Harry S. Truman Letters
Description
President Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) became a Freemason in 1909. By 1940, he was elected Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Missouri. In 1945, Truman was created a 33rd degree Sovereign Grand Inspector General in the Scottish Rite's Supreme Council, Southern Jurisdiction. That same year, the Supreme Council, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, awarded Truman its first Gourgas Medal, the Supreme Council's highest honor. The letters in this collection include both those from Harry Truman as well as one written by his wife, Bess Truman (1885-1982). The majority of the correspondence in this collection consists of letters written by President Harry S. Truman to his friend and fellow Freemason, Melvin Maynard Johnson (1871-1957). Johnson served as the Supreme Council, Northern Masonic Jurisdiction's Sovereign Grand Commander from 1933 to 1953.
View the items in the Harry S. Truman Letters collection.
Portrait of Harry S. Truman by Leo Stern, courtesy Harry S. Truman Library.
Collection Items
Letter from President Harry S. Truman to Melvin M. Johnson, 1948 August 3
A letter from President Harry S. Truman to Sovereign Grand Commander Melvin M. Johnson. Dated August 3, 1948. In this letter, Truman responds to Johnson’s request to aid Italian Freemasons whose Masonic property had been confiscated after Benito…
Letter from President Harry S. Truman to Melvin M. Johnson, 1948 July 10
A letter from President Harry S. Truman to Sovereign Grand Commander Melvin M. Johnson. Dated July 10, 1948. In this letter, Truman responds to Johnson’s request to aid Italian Freemasons whose Masonic property had been confiscated after Benito…
Letter from President Harry S. Truman to Melvin M. Johnson, 1948 May 28
A letter from President Harry S. Truman to Sovereign Grand Commander Melvin M. Johnson. Dated May 28, 1948. In this letter, Truman responds to Johnson’s request to aid Italian Freemasons whose Masonic property had been confiscated after Benito…