Audio
Noland Home Dining Room---Map Panel and Failure and Success--Audio Description
Transcript
, Map Panel and Failure and Success, 5:40 minutes: On the wall to the right are two long windows on either side of a map panel and a wood-frame display containing two enlarged black-and-white photographs with a reader rail under each extending from the wall. To the left of the photomural, mounted on the wall, is a wood framed map panel. At the top is a globe beneath which is the title “World of Change” followed by the text: “Harry Truman grew up in an era when many Americans rarely traveled outside their home state. His experiences in World War I, as senator, and as president expanded his world view. He traveled more than any previous president and managed global ‘hot spots’ from Europe to Asia.” Truman’s words from an address to Congress in 1945 are quoted: “In this shrinking world, it is futile to seek safety behind geographical barriers.” At the bottom of the panel is a flat representation of the world with events and locations of international significance during Truman’s presidency. Events include: Japan, Atomic Bombs Dropped, 1945; California, Creation of the UN, 1945; Truman Doctrine, 1947; Europe, Marshall Plan, 1948; Israel, Official recognition, 1948; Western Europe, Creation of NATO, 1949; Korea, Korean War, 1950-1953; Wake Island, General Douglas MacArthur Meeting, 1950. To the right of the map is a wood-framed pair of six feet by four feet black-and-white photos with reader rails. Mounted above the photos is a set of scales between two words: “Failure” and “Success.” The enlarged photo on the left is of a young Harry Truman wearing a suit and tie standing between counters in a haberdashery; another man stands nearby and a long row of ties hangs above and behind them. Text reads: “Harry Truman and Eddie Jacobson opened a men’s clothing store in Kansas City in 1919. The store failed two years later during an economic slump.” The second large photo shows Harry Truman in a double-breasted suit waving from the rear of a train; he holds onto a rail that is emblazoned with the seal of the president of the United States. Text reads: “Truman during the 1948 presidential campaign. In politics he found his niche. ‘A failure as a farmer, a miner, an oil promoter, and a merchant,’ he told Bess, ‘but finally hit the groove as a public servant—and that due mostly to you and the lady luck.’” Mounted between the two enlarged photos is a text panel that reads: “‘No man,’ said Harry Truman, ‘can make a perfect score.’ Truman didn’t do too badly, though. He commanded a battery of soldiers in World War I without losing a single man in combat, he lost only one election in 30 years of public office, and by the turn of the 21st century historians rated him as the country’s fifth best president. He also had failures. He lost money in mining, oil and retail ventures; he was unable to prevent foreclosure on his mother’s Grandview farm; and in February 1952, his presidential approval rating sank to 22%, a record low at the time.” Below the left photo is a reader rail with two black-and-white images: at left is a photo cut-out of President Lyndon B. Johnson grinning and signing a document at a table with an elderly Harry and Bess Truman nearby. Text reads: “Truman wrote, ‘I have had some bitter disappointments as President, but the one that has troubled me most … has been the failure [to pass a] national compulsory health insurance program.’ President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Medicare bill partially achieved what Truman failed to accomplish. At the bill signing, Harry and Bess received the first two Medicare cards.” Health insurance cards with the names Harry S. Truman and Bess W. Truman are shown above the picture. At right is the image of a modest two-story frame house with a wide front porch. Text reads: ”Harry Truman, with his mother and grandmother at the family’s Grandview farm, about 1909. His mother lost the farm to foreclosure in 1940. ‘It’s a wrench,’ said Truman, ‘but I guess we can stand it.’ The family later repurchased the farm.” The reader rail below the right photomural includes three black-and-white photos. The larger photo cut-out at left is the iconic photo of Truman grinning broadly as he holds up the front page of a Chicago Daily Tribune issue with the bold headline, “Dewey Defeats Truman.” Text reads: “The Chicago Tribune wrongly announced Truman’s defeat by Republican presidential candidate Thomas Dewey. Polls indicated Truman would lose, but he confidently predicted, ‘I will win this election … don’t you forget that.’”. At top left is a posed photo of several rows of World War I soldiers in uniform. Truman’s face is circled; he is seated second from the left in the front row. Text reads: “Captain Truman successfully led an unruly group of soldiers during World War I. ‘They seem to want to soldier for me,’ Truman wrote Bess, ‘and if I can get them to do it, I shall consider I have made the greatest success there is to make.’” At right center is a picture of Truman at a table with three other men (he is second from left); microphones are in front of each man. Text reads: “The ‘Truman Committee’ scrutinized World War II spending, identifying millions in waste and making Senator Truman a national figure.”
Description
An audio description of the Dining Room of the Noland Home.
These files are being provided via this page until we can upgrade and install a new audio description service in FY 2024.
The audio files make reference to reproduction telephones...this service is intended to temporarily replace that.
Date Created
05/16/2023
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