RENOVATION TIMELINE
The Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum reopened in July of 2021 with a new museum entrance and permanent exhibition in celebration of the 75th anniversary of Truman’s ascension to the presidency.
The wait is over! Plan your visit and reserve your timed-entry tickets for the ALL-NEW Harry S. Truman Library and Museum.
The media gets a sneak peek of the new museum in advance of the reopening announcement.
Crews put final touches on the exhibition as campaign donor preview tours begin.
Theatrical lighting designers finalize their work in the galleries, enhancing the immersive experience.
Patrick Gallagher, owner of exhibit design firm Gallagher & Associates, gets a sneak peek of the work in progress: “You can proudly say that Truman is the new benchmark for presidential libraries.”
Never-before-seen artifacts are installed in cases while props bring the Truman story to life, including in a recreation of the Truman & Jacobson haberdashery.
Another large artifact was moved into the galleries today after receiving conservation work during the renovation: “At the Beach of Scheveningen.” The people of the Netherlands gave the Hendrik Willem Mesdag painting to Truman in appreciation of America’s help during WWII and its aftermath.
The Library’s vehicle collection drove into their new exhibit locations on the lower level, including a 1914 farm buggy and a 1950 Lincoln Cosmopolitan limousine.
Exhibit panels and interactive flip books arrive in the galleries so visitors can step back in time to experience some Truman’s big decisions—recognition of Israel and desegregation of the military—as they unfolded.
The Kansas City Southern Gallery highlights Truman’s strategy for winning the electoral college in the 1948 election. A new interactive helps visitors learn more about the electoral college in 1948 and every presidential election since then.
Signs featuring the Library’s new logo prepare to welcome visitors to the museum’s new entrance. Inside, Truman’s signature leads the way to the new permanent exhibition.
A new multimedia experience examines the complexity of the Berlin Airlift. Using pucks to activate animations on a touchscreen, visitors can explore the difficulties of feeding and powering a city with supplies delivered by air.
Take a look behind the scenes as we continue to build, install, polish, and perfect the new museum.
With the state-of-the-art multimedia elements almost complete, the Truman story is coming to life in the new permanent exhibition: World War I immersive theatre, Hard Problems of Peace globe, Whistle Stop Campaign film, and Loyalty Oath interactive game.
One of the most important parts of the Truman Library is getting restored as part of the renovation project.
The new exhibit will bring visitors into the drama and complex decision making that filled the first months of Truman’s presidency. Get a preview of the struggles of war and the even harder work of peace.
Some of the exhibit’s signature pieces start to come to life: the Rubble Theatre featuring a war-torn Berlin, a recreation of a fuselage from the Berlin Airlift’s C-54 Skymaster, and the rear platform of the Whistle-stop Campaign’s Ferdinand Magellan.
The Library’s largest artifacts were moved into the galleries: a WWI French 75mm field gun and caisson, the White House beam that broke under Margaret’s piano, and the Buffalo Mantle from the State Dining Room.
Step inside the renovation with Dr. Kurt Graham to see the progress being made.
With construction on the exhibit galleries complete, the temporary protection is removed from the Thomas Hart Benton mural.
