Why Preserve Old Buildings?
Explain to students that Harry Truman loved history. He understood that historical events in the past could help shape events in the present and future. Truman also felt strongly about preserving the history of our states, towns, and local neighborhoods. Before and after his time in the White House, he was involved in various organizations that preserved local history in his hometown of Independence. In 1926, he was elected president of the National Old Trails Organization. After returning home from Washington, he helped to establish a local chapter of the Civil War Roundtable, as well as the Jackson County Historical Society. Realizing that developers were threatening the integrity of his hometown neighborhood, the former President also showed his support in the effort to save private residences near his home. It is much easier to understand and explain our past if we keep physical reminders of it. These include such individual structures such as homes, but also intact whole neighborh
