Dear Bess: April 26, 1933
Transcript
Welcome to the Dear Bess/ Dear Harry podcast for April 26, 2022, brought to you by Harry S Truman National Historic Site, a unit of the National Park Service.
We’d like to share a very interesting “Dear Bess” letter with you today, written 89 years ago today, April 26, 1933. At the time, Harry Truman was serving as Presiding Judge of Jackson County, Missouri. Now Truman didn’t serve as a judge as we would typically think of a judge. Rather, in essence, Truman was presiding county commissioner. And in this letter, as presiding judge, it is clear that the effects of the Great Depression were hitting county hard. So hard that the county had to lay off hundreds of employees to cut costs. That is not pleasant under any circumstance, but it was difficult for Judge Truman, for he knew many of these employees personally. In 1934, Truman made his first run for United States Senator. How many of those laid off employees voted for Judge Truman for Senator? We will never know. Could you? Would you?
He also makes reference to “George.” He is referring to his brother in law George Wallace, the brother of Bess Wallace Truman. George Wallace and his lovely wife May lived in a charming bungalow home behind 219 North Delaware Street. Today, that bungalow is part of this National Park unit, and contains offices and workspace for the Park Ranger staff, and is maintained as part of the managed cultural landscape.
Here's the letter.
Independence, Mo. Thursday, April 26, 1933
Dear Bess:
I got a letter yesterday from you and it made the day livable and much brighter. It was necessary to make arrangements to discharge some two hundred people from the payroll and it was some job. If you don't think I had a headache when it was over you are mistaken. Then I expect to get the panning of my lifetime for not doing more of it.
I am glad you went to see the destroyer. It was a boat like that I rode on from Duluth to Chicago with the Naval Reserve. They are not as nice to ride on as the George Washington. It is a wonder Margaret would go where all those big guns are.
George went to work Monday and seems to like his job fine. He is looking fine. They were up for dinner last night. The old town clock is going full tilt now and keeping proper time.
I am hoping to get down there sooner than I expected although they have slated me for a talk on the radio for May 20th. The weather up here is still cold. I have my overcoat this morning. Tell Margaret I am sending her another funny paper from Mr. Cleveland. Fred sent her one Sunday I think. Please write as often as you can. Tell Kickie hello and kiss my baby.
Harry.
In this letter from 1933, Judge (Commissioner) Truman writes about an anguishing task he had to do...lay off over two hundred employees from the Jackson County, Missouri, government payroll. He had to do this as the effects of the Great Depression was hitting the region hard.
https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/library/truman-papers/correspondence-harry-s-truman-bess-wallace-truman-1921-1959/april-26-1933