Slater, Harold M. Papers

Dates: 1953-1984

Reporter and City Editor, St. Joseph News-Press, 1927-1979; Executive Secretary to Congressman Phil J. Welch, 1949; Longtime Friend of President and Mrs. Harry S. Truman

Harold M. Slater's papers consist primarily of correspondence from Harry S. Truman to Slater expressing gratitude to him for his gifts and support, personally and politically, from 1953 through 1972.

[Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List]

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: Less than one-half of one linear foot (about 200 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor gave to the United States his copyright interest in the unpublished writings in this collection. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Erwin J. Mueller (1982).
Updated by: Lani M. Kirsch (2007) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.


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BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Harold M. Slater

Harold M. Slater was born in 1907. He was a reporter and city editor for the St. Joseph News-Press in St. Joseph, Missouri from 1927-1979, and a longtime friend of the President and Mrs. Truman. In 1949, Slater served briefly as executive secretary to Congressman Phil J. Welch of Missouri.

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COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The Harold M. Slater papers consist of copies of letters and notes from Harry S. Truman to Mr. Slater, an editor at the St. Joseph News-Press and a staunch supporter of Mr. Truman.

The notes frequently express appreciation from Mr. Truman, as well as from Mrs. Truman in a few of the notes, for gifts and remembrances from Harold Slater on the occasion of birthdays, anniversaries and illnesses.

Mr. Truman also wrote of his gratitude for Mr. Slater's newspaper reports and editorials and often complimented him on his factual reporting. In 1955 the former president wrote that "you are always on the beam" and in 1956 he described one of Slater's articles as a "humdinger."

The notes at times contain brief political comments on contemporary issues. Also included are Mr. Truman's comments on Alfred Steinberg's book The Man from Missouri, which was first published in 1962.

The correspondence in this collection covers the period from 1953 to Mr. Truman's death in 1972. Also included is an invitation to a luncheon marking the centennial of Truman's birth in 1984.

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SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Container Nos.

 

Series

1

  CORRESPONDENCE FILE, 1953-1984
Letters, notes, newspaper clippings and other items. Arranged chronologically.
 
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FOLDER TITLE LIST

CORRESPONDENCE FILE, 1953-1984

Box 1

  • 1953-1962
  • 1963-1972
  • 1984 and Undated
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