33. Harry Truman
The oldest of three siblings, Harry S. Truman was born May 8, 1884, in his family’s small frame house in Lamar, Missouri. A farming family in search of a satisfying locale, the Trumans relocated numerous times within Missouri while the future president was a small child. In addition to Lamar, they lived in Harrisonville, Belton, and Grandview before putting down roots in Independence in 1890. Truman was raised to help with the standard farm chores of the era and with the more demanding farm labor as he matured. A severe struggle with diphtheria at the age of nine left Truman paralyzed for a period of months. Like many of his presidential predecessors, he was a heavy reader and strong student. His birth home in Lamar is now the Harry S. Truman Birthplace State Historic Site.
The trip to Lamar marked the last site to check off our list. Andy and I arranged the trip together to make that last mark on the map and plan our next move with the project. It was a crisp morning with a light patchwork of cirrus clouds filtering an intense blue sky. The humble little house sits on the corner of a small neighborhood. The intense textured sky kept drawing my eye and my camera upwards--the openness working much like some of the bird imagery with other sites. As with all of the original homes, I try to capture the textures that speak to the passing of time as well as the feeling of punching through history to connect with the past.