Library has about 15,000,000 pages of manuscript materials in its custody. Approximately 6,500,000 are the White House files. In addition to its manuscript collections, the Library also has an audiovisual collection consisting of about 128,000 still pictures, 1,300 hours of audio disc and tape recordings, 500 motion pictures and 1,000 hours of video tape recordings. The Library's collection of printed materials includes more than 10,000 books. In adding to the book collection, the Library attempts to purchase any new books on the history of the Truman administration or relating to the career of Harry S. Truman. The Truman Library established an oral history project in 1961 in an effort to fill gaps in the written record. The areas of emphasis have been President Truman's early career, the work of the White House staff during the Truman administration, and United States foreign policy during Truman's presidency. More than 500 transcribed oral history interviews are in the Library’s collection. More than 13,000 researchers have visited the Library's research facilities since 1959. Approximately half of the researchers who come to the Library each year are scholars or graduate students working usually in the fields of history or political science. The other half are college and high school students, writers, film makers, journalists, genealogists, and people who have a personal interest in Truman's life and career. Researchers have come from almost every state in the Union and from more than 40 foreign countries. The Harry S. Truman Library Institute, a non-profit corporation, was organized in 1957 to foster and assist in the Library's growth and development as a national center for study and research. Its directors are leaders in government and public affairs, university officials, scholars, and businessmen. The purposes of the Institute are to promote research into the Truman administration through the awarding of grants and the sponsoring of scholarly conferences, to assist in the development of the Library's museum and public programs, and to help the Library in many ways to maintain the integrity of its programs. The Institute does not use government funds but depends on the public for gifts and bequests.