A President, a Church and Trails West: Competing Histories in Independence, Missouri (Volume 1)

Over the past century, three nationally significant histories have vied for space and place in Independence, Missouri. Independence was declared Zion by Joseph Smith, served as a gathering and provisioning point for trails west, and was called home by President Harry S. Truman for sixty-four years. Historian Jon E. Taylor has integrated research from newspapers, public documents, oral histories, and private papers to detail how the community has preserved and remembered these various legacies. Trumans legacy would appear to have been secured in Independence via three significant designationshis presidential library opened there in 1957, his neighborhood was designated a national historic landmark in 1972, and his home was declared a national historic site in 1982. However, Taylor argues that Trumans seeming dominance in the communitys memory is in fact endangered by competition from the other aspects of the towns historical heritage. Taylor considers the role Mormon history has played in the city's history and chronicles how the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints returned to Independence to fulfill Joseph Smith's dream of creating Zion in the city, a situation that impacted neighborhoods near the Truman home. Taylor also examines the city's fascination with the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California trails, detailing how that history was lost and remembered and is now immortalized on the Independence square and in the National Frontier Trails Museum. In the 1980s, the city council reduced the size of the Truman Heritage District, created to maintain Trumans association with his neighborhood, after church opposition. At the same time, city officials pushed to make Independence a major tourist destination, a move largely dependent upon the city capitalizing on its association with Truman. These inconsistent policies and incongruous goals have led to innumerable changes in the landscape Truman enjoyed during his legendary morning walks. A President, a Church, and Trails West chronicles one citys struggle to preserve its history and the built environment. Taylor places the role of preservation in Independence not only within the larger context of preservation in the United States but also within the context of American environmental history. This volume is sure to appeal to anyone interested in public history, historic preservation, history and memory, and local history. A President, a Church, and Trails West......Page 4 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgments......Page 10 Abbreviations......Page 14 Chronology......Page 16 Introduction......Page 28 1. Independence as Zion......Page 41 2. Trails West......Page 79 3. A President Returns Home......Page 110 4. Winds of Discontent......Page 147 5. The Birth of a National Historic Site......Page 168 6. Redevelopment in the Truman Neighborhood......Page 213 Conclusion......Page 266 Bibliography......Page 274 Index......Page 286 'Examines the efforts of Independence, Missouri, to preserve and balance competing elements of the city's history: as the hometown of President Harry S. Truman; as the site where Joseph Smith established the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints; and as the historic gathering place for western emigration'--Provided by publisher. Chronicles a city's struggle to preserve its history and the built environment. This book places the role of preservation in Independence (Missouri) not only within the larger context of preservation in the US but also within the context of American environmental history.