Easley, Harry Papers

Dates: 1916-2002. Bulk Date Span: 1935-1953

Friend and Missouri Political Associate of Harry S. Truman

The papers of Harry Easley include correspondence, printed materials, scrapbooks, handwritten notes, and other items that document his friendship and working relationship with Harry S. Truman.

[Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List]

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: 1 linear foot, 9 linear inches (about 3,200 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donors gave to the U.S. government their copyrights in this material and in any other material received by the U.S. government and maintained in the Harry S. Truman Library. Documents created by U.S. government officials in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Erwin J. Mueller (1967); Randy Sowell (2004, 2008).
Updated by: Annali Cler (2016) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.


[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

1901 (October 22)

 

Born Harry E. Easley

1928 (June 16)

 

Married Geneva Hatten

1931

 

Resigned from Atlas Powder Company

1932

 

Met Harry S. Truman

1935-1937

 

Deputy State Administrator, Works Progress Administration

1937-1945

 

Vice President, Webb City (Missouri) Bank

1942-1944

 

Treasurer, Democratic Central District Committee

1945

 

Became Kansas City Regional Director, Office of Surplus Property

1983 (March 28)

 

Died

[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The papers of Harry Easley include correspondence, printed materials, scrapbooks, handwritten notes, and other items that document his friendship and working relationship with Harry S. Truman. The collection is arranged in a single series, the Subject File. With few exceptions, the materials in the collection date from Truman's years as U.S. Senator, Vice President, and President, from 1935 to 1953.

The Subject File contains a wide variety of documents, but consists mostly of correspondence and the contents of six personal scrapbooks. Many of the letters are about events for Harry S. Truman's political campaigns, especially the 1940 Senate campaign and the 1944 Vice Presidential bid. As an adviser to Truman and organizer of Democratic political affairs in Southwestern Missouri, Easley would often contact Truman or his aides Fred Canfil and Victor Messall about local issues, jobs, and favors. Letters from Easley's time as a public employee, including positions as the Deputy State Administrator of the Works Progress Administration and Kansas City Regional Director of the Office of Surplus Property, detail the concerns of Missouri citizens and their need for Easley's assistance.

Easley was deeply involved in community affairs, in such roles as President of the Webb City Rotary Club, Exalted Ruler of the Elks Club, President of the Webb City Chamber of Commerce, and Board President of KFSB Radio. His personal scrapbooks feature newspaper clippings and letters about these achievements and many more.

Related papers at the Truman Library include the papers of Harry S. Truman (Papers as U.S. Senator and Vice President), Fred Canfil, and Victor Messall. The transcript of an oral history interview with Harry Easley is available on the Library's web site.

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SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Container Nos.

 

Series

1-4

  SUBJECT FILE, 1916-2002
Correspondence, printed materials, scrapbooks, handwritten notes, and other items that document Harry Easley's friendship and working relationship with Harry S. Truman. Arranged alphabetically by folder title.
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

FOLDER TITLE LIST

SUBJECT FILE, 1916-2002

Box 1

  • Autobiography of Amos Davis Hatten
  • Briggs, Frank-Correspondence
  • Canfil, Fred-Correspondence
  • Charts and Maps
  • Correspondence, 1938
  • Correspondence, 1939
  • Correspondence, 1940
  • Correspondence, 1941
  • Correspondence, 1942

Box 2

  • Correspondence, 1943
  • Correspondence, 1944
  • Correspondence, 1945
  • Correspondence, 1946
  • Correspondence, 1947
  • Correspondence, 1948
  • Correspondence, 1949
  • Correspondence, 1950
  • Correspondence, 1951
  • Correspondence, 1953
  • Correspondence, 1955
  • Correspondence, 1956
  • Correspondence, 1957
  • Correspondence, 1958
  • Correspondence, 1973
  • Correspondence, Undated
  • Democratic Central District Committee
  • Lamar Notification Ceremony, Harry S. Truman Vice-President Nomination
  • Newspaper Clippings
  • Personal

Box 3

  • Photographs
  • Printed Materials
  • Scrapbook I
  • Scrapbook II
  • Scrapbook III
  • Scrapbook IV [1 of 2]
  • Scrapbook IV [2 of 2]

Box 4

  • Scrapbook V [1 of 2]
  • Scrapbook V [2 of 2]
  • Scrapbook VI
  • Surplus Property
  • Tri-State Defense Projects
  • Truman Presidential Inauguration
  • Truman Senate Campaign
  • Truman Vice-Presidential Inauguration
  • Washington D.C. Trip
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