The Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in Independence, Missouri, Presents “Memories of Korea”

The Harry S. Truman Library and Museum in Independence, MO has been called the best presidential library in the nation by the Dallas Morning News and is truly a fascinating place for the entire family. From March 27-December 31, “Memories of Korea” is the chief exhibit.

June 25, 2010 marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War. For the people of Korea, the war caused great suffering, for Americans, it was a “forgotten” war. This exhibit recalls the region, the war and its legacy through the eyes and memories of people who lived and fought there as told through letters, diaries, photographs, films and personal memorabilia.

June 25, 2010 marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War. For the people of Korea, the war was a cause of great suffering as families were separated and as the land was laid to waste. Although American men and women were once more called upon to fight in a foreign land, to most Americans it was a “forgotten war” that intruded only peripherally on their desire to build the good life in a booming post-World War II economy. To American policy makers, the war was the first test of the nation’s new role at the head of the world’s democracies. For President Truman, Korea represented a particular challenge to demonstrate that nations, acting in concert through the United Nations, had the responsibility to halt the kind of aggression that had triggered two world wars in his lifetime.

This exhibition recalls the region, the war, and the war’s legacy through the eyes and memories of the people who lived there, who fought there, and whose lives were permanently changed by the experience. The story of Korea is told with their letters, diaries, photographs, films, and personal memorabilia. Organized around four chronological areas – Culture and History, Antecedents, War, and Legacy – the exhibition explores the rich culture of Korea, the political winds that led to the conflict, and the sixty years of division and divergence that have characterized the two Koreas since the war. One of the last remaining vestiges of the Cold War, divided Korea is a reminder of the clear political boundaries that once divided the world itself into East and West.

The exhibition brings the complexity of the war down to a personal level. An American soldier writing home to his parents and complaining about the frigid cold. Memories of a Korean woman whose family ended up on the other side of the 38th Parallel. A pilot recalling a dogfight with a Russian pilot in a MIG fighter. A President, writing in his diary of the difficult decisions he has to make. A student in present-day Seoul wondering about the lives of his counterparts in a much different North. Their individual stories bring rich colors to the larger story of the war, which, in the nation’s memory today, is largely only a series of black and white images.

The Truman Library will be partnering with the Dwight D. Eisenhower Library on aspects of this exhibition and on other programs that will mark the 60th anniversary of the Korean War in 2010 through 2013.
Harry S. Truman Library & Museum, 500 W. 24 Hwy.
Independence, Missouri

Free with regular admission, $8adults, $7seniors, $3 ages 6-15, under 6 free.

800-833-1225, 816-268-8200, www.trumanlibrary.org

December 9, 2009   Posted in: United States Central