University of Central Missouri Receives Humanities Grant Studying Harry Truman History

By Alex Greenwood, April 15, 2026

 

 

The Missouri Humanities Council (MHC) has awarded a grant of $15,000 to the University of Central Missouri (UCM) in support of the project titled “Historic Missouri: Harry S. Truman Tours.” The MHC is the only statewide agency in Missouri devoted exclusively to humanities education for citizens of all ages. It has served as a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities since 1971.

 

The grant has been awarded to Dr. Jon E. Taylor, professor of history, who will serve as project director. Funding will support expansion of Historic Missouri, a free website and mobile app that provides users access to information about the people, places and stories that are unique to Missouri’s history through interpretive and curated narrative tours.

 

This phase of the project will focus on the 64 years Harry S. Truman spent in Independence, from 1890 to 1901 and 1919 to 1972. The project will also include development of a tour highlighting the Truman family’s Grandview Farm.

 

Developed by faculty and students in the UCM Department of History and Social Studies, Historic Missouri is available at historicmissouri.org and as a free mobile app. The platform offers curated tours that combine narrative interpretation with historical research and archival imagery.

 

Grant funding will enable UCM students in history and communication to research, write and upload new content to Historic Missouri, continuing a model that provides hands-on experience while producing public-facing scholarship.

“The Missouri Humanities grant allows our students to contribute meaningful research for a public audience while exploring one of Missouri’s most significant historical figures,” Taylor said. “This work expands access to Truman’s story in ways that are engaging and accessible.”

 

Taylor is the author of four books on the life, political career, and legacy of Harry Truman.  A President, a Church and Trails West:  Competing Histories in Independence, (University of Missouri Press, 2008); Truman’s Grandview Farm, (History Press, 2011); Freedom to Serve:  Truman, Civil Rights, and EO 9981, (Routledge, 2012); Harry Truman’s Independence:  The Center of the World, (History Press, 2013).

 

The grant period begins June 1, 2026, and ends May 30, 2027.

 

For more information about Historic Missouri, visit historicmissouri.org. For more information about the Missouri Humanities Council grants program, call 314-781-9660 or 800-357-0909, or email clarice@mohumanities.org.