The papers of Thomas Van Sant consist of correspondence between Van Sant and Harry S. Truman, as well as correspondence between Van Sant and others directly or indirectly involved with Truman. A list of letters is also provided in the collection.

Size: Less than 1 linear foot (approximately 200 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor gave to the United States all copyrights which she had in unpublished materials in this or any other collection of papers received by and deposited in a U.S. government archives. Documents created by U.S. government officials in the course of their duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents or their heirs.
Processed by: Lucia Flaim (2008) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.

Thomas Van Sant was a banker for the Callaway Bank in Fulton, Missouri. Van Sant was a personal friend of Harry S. Truman. He died on May 28, 1957 in Fulton, Missouri.

The papers of Thomas H. Van Sant consist of letters between Harry S. Truman and Van Sant, along with letters between Van Sant and other officials in Washington D.C. The correspondence includes friendly inquiries and advice as well as updates on contemporary issues, references to government jobs and favors, discussions of Missouri and national politics, and personal greetings. A list of the letters between Van Sant and Truman is also included in the collection.

The correspondence from 1936-1945 spans Truman’s Senatorial career. The letters between Truman and Van Sant include news on both the local and national levels. Some of the correspondence is between Van Sant and other officials in Washington D.C., particularly Truman’s Senate staff.

The correspondence from the period of 1945-1952 covers Truman’s Presidential terms of office. During this period, Van Sant corresponded with President Truman, Bess Truman, and Harry Vaughan, among others.

The correspondence from 1953-1956 is entirely comprised of letters from former President Truman to Van Sant, with the exception of one letter from Truman to W. C. Harris of the Callaway Bank in Fulton, Missouri. These letters are all responses to previous correspondence, and express gratitude or extend casual greetings.

The general correspondence dates from 1945-1952. These letters are between Van Sant and others not directly associated with Harry S. Truman.

The list of letters serves as an index to the correspondence, listing the sender, recipient, and date of each letter.

Related collections at the Truman Library include the papers of Harry S. Truman (President’s Personal File 2521 and Post-Presidential Papers: General Correspondence File).

Container Nos.		Series
1		CORRESPONDENCE FILE, 1936-1956
		Correspondence between Thomas Van Sant and Harry S. Truman and correspondence between Van Sant and others. Arranged alphabetically and thereunder chronologically.

CORRESPONDENCE FILE, 1936-1956

• Correspondence with Harry S. Truman and Others, 1936-1945
• Correspondence with Harry S. Truman and Others, 1945-1952
• Correspondence with Harry S. Truman and Others, 1953-1956
• General Correspondence, 1945-1952
• List of Letters – Harry S. Truman and Thomas Van Sant

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