Viola Zumault Oral History Interview

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ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW WITH VIOLA ZUMAULT

MARCH 14, 1996
INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI

INTERVIEWED BY JON E. TAYLOR
ORAL HISTORY #1996-1

HARRY S TRUMAN NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

EDITORIAL NOTICE

This is a transcript of a tape-recorded interview conducted for Harry S Truman National Historic Site. After a draft of this transcript was made, the park provided a copy to the interviewee and requested that he or she return the transcript with any corrections or modifications that he or she wished to be included in the final transcript. The interviewer, or in some cases another qualified staff member, also reviewed the draft and compared it to the tape recordings. The corrections and other changes suggested by the interviewee and interviewer have been incorporated into this final transcript. The transcript follows as closely as possible the recorded interview, including the usual starts, stops, and other rough spots in typical conversation. The reader should remember that this is essentially a transcript of the spoken, rather than the written, word. Stylistic matters, such as punctuation and capitalization, follow the Chicago Manual of Style, 14th edition. The transcript includes bracketed notices at the end of one tape and the beginning of the next so that, if desired, the reader can find a section of tape more easily by using this transcript.
Viola Zumault, Jon Taylor, and Jim Williams reviewed the draft of this transcript. Their corrections were incorporated into this final transcript by Perky Beisel in summer 2001. A grant from Eastern National Park and Monument Association funded the transcription and final editing of this interview.

RESTRICTION

Researchers may read, quote from, cite, and photocopy this transcript without permission for purposes of research only. Publication is prohibited, however, without permission from the Superintendent, Harry S Truman National Historic Site.

ABSTRACT

Viola Zumault (May 7, 1905-Deccember 29, 2007) became friends with Mary Jane Truman after joining the Order of the Eastern Star. Zumault gives a detailed description of the society and also discusses some letters she received from Mary Jane Truman. Viola Zumault also discusses her meetings with Harry S Truman and her husband’s business as an interior decorator and his association with Harry S Truman.

Persons mentioned: Nannie Hornback, Roy Zumault, William Zumault, Nannie Johnson Zumault, John Franklin Snook, Clara Dolan Snook, Nannie Hornback Humphrey, Dr. Arch Spelman, Lieutenant J. B. Mahoney, Mary Jane Truman, Harry S Truman, Thomas Dewey, Bess W. Truman, Margaret Truman Daniel, Vivian Truman, Martha Ann Swoyer, Ora Gardner, Isadore Battalia, and Calvin Starling.

ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW WITH VIOLA ZUMAULT

HSTR INTERVIEW #1996-1

As per Jon Taylor : [first part of the original interview missing]
The original interview begins on page two. The following was typed out by Viola and added to the front of the transcript she reviewed:
VIOLA ZUMAULT: I was born of Sunday, May 7, 1905 at my grandparents’ home on a farm in Platte County, Missouri. One of the buildings of Trans-World Airlines covers the place where the house stood.
TAYLOR: And your husband?
ZUMAULT: Roy Zumault.
TAYLOR: And his date of birth and parents?
ZUMAULT: His father was William Zumault, and his mother was Nannie Johnson Zumault. Roy was born in Smithville, Missouri July 13, 1903, and his father was sheriff there at the time. My father was a farmer, John Franklin Snook. My mother was Clara Dolan Snook.
TAYLOR: He was a farmer in Platte County, your father?
ZUMAULT: Yes. We moved to Clay County later when I started high school. We moved to Clay County and father bought a farm there.
TAYLOR: Now when did you meet your husband Roy?
ZUMAULT: I met my husband when I was 14 and he was 16. I was staying overnight with a friend. If you know anything about Smithville, you know we were
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used to having floods out there, a very common occurrence in the earlier years. There was a flood, and I was caught in town with the water out across the road; so I was staying
During the review process additional information was added by Viola throughout the transcript. These portions will be marked with ** at the beginning and end.
Original Transcript begins here:
VIOLA ZUMAULT: . . . and that’s why you’re so religious. You were born on Sunday noon. [chuckling]
JON E. TAYLOR: And your husband?
ZUMAULT: Roy Zumault.
TAYLOR: And his date of birth and his parents?
ZUMAULT: His parents were William Zumault, and I can’t think of his wife’s name, and his mother was . . . I can’t think of her last name.
TAYLOR: That’s okay.
ZUMAULT: But anyway, he was born in Smithville in 1903, and his father was sheriff there in Smithville at the time. My father was a farmer [unintelligible].
TAYLOR: He was a farmer in Platte County, your father?
ZUMAULT: Yes, my father was for a long while. We moved to Clay County later when I started to high school. We moved to Clay County and bought a farm there.
TAYLOR: Now when did you meet your husband, Roy?
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ZUMAULT: When? I met my husband when I was thirteen, and he was fifteen, and I was staying with . . . If you know anything about Smithville, you know we were used to having floods out there, a very common occurrence in the back years. There was a flood, and I was caught in town with the water out across the road, and so I was staying with a friend that night, Nannie Hornback, and it happened to be a cousin of hers, Roy Zumault, that I met. But she and I went to a movie—at that time there were movies—and during the movie this good-looking young man comes in and he walks up to his cousin and whispered, “Who’s the brown-eyed Susan? I’d like to meet her.” She said, “Well, she’s staying all night with me. We’re in the same class.” He said, “Well, I’ll just sit right down here between you so that I can talk to both of you.” So he sat down between us.
In those days they gave prizes, and that night he happened to win the prize. It was just an inexpensive item . . . not very important. Anyway, it was a silver berry spoon. So he said, “I’m going to give it to you.” And I said, “Oh, no. You can’t give it to me because my mother would never let me accept a gift from a young man, especially a stranger.” And he said, “Well, we’re not strangers. I’m Nannie’s cousin, you’re her friend, therefore we’re friends.” Well, anyway, they talked me into taking the spoon. And I’ve had it all these years, and it’s hanging right up here on the wall, today.
He asked me for a date, and I said, “Oh, dear, I can’t date. I’m much too young.” I said, “My folks said I have to wait.” He said, “How long do you have to wait?” And I said, “Well, until I’m sixteen.” He said, “Well, I’ll
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wait, too.” And he did. So we never dated. But he was pretty sharp. He got acquainted with my brother, and they became fishing partners and hunting partners, and so of course we got to visit that way, but only to visit. That’s all. Because this was an era in which when your parents said no, they meant no.
TAYLOR: And so then when did you marry?
ZUMAULT: We were married June 8, 1926, and . . . by that time he was an interior decorator and I was teaching school. But we started going together on that very sixteenth birthday. He was right there, [chuckling] and we started going together. But we both realized that we wanted to have something nice. We wanted to have a home. It was a different era, as I said. In those days you got married and lived together, you didn’t live together and then get married. It was a different time and a different way of life. So then we were married in ’26, and lived together for sixty years, and he’s been dead ten years.
TAYLOR: So when you married, where did you live?
ZUMAULT: Well, we lived in Smithville. We established a business there, a paint and wallpaper store, which we had for eighteen years. I had a very, very bad car accident and I was crippled in the spine. I developed an arthritic condition in the spine, and so the doctor said, “Now, you might as well get used to the idea that you will not walk again.” And I said, “Look, I’m not sitting in this wheelchair the rest of my life. There has to be a better way.” So my husband was frantic about it, and finally we did all the things that we could do here, and we went to all kinds of specialists and everything, and finally Dr. Arch
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Spelman, who was one terrific person, a wonderful man said, “The only thing that I think really might help you would be if you went to Key West, Florida, because the temperature doesn’t fluctuate there but a few degrees during the whole year. And I want you to go in the ocean twice a day and then come out and lay on the sand in the sun for at least an hour during the day, and we’ll see . . .” And then, of course, I took medication. He contacted a doctor there.
And when I was down there about three months, I just got a lot better. It was during the war, and so I went . . . And my husband was already working there—because he was a decorator, there was no problem for him ever to get a job—and he was with the Navy, you know. So I went and offered my services. I told them that it would be a limited thing for me, inasmuch as I still had to go in the ocean during the day so many times and so forth. Lieutenant J. B. Mahoney was the man who interviewed me, and a very fine person, and he said, “Can you type?” I said yes. He said, “Can you take dictation?” I said yes. He said, “Can you teach?” I said, “I don’t know, but I can try.” He said, “You’re hired!” [chuckling] They had so many young people, you know, that were coming down there, and of course I was a little older than that, and as soon as their boyfriends went out to service, why, those girls were gone. So I stayed during the war, and they tried to keep us longer, but both of us were ready to come home because I was a lot better then. And I still have problems, it’s an ongoing situation, but you learn to live with it, you know. And so when I came home, I went into the real estate
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business, and I was in real estate thirty-seven years, and it was a wonderful, wonderful career that I had.
TAYLOR: At what point did you become involved in the Eastern Star?
ZUMAULT: On December 13, 1944. I was taken into the chapter on December 13th, and immediately was given an appointment, the same appointment that I have now, strangely. [chuckling] Electa was my first one. Until the next year I went into the north, which . . . I know you’re not familiar with it, but that is the beginning of the line and that is as associate conductress. And during this time, right after that I met Mary Jane Truman. I met her over in Kansas City at an Eastern Star meeting, and I was just delighted with her. And evidently she liked me, because we became very, very good friends right away, and it lasted until her death, and that was in ’78.
*** One of my treasures is a solid brass bell for my patio with the inscription, TO VIOLA ZUMAULST FROM MARY JANE TRUMAN, May 14, 1957, at a party given by my chapter after my appointment as DISTRICT DEPUTY GRAND MATRON by LEONA LANDIGHAM, Worthy Grand Matron of the Grand Chapter of Missouri.***
TAYLOR: So what chapter were you a member of?
ZUMAULT: What chapter? I belong to Garland Chapter, 287, Smithville.
TAYLOR: Okay, in Smithville.
ZUMAULT: See, I lived in Smithville and joined there. Oftentimes . . . We have
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invitations to chapters in the city, and that’s where, of course, as I said, I met Mary Jane, and that’s when our friendship began. Really, it was just about the end of December of that year. It was right after I went into the chapter. Soon after that she asked me if I could help her with something, and I said, “Really, I don’t feel that I’m qualified.” But I started studying. Then if she needed someone to help her to install somewhere, someone didn’t show up or couldn’t go for some reason, and I was qualified to take that position, I was always just delighted to go with her, you know. And that went on for years and years. I have letters from her, telling me, you know, could we go here, could we go there for an installation. [chuckling]
*** In the fall of 1947 Mary Jane and I were having lunch at the old Muehlebach Hotel. I reminded her that I would be Worthy Matron in my Chapter the next year and was looking forward to her installing me. I added, “Think what an honor it will be to be installed by the sister of the President of the United States!” She was silent for a moment then inquired, “What date will that be, Dear?” I said, “That will be the first Saturday in December, 1948.” No quick response. Suddenly her face broke into a broad smile as she confided, “You know, Dear, I will be happy to install you but I may NOT be the sister of the President of the United States by December, 1948!” However, it is common knowledge that Harry Truman came from behind in the greatest upset in Political History to defeat Thomas Dewey in the Presidential Election of 1948. ***
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TAYLOR: What position did she have, did Mary Jane have?
ZUMAULT: Well, at that time she was just going into Grand Chapter. She was associate conductress in Grand Chapter, you see, and she installed me in every office that I had in the chapter.
TAYLOR: Now when you say Grand Chapter, what . . . ?
ZUMAULT: Well, the Grand Chapter is the higher association of the state. That’s the state one. Ours is a branch one, you see.
TAYLOR: Okay. Yours would be a local, like Smithville.
ZUMAULT: Yes.
TAYLOR: And then of course Mary Jane’s was in Grandview.
ZUMAULT: Yes, a subordinate chapter.
TAYLOR: And so this was when she was—
ZUMAULT: Just starting.
TAYLOR: Starting on the state level.
ZUMAULT: Mm-hmm.
TAYLOR: So her responsibility, I guess . . . Well, I can ask you. In her position, what was her responsibility there as a state officer?
ZUMAULT: Well, you see, this is the way that this is handled. When you meet a person like that—I’m taking it from my own standpoint, of course—but when you meet a person like that and you like them, if they’re ready for Grand Chapter, they’re eligible to install you, you see—any Grand Chapter member is—and you tell them, “I want you to install me in my next office.” And so
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she could begin right then, don’t you see? Well, she was so popular because everyone loved her. She was that type of person. She was just the most adorable person. In fact, I have a letter here that I wrote to her telling her that I thought that we took advantage of her because she was so willing and we were always asking her to do something. But that was in ’55, when I was president of the National League of American Pen Women. And I thought I should like to give her a nice something, so I invited her to be my guest at the Muehlebach Hotel—that’s where we always met. I told her, “This is one place you don’t have to say anything or do anything but just enjoy yourself.” At which she certainly did, and had a great time, and we all were very proud of her, of course.
TAYLOR: Can you describe for us the different offices in Eastern Star and just kind of tell what they do, their functions?
ZUMAULT: Yes, as much as I can.
TAYLOR: Sure, as much as you can.
ZUMAULT: A full chapter requires eighteen: Worthy Matron, Worthy Patron, Associate Matron, Associate Patron, Conductress, Associate Conductress, Chaplain, Marshal, Organist, Adah, Ruth, Esther, Martha, Electa, Warder, and Sentinel. Of course, the Worthy Matron naturally, would be the presiding officer. The Associate Matron would fill in in her absence. The Worthy Patron keeps a watchful eye over the Chapter and has specific duties to perform. The central Star of the chapter is considered the most attractive part of it, and that is a five-pointed star, and that’s Adah, Ruth, Esther, Martha,
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Electa. Those five are the heroines of the Bible, you see, and their duty is to teach the lessons, the sublime lessons of the Bible. As you know, all of our work is taken from the Bible. Therefore, in order to become a member, the first thing, the very first thing that’s important for you to know is that you must believe in a supreme power. In other words, no atheist could be an Eastern Star member. Actually, many people are misinformed in this situation, for the Order of the Eastern Star is actually no part masonry.
She has a note that after consulting with a member of the Grand Chapter she has decided to take out this section: *** Women’s hearts beat and are inspired by the same thing that prompts men to noble deeds, and she hears the cry of the orphan, the wail of the [unintelligible] and the wail of the [unintelligible], and she tries through her love and labor to meet those needs. And, you see, we are related by the dearest ties to our Masonic brothers, and so it’s our duties then to do whatever we can to lighten the burdens of the wives, mothers, daughters, widows, sisters of Master Masons, and to extend generous aid to the victims of poverty and distress.
You do not have to be a member to receive any aid from us or anything like that. We have had floods and we’ve had fires and all sorts of things in our community, and we just go right in immediately and offer to do whatever we can to help. This is a very important thing for Eastern Stars to do. Now, you asked me some of the others . . . ?
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TAYLOR: Yes.
ZUMAULT: Now like the marshal, she marshals all processions and introduces officers and guests. When the guests are introduced, she presents them at the front. Let me see where we go from there. The organist, of course that is embodied in her work. You would know what she would do. She would give beautiful music. And the chaplain always leads us in prayer and closes the meeting in prayer. Then the five star points, each of them teaches a Bible story that all of us are familiar with. If you’re familiar with the Bible, you’re familiar with them because it’s all taken right out of the Bible. You’ll know how Adah defended her father’s honor, and Ruth was supporting of her mother-in-law, and Queen Esther saved the Jewish people from extinction, and Martha was the one whose brother died, and she was broken-hearted but she realized that God could cure all these things.
*** she deletes this: That’s the sign of the broken column. And my sign, [Electa] is the cup, and that is an emblem of charity and hospitality. ***
Electa is the one that teaches us to extend generous aid to the victims of poverty and distress. And then of course the warder is on the inside, and the sentinel on the outside to keep people out who are not members, that they may not interrupt our meetings when we are in session. Now I don’t know, is there anything else that you would like to know about that?
TAYLOR: Did you mention Electa, your position? Electa, you mentioned that?
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ZUMAULT: I’m Electa. Yes, I’m the one that has the cup.
TAYLOR: Okay. I think you covered all of those very well. You mentioned there’s a service element to your organization, helping others. Do you recall Mary Jane Truman being involved in any particular—
ZUMAULT: Oh, of course we’re all involved in it. We’re all involved in it. Whatever, we’re all involved in charitable things and loving kindness. Charity and loving kindness are our watchwords. I believe that you mentioned one time about her watchwords or something like that. Well, when a Worthy Matron or a Worthy Grand Matron, whichever one is there in charge either way, you know, and they select their own watchwords, and they select their Bible verse and their colors that they use or the flower that they use and such as that. Now, for instance, hers was: “Strength and honor are our clothing.” That was her mother’s favorite Bible verse, and that’s the one I wrote the poem about after Mrs. Truman died and sent it to Mr. Truman. He was also so wonderful about that and always so appreciative. I think I told you, when it wore out, he told Mary Jane, “When you and Viola go out the next time, I want you to tell her to rewrite that poem for me because mine’s worn out.” She said, “Now, Harry, I’ll type up that poem for you. No use in you going out there and having her doing it.” He said, “And not have it autographed?” [chuckling] So I’ve always had a good laugh out of that, and I always tell people, “Now, when a President says that to you, why, that’s worth remembering.” [chuckling] But of course he was a great friend of ours, as you know.
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TAYLOR: So when you and Mary Jane would go out on these installations, would you ride together, or how did that work?
ZUMAULT: Oh, we have, yes, but that was not the usual order at all because she would come out of Kansas City and I lived in Smithville. Usually we’d meet at our home or at the chapter, or maybe just in town somewhere if we were going on . . . say, we were going to Cameron or Plattsburg or something like that. Now, I know many people say to me, “It always seemed strange to me that you never spent a night with her.” And I never did, because our main interest was Eastern Star. When we met, it was always either on our way to a chapter or at a chapter. But she had, of course, been in my home a lot of times because she was, as I said, coming out there. I was not going over to her place, but she was coming out there, and we’d go on our way. Then Mr. Zumault sometimes would, if for any reason something happened, why, he was always ready to go on and take us. And he usually went with me anyway. He was very active in Eastern Star. But Mary Jane, after her brother, whom she adored—I don’t want to leave that out, because she simply adored Harry—and when he was President, of course, she always had to have men with her, you know, that followed her, but they usually were in a car back of her, you see. And when they were in our chapter, they stayed outside in the anteroom. But as soon as we closed, we always invited them to come in and visit with us, and eat with us and all of that. And they were always very fine people. There was never any problem of any kind with that. And they always admired and respected her, because you could not do
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anything else but admire and respect Mary Jane Truman.
TAYLOR: So would she come by your place, or . . . ?
ZUMAULT: Frequently.
TAYLOR: Frequently? Would the agents ride in the same car, too?
ZUMAULT: Not usually. They usually had their own car. Because, you see, she would come out of the city with maybe three other people, all Stars, and maybe they were just supportive of her. For instance, if she was going to act as installing matron, why, she might need some of them to help. Like she might need an installing chaplain. Now I was her installing marshal for years and years and years, but I’d fill in as chaplain and other officers, too. But she might bring two or three or four even out of the city with her, and so usually they were in their own car. But of course those men were right back of her, in a car right behind her.
TAYLOR: So how many were there usually with her?
ZUMAULT: Two.
TAYLOR: Two? And they would follow? They would be there pretty much at all times?
ZUMAULT: Oh yes. Yes, they were. [chuckling]
TAYLOR: Did she ever comment about having to have them there?
ZUMAULT: Oh no. No, she didn’t. The only thing she said, “I’ve lost my privacy.” You know, she’d say it to me just laughingly, “I’ve lost my privacy,” or something like that. But not really. She often spoke of her dear mother, and of the two nieces that she loved too, you know. She spoke of those. You know the picture I showed you of those? I have such a good picture of Mary
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Jane and the two nieces together. I think that’s one of the best pictures I have of her. And she frequently spoke of them.
TAYLOR: Do you remember their names?
ZUMAULT: Oh, of course! Goodness sakes! When you know people as long as I have you do. [chuckling] Here they are right here. That’s Harry’s daughter on the right, and you probably know her, and on the left then is Vivian’s daughter, and Mary Jane in the middle. Now if you look on the back, it’ll tell you [unintelligible]. I took that out of my memory book so you could see it.
TAYLOR: Now this was when she was sworn in as Worthy Grand Matron of the state of Missouri?
ZUMAULT: Yes. That was in 1950.
TAYLOR: Now, were you there?
ZUMAULT: Certainly I was there. [chuckling]
TAYLOR: Oh? Could you describe that event? That was quite a thing, from what I’ve read.
ZUMAULT: That was a big event because the President was there. The President flew in. And he said, “We want no fanfare, and I want nothing said or done for me. I’m here to be with my sister and to see her installed.” And of course there was an overflow crowd, as you can imagine. [chuckling] Then after the festivities, after the installation, which was a gorgeous installation . . . Grand Chapter has a gorgeous installation. There’s lots of things done, beautiful flowers and all kinds of tributes paid and things like that. But after that, then they had a little private party for close friends. But that was all very nice, and
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it was kept quiet. I have pictures of that, pictures of the star and some things like that.
TAYLOR: So did you participate in that installation?
ZUMAULT: Oh yes.
TAYLOR: What was your role?
ZUMAULT: No, no, not in the installation. Excuse me, I misunderstood you. I would not. I was there but I did not. No, Grand Chapter . . . One of the things that I’ve always been happy to do, and that I have very frequently . . . written the poetry that they use in it. For years I did that for different ones. But they use Grand Chapter people for these occasions.
TAYLOR: I see. So, to get to the state level, the Grand Chapter, how would you do that? How would you work through? Would you have to know all the positions then that you’ve outlined?
ZUMAULT: You have to go all the way through. That is, you begin with in the north, which is Associate Conductress. Then the next year, if you go straight through, you’re a Conductress in the south. And then in the west you are Associate Matron. And then on the fourth year then you are Worthy Matron. And then after you are Worthy Matron, the way that you get to Grand Chapter is by different means. It’s entirely different. It comes from all sorts of people, by appointments and all that. Just like all higher organizations do.
TAYLOR: It’s an earned position, I think.
ZUMAULT: Yes, it is. It is. Now I had two Grand Chapter appointments and I had the possibility of a third, which I could not accept because of my mother’s
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illness. But I was District Deputy Grand Matron, appointed by Ora Gardner, and I was Grand Representative of Kentucky in Missouri. So I had two Grand Chapter appointments. It’s a very high honor. It’s a nice honor, and we should always be proud that we had that honor. That’s why we should do everything that we possibly can, our loyalties, you know, to the chapter and to the organization.
SCOTT STONE: We’ll take a little break here, if that’s all right, while I change my reels. Is there a formally recognized national level of the organization?
ZUMAULT: Now what is your question?
STONE: Is there a national level above the state level of the organization?
ZUMAULT: Oh yes. Yes, there is. That’s called General Grand Chapter.
*** which is really an international organization that includes the Grand Chapters of many nations.***
TAYLOR: Oh, okay. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that.
ZUMAULT: Haven’t you?
TAYLOR: I don’t think so.
ZUMAULT: I’m surprised to hear that.
TAYLOR: General Grand Chapter?
ZUMAULT: Oh yes, that’s General Grand Chapter. The officers are the same, except they’re General Grand Chapter officers. Instead of being Worthy Matron, they’re Most Worthy Matron and so on. But as far as the officers, they’re the same. We had an officer last night, a Distinguished member of the Order,
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from Kansas visiting us last night. There were quite a few visitors, but that one was a distinguished member from Kansas.
***The officers of G. G. C. must have attained the office of WGM or WGP of their state or country organization to be eligible for an office.***
TAYLOR: We were talking about . . . there is another level besides the state level, which is the . . . I’ll let you explain it.
ZUMAULT: The General Grand Chapter, you mean?
TAYLOR: Yes.
ZUMAULT: No, I cannot tell you too much about General Grand Chapter, excepting that it is the highest level. They hold the same positions and all that, except at a higher level.
TAYLOR: And you mentioned that you at one point were a Grand Representative?
ZUMAULT: Yes, I was Grand Representative to Kentucky in Missouri. You see, I was appointed by the Worthy Grand Matron of the state of Missouri, in collaboration with the Worthy Grand Matron of the state of Kentucky. In other words, the Worthy Grand Matron here wrote her that I was her choice here, and so then they sent theirs here and we exchanged.
TAYLOR: Now, in that capacity, what did you do? What were your responsibilities?
ZUMAULT: Well, it’s just a glamour job. [laughter] It’s very, very nice. They always say that that’s the one that you’ve earned, you’ve really earned, that after you’ve been through all these other things, and especially after being District Deputy Grand Matron, I had it immediately afterward. If you’ve been real good, worked real hard, they give you that one, I think. [chuckling] But
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they’d say, “That’s your reward.” But anyway, I went to Kentucky, my husband and I, and our Worthy Matron and Worthy Patron went with us, and this was a lovely affair. We stayed the whole time—it’s three days and nights—and they just rolled out the red carpet for us. There just isn’t anything that they don’t do that’s [not] lovely for you. They arranged for all of my meetings and everything like that, and they provided me with flowers and gifts and just all such things, and made lovely tributes and things like that. I’d say it’s a glamour one.
TAYLOR: The reason I ask is that I know Mary Jane Truman had held a very similar . . . or the exact same position at a point in her career. So these were normally appointed for a particular state?
ZUMAULT: These are appointments made by the Worthy Grand Matron.
TAYLOR: Okay, and you serve or you represent like the Missouri chapter in a state.
ZUMAULT: I represented Kentucky in Missouri.
TAYLOR: What are the responsibilities of the Grand Marshal?
ZUMAULT: The Grand Marshal does just what the Marshal does in our subordinate chapter. She presents at all of the ceremonies and presents . . . whenever we have an initiation, why, of course she brings in the candidates, and introduces them, and things like that. A Marshal does just what the word embodies. They marshal processions and marshal candidates and such as that.
TAYLOR: Do you remember the first time you met Harry Truman?
ZUMAULT: The first time I met Harry Truman? Yes, I remember the first time. It was at
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a meeting that he was just visiting. You understand this was before he was President. This was way back there in ’45, and Mary Jane just introduced him to me at that time. But you see, we were not really close to Mr. Truman until my husband, who was an interior decorator, worked in the building, was in charge of the decoration of the building in which Mr. Truman had his office. Then he and Mr. Truman . . . became friends. . . However, he had met him previously because, you see, my husband had worked in the various buildings, the government buildings, the Crown Center, the federal building, Muehlebach Hotel, and different places like that, and would occasionally meet him, but it was just a meeting, nothing personal. But after he was there, they became very good friends. And then as I have told you, he would never let anyone else paint his office or decorate his office. He would always say, “I don’t ask Roy to paint my office, I demand that they send him.” And he’d always say, “Don’t send anyone else. You send Roy.” They just became good friends. And then, as I told you, they had appointments very frequently on the same day at the same barbershop. That was the Title Barbershop, and they’d walk down together every time always, down to the barbershop. And that went on for years and years. And then after Mr. Truman died and they razed the barbershop, why, the two barbers called my husband and told him they had a little gift for him. And they gave him a plaque, which hangs in my family room there, with the two razors, and it says on this walnut plaque, “These razors shaved Harry S Truman at the Title Barbershop.” The barbers were [Isadore] Battalia and Calvin [Starling], I know them both real well,
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that’s on there, with the date, 1983. So Roy was very proud of that because, of course, he loved Mr. Truman. We loved him, both of us did.
The way that he and I really, as I would say, enjoyed each other, he was making history and I was hearing about it, learning about it. He was in his office the year that I was state president of the National League of American Pen Women. I was to present the brief address, which we made to them from our organization, to him when he had his autograph party for his book. He autographed my book, too. You’ve read the autograph in—two of them—he sent me two. So he would call me to tell me something about his book or something, and I would go in. He’d say, “When you come in to get Roy or when you come in to see him, stop by. I want to talk to you about something,” and we’d just visit like that. And I just thought the world of him. So we often visited. Just as busy a man as he was, he was that kind of a person. If he ever liked you, if he was ever your friend, he was always your friend. He didn’t change with the weather. He was that kind of person, and so I felt really lucky.
TAYLOR: So when you talk about his office downtown, where exactly was that? Why don’t you explain it.
ZUMAULT: It’s in the Professional Building.
TAYLOR: And your husband, when did he . . .
ZUMAULT: Now don’t ask me when he went to work there because I couldn’t tell you. [laughter] He worked there fifteen years.
TAYLOR: Well, do you remember about when your husband would have met Mr.
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Truman?
ZUMAULT: Well, as I told you, he met him back earlier, in the ’40s. In the late ’40s he met Mr. Truman. He had voted for him at various times when he was running for office because he thought he was a very humble man and he thought he was a very honest man. And of course we always thought that. So, even when he didn’t know him personally, he really admired him and his integrity and all that. But it was after he actually . . . after he was in his office there and Mr. Zumault was in the building all the time that they became really close friends—good friends, I’d say. I don’t say that . . . You know, the man that wrote the article, I told you that Mr. Zumault would turn over in his grave if he had read that article and he said that they were bosom friends or something like that, Roy said—“We were good friends and I thought a lot of him.”
TAYLOR: So your husband had the greatest contact with Mr. Truman when he was in the Professional Building?
ZUMAULT: Oh yes. Yes, he kept in contact with him always. He always respected and admired him.
TAYLOR: And so did that increase your contact with the President as well?
ZUMAULT: Surely. Of course, because I would go in there frequently . . . Sometimes at the end of the week I would just go in and pick my husband up, you know, or something. A lot of times he’d just go in on the bus, and I’d pick him up then. But normally he drove. But if the President would call he’d . . . I know one time that he called and said, “If you stop in, the first time you’re in, stop.
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I have a book for you.” And just things like that. But I had close contact with him.
TAYLOR: Do you remember his secretary? Do you remember Mr. Truman’s secretary?
ZUMAULT: No. Not well enough to say we were friends or anything like that, no.
TAYLOR: So how many installations do you think you helped Mary Jane with? A considerable number, do you think?
ZUMAULT: Of course! I would have no idea to tell you through the years.
TAYLOR: So that would have been from 1944 until . . . ?
ZUMAULT: Well, it wouldn’t be ’44, because I went in December 13, ’44, as I told you, and I met her right after that. But no, I didn’t start until . . . It would have been ’45, the latter part of ’45, because I didn’t know the work until then. I told you I started studying right away on it.
TAYLOR: When she asked you, because you had to be ready to . . .
ZUMAULT: Yes. Well, she just said, “I think I’d like you to help me on something.” And the first time that she asked me I really felt very complimented that she would ask me, because I was new and she knew I was. I thought, well, she evidently has confidence in me or she wouldn’t have asked me. So I tried to prepare to be so that I could.
TAYLOR: So do you think someone recommended you to her, do you think?
ZUMAULT: Well, I expect maybe. [chuckling] I don’t know about that. Usually your District Deputy Grand Matron does that. Then we had a young man in our community that lived in Excelsior Springs, a minister, a young minister, that knew her quite well. He was up higher than I was, you know, and he was
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frequently recommending me for different things, so I’ve always thought maybe he did. But I don’t know whether he did or he didn’t.
TAYLOR: Did Mary Jane ever . . . Well, you mentioned just briefly that she always talked about her brother, Harry.
ZUMAULT: Oh, yes!
TAYLOR: What would she say?
ZUMAULT: Well, she just was very proud of him, so proud of him. She’d always say he was such an honest man, and so good and worked so hard, and he worked on the farm, which he hated. [chuckling] He was not a farmer. He hated it. Oh, we just talked about that and about her mother and about the girls.
TAYLOR: What would she say about her mother?
ZUMAULT: Oh well, she just would talk about her mother being older and the things that she couldn’t do that she loved to do, and such as that. But Mrs. Truman as a mother was a very religious woman, . . .
[End of tape 1, side 1; Begin tape 1, side 2]
ZUMAULT: . . . a very religious woman, and a good mother. I’m sure of that.
TAYLOR: Did you ever meet her?
ZUMAULT: No. No, I never did.
TAYLOR: So she wouldn’t go attend Eastern Star?
ZUMAULT: She was a homebody, very definitely a homebody.
TAYLOR: Now did Mary Jane ever mention her other brother, Vivian?
ZUMAULT: Oh yes, but I’m just saying that she just really talked more about Harry. . . [tape turned off] . . . and Mary Jane just raved of him. And everybody knows
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that who knew anything about him at all.
TAYLOR: So would she tell you in the course of conversation, “I got a letter . . .”
ZUMAULT: She would often say, “I had a letter from Harry today,” and he’s so and so . . . [chuckling] Oh yes.
TAYLOR: That’s neat, because he was a prolific writer to his family.
ZUMAULT: Oh, yes!
TAYLOR: And not just his family but others as well.
ZUMAULT: Yes, indeed. You know I have a number of letters. You know that I have letters from him. You’ve seen the stack of them.
TAYLOR: So, over the years, what has Eastern Star meant to you?
ZUMAULT: What has it meant to me? Well, it’s just meant a great deal to me because it’s a place where you can express yourself in a way . . . You can do something worthwhile. You can pay tribute of your love and loyalty to others who need you. And that’s important, the fact that charity is wonderful, but the loving kindness I often think is more important. As I have said, we are very closely related, the closest relationship to our Masonic brothers. We’re married to them. They’re our brothers or fathers, you know, and so we want to do the things . . . They have goals, and their goals [are] charitable, as you know, and we want to help them with those things. And so I have felt that it’s just a wonderful organization.
Now, for instance, we give scholarships. We gave a scholarship just last night to a young person who wants to study for the ministry, or someone who wants to study for some religious service. . . to serve in some religious
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capacity, we give them money for that. Now those scholarships are valuable, you know, for those young people who need it. But the thing of it is, it’s really showing loving kindness to people who need it.
TAYLOR: So would you see the Eastern Star . . . It’s more than just a support organization for the Masonic . . .
ZUMAULT: Oh, yes. Yes, it is. It’s teaching the Bible, it’s teaching you how to live a good life, and how to share your life with others. And it teaches people, if they want to learn, it teaches you to be unselfish. Many people could do a lot more—you know that. They’re selfish. But it teaches you Bible principles, which of course, as you know, I’m a churchgoer. [chuckling] I’ve been a member of my church sixty-eight years, and I’m now an elder emeritus. ***Now it is seventy-two years!***
TAYLOR: So during the course of your interacting with Mary Jane Truman in the Eastern Star, did she ever share with you what Eastern Star meant to her?
ZUMAULT: It was her life. She lived it. That’s what it meant to her. Mary Jane was never married. You know that. She devoted her life to Eastern Star and to her mother. But she loved everything about it. She loved the work and the thing that it represented. That’s what it meant to Mary Jane. She was just a symbol to others of a loving person who did the right thing and lived a good life.
TAYLOR: Scott, do you have any questions?
STONE: No, I don’t.
TAYLOR: I believe we’ve covered the things I’ve outlined. Is there anything that you would like to add that we didn’t cover that you would like to mention?
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ZUMAULT: No, I don’t think so. I just wanted to do whatever you wanted me to do, and there’s nothing in particular . . . I’ll just say that Mary Jane enriched my life greatly. I was just extremely fond of her and respected and admired her, her principles. I would not ask for anything better ever than to have a good friend like Mary Jane.
TAYLOR: Are there any letters that you would like to share with us?
ZUMAULT: Well, if you wanted, I have letters. Of course.
TAYLOR: That’s entirely up to you.
ZUMAULT: I have various things. A lot of Mary Jane’s letters, of course, I gave to my nieces. Of course, you see, all my nieces keep scrapbooks on me. I’ve told you that.
TAYLOR: Yes.
ZUMAULT: This one, I like this because, bless her heart, this showed a time when she began to get so she wasn’t able to go, and she said, “I wish we could go down . . . Starlight Lane together again as we used to do,” and things like that. You can take a look at these, if you’d like. Feel free to, for goodness sakes.
TAYLOR: May I read these?
ZUMAULT: Of course! There’s nothing secret about them. [chuckling]
TAYLOR: I guess there’s one question I didn’t ask. When did you actually stop doing the installations or stop being together.
ZUMAULT: I’ve never stopped. [chuckling]
TAYLOR: Well, I know you haven’t, but with Mary Jane?
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ZUMAULT: All right, this letter will tell you, I think. I don’t know which one you’re reading, but one of them will tell you. She says that . . . it’s in the latter part of ’70.
TAYLOR: Okay, I will read this one here.
ZUMAULT: Well, you read them. I’d be glad for you to.
TAYLOR: Okay. It says: “Grandview, Missouri, December 4, 1970.” It says, “Dear Sister Viola, What a lovely surprise that came today in your lovely gift of poems. What happy memories of other days and happy years. Thank you so very much for the gift and for the thoughts you expressed. We have walked many happy miles together down Starlight Way. Me, you know, I love poetry”—
ZUMAULT: Oh yes, she just loved it.
TAYLOR: “And your poems will be especially enjoyed and appreciated. I am so glad to be remembered in such a nice way. My Christmas will be made much brighter by this very lovely gift. I wish I would travel over the state as I used to, but I have to walk with two canes”—
ZUMAULT: See, that’s what I wanted you to read, that part. See, that’s when she had to quit. See, she had to walk with two canes then. That was in ’70. You asked when she quit. That’s it.
TAYLOR: She says, “However, I can still do a few things in Eastern Star, will install my chapter here at Grandview on December 12th. I wish you could come to our installation. You would be most welcome. With very best wishes to you for the holiday season, and wishing you many happy miles down Starlight
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Walk. With love, Mary Jane Truman.”
ZUMAULT: But at that time, you see, she was already just . . . oh, just in very poor health then. And she wasn’t able then . . . That’s the last thing that she did. She installed her own chapter. She wanted to do that.
TAYLOR: That’s very nice.
ZUMAULT: Yes, we walked down lots of Starlight Lanes together.
TAYLOR: Is there another one that you have . . . ?
ZUMAULT: I don’t know. As I said, I would love for you to have seen the one that she wrote me after she went to my Pen Women meeting. Such a beautiful letter. But I gave it to my niece because my nieces, all three of them, keep scrapbooks on me and they like to have them. And I’ve given them many, many things now so I’ll know where they go. I think it’s always fun to do that.
TAYLOR: Okay, I think that’s a nice letter that we ended up reading.
ZUMAULT: She’s just precious.
TAYLOR: Okay. Well, I think this concludes our interview.
ZUMAULT: Let’s see if there’s something here I want to show you here. These poor books. Heavenly days! Poor books. I was going to show you, now here’s your fiftieth, see? “Truman to Fly to St. Louis Tomorrow.” That’s where he tells them he doesn’t want any fanfare. He’s there to see his sister. And here’s where she . . . I couldn’t go to his inauguration because my mother was ill, and she brought me back this [unintelligible]. [chuckling] This tells how he didn’t want any fanfare because . . . He was like that.
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TAYLOR: He wanted not the spotlight be on him but on his sister.
ZUMAULT: On his sister, certainly. That’s what he did. He said, “I’m not being installed. Mary Jane is.” [chuckling]
TAYLOR: Okay. That’s nice.
ZUMAULT: Yes, I thought you might want to see that. It’s a blessing to know people like that, really.
TAYLOR: Well, we have a release. I’ll let you read through that. This gives us the rights, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get to review it.
ZUMAULT: I told you I wouldn’t be very good at this sort of thing, but . . .
TAYLOR: Well, I think you did just fine.
STONE: I think you did an outstanding job. [miscellaneous conversation regarding release not transcribed]
ZUMAULT: It was nice of you men to take the time and come out here. I think it’s lovely of you to do that.
STONE: It is our pleasure. There has really been so little written or known about Mary Jane.
ZUMAULT: And I don’t know why, because she was such a dear person, you know, and so lovely. I don’t know why. There should be a lot about her.
STONE: Well, as a consequence, we enjoy hearing from anybody who can shed a little light.
ZUMAULT: Well, I wish I could have done a better job if you didn’t have a lot about her. But anyway, I did the best I could, and so I guess that’s all one can do.
TAYLOR: That’s right.
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STONE: I think we will be very pleased with the results.
ZUMAULT: I want to certainly do justice to her because she’s such a precious person and meant so much to me, you know. [misc. comments not transcribed]
TAYLOR: Well, thank you.
ZUMAULT: You’re certainly welcome. As I said, I just wish I could have done better. But then, as Harry used to say, “When it’s done, it’s done.” [chuckling]
END OF INTERVIEW