Harry S. Truman Presidential Library & Museum

Open Spaces, Kansas City's newest arts event, is a multi-sensory, cross-cultural experience featuring performers and artists from both around the world and close to home. From August 25 to October 28 it will take over the city with provocative exhibits and cutting-edge performances scattered from rural to urban environments, galleries to public parks - all to showcase the unique makeup of KC's creativity.

The Harry S. Truman Library and Museum is on the festival map, hosting Sarah Nguyen's art installation "Break Into Blossom." An artistic visual interpretation of a story from the Textbook of Alternate History by Phong Nguyen, the artist depicts a scenario where the atomic bomb used in World War II fails to detonate, passes through a cherry tree and lands in a forest, gathering moss and lichen over the years. The installation is interactive and allows visitors to write their wishes on "cherry blossom petals" and scatter the petals onto the piece.

"Break Into Blossom" will be on display at the Truman Library for the nine-week run of the Open Spaces festival. Join us on Saturday, September 1 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., when artist Sarah Nguyen will be on hand to discuss her work along with author Phong Nguyen. The exhibit is free and open to the public, and RSVPs are not necessary to attend the artist discussion.

The Doniphan Community Service Award will be presented to Sen. John Danforth in this free public program, followed by remarks from the senator. This special award was created by the Alexander W. Doniphan Community Service and Leadership Foundation, Inc., to honor recipients who exemplify Gen. Doniphan's outstanding characteristics and personal commitments in education, jurisprudence, statesmanship, patriotism and business.

Sen. John Danforth represented Missouri in the Senate from 1976 to 1995 and also served as United States Ambassador to the United Nations under President George W. Bush. The Doniphan Award is presented in partnership with the Alexander W. Doniphan Community Service & Leadership Foundation, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the greater Kansas City area, the Harry S. Truman Library & Museum, the Truman Library Institute, Mid-Continent Public Library, and Clay County Millennium. This program is free to attend and a brief reception will be held at 5:30 pm. RSVPs are requested:

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President Truman signed the Federal Civil Defense Act 78 years ago. Come see how emergency response has evolved since then with ham radio operators, emergency response vehicles and more. Co-sponsored by the City of Independence, the fair will be fun for the whole family and offer valuable resources to help young Scouts earn merit badges.

In today's most dangerous trouble spots, United Nations peacekeepers are working to separate warring parties and protect people from the scourge of armed conflict. It's an inherently dangerous mission, costing the lives of more than 3,600 uniformed and civilian personnel since operations launched in 1948. The program was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize in 1988.



The United Nations Association of Greater Kansas City presents a panel of international military officers currently studying at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College to discuss their missions, recall their challenges and share their achievements.

A high school senior when Pearl Harbor was attacked, Ohio native Carl Lavin enlisted in the U.S. Army when he turned 18, a decision that would take him to combat with the 84th Infantry Division through V-E Day. In his latest book, author Frank Lavin tells his father Carl's story of going to war as a teenager - as so many World War II veterans did - and thrust into a world where he would grapple with the horrors of combat.


"Home Front to Battlefront: An Ohio Teenager in World War II" is based on Carl's personal letters, the recollections of both Carl and those he served with, military history, private papers and more. The enthralling story combines the rich details of one soldier?s experience with the broad history of World War II as a whole.


Former U.S. Ambassador to Singapore, Frank Lavin currently works in business in China. An avid historian and writer, he has written or contributed to eight books and has a monthly column at Forbes.com.

This free public program will be preceded by a reception. A book signing will follow, with "Home Front to Battlefront" available in the Museum Store. The program is free but RSVPs are requested

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"The Great War" tells the rich and complex story of World War I through the voices of nurses, journalists, aviators and the American troops who came to be known as "doughboys." The series explores the experiences of African-American and Latino soldiers, suffragists, Native American "code talkers" and others whose participation in the war to "make the world safe for democracy" has been largely forgotten. It is a story of heroism and sacrifice that would ultimately claim 15 million lives and profoundly change the world forever.


Co-hosted by the National Park Service, this is the second installment of a three-part series. Part 3 will be shown during the Veterans? Day schedule of events on November 11.

Can you handle the truth? Are you ready to lead? Find out during a rare open-to-the-public session in the White House Decision Center as you step into the role of the President and his advisers. Usually reserved for corporate leadership retreats and educational groups, the White House Decision Center has been described as a "ropes course for your mind."

The session will begin with a custom tour through the museum to help transport participants to America in 1945. Then you will go behind the scenes of the library to the replicated West Wing on the lower level. There you will examine formerly classified documents, broker compromise and build consensus to navigate through a simulation of one of President Truman's landmark decisions.

Sign up for the ultimate test of your presidential decision making skills. Complimentary beverages and snacks provided. Email truman.events@nara.gov
to RSVP.

From the American Revolution to the Civil War to the Great Depression and two world wars, crisis after crisis has shaped and defined our nation. Looking back on these conflicts and studying this history is the only way to understand our past and prepare for our unpredictable future, argues author Jay Sexton in his latest book A
Nation Forged by Crisis: A New American History.


Sexton is the Kinder Institute Chair in Constitutional Democracy at the University of Missouri and emeritus fellow at Corpus Christi College, Oxford University. Early in his
career, Sexton served as an intern at the Truman Library, and some two decades later he is circling back as a featured public programs speaker. Sexton is also the author of Debtor Diplomacy: Finance and American Foreign Relations in the Civil War Era, 1837-1873 and The Monroe Doctrine: Empire and Nation in Nineteenth-Century America.


Sexton's program will analyze our nation's story through global conflicts and crises, with a special emphasis on the tumultuous period during Harry S. Truman's presidency. Sexton will also provide a non-partisan analysis of how changes in power relations and the international economy have affected the United States in recent years and how it will impact our nation's trajectory going forward.


This program is presented in partnership with the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum, the Truman Library Institute and the Kinder Institute on Constitutional Democracy. It will be preceded by a free wine reception and followed by a book-signing, with copies of "A Nation Forged by Crisis" available in the Museum Store. This public program is free, but RSVPs are requested

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