Harry S. Truman Papers Staff Member and Office Files White House Social Office Files

This collection contains letters, telegrams, newspaper clippings, invitations, guest lists, notes, memoranda, and other materials regarding social events at the White House involving the First Family.

Size: 48 linear feet, 11 inches.
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor gave to the U.S. government the copyrights in this material and in any other material received by the U.S. government and maintained in a depository administered by the National Archives and Records Administration. Documents created by U.S. government officials in the course of their official duties are in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Philip Lagerquist (1956); Erwin Mueller (1982); Randy Sowell (2004); John Shay and David Clark (2016); Tammy K. Williams (2020).

The White House Social Office planned all White House social functions. This includes events that were held at the Blair House and at Washington, D. C. hotels while the White House renovation took place from 1949 to 1952. The Social Office managed guest lists, created and did calligraphy for invitations and invitation enclosures, and planned seating arrangements for events.

This collection contains letters, telegrams, newspaper clippings, invitations, guest lists, notes, memoranda, and other materials regarding social events at the White House involving the First Family.

The first series is the Correspondence File. This series contains letters, telegrams, newspaper clippings, invitations, and notes regarding social events. Included in the correspondence are letters from entertainers offering their services for White House social events. Also included are invitations to Bess W. Truman and Margaret Truman, and thank you notes sent by Mrs. Truman and Miss Truman for gifts received. Similar material can be found in the White House Office of Social Correspondence Files.

The second series is the Social Functions File. This series contains guest lists, letters, notes, memoranda, telegrams, press releases, and drafts of invitations and enclosures for invitees. The vast majority of the material in each folder consists of preliminary, intermediate, and final versions of guest lists, and notes of acceptance or regret from the invitees.

The third series is the Card File. This series consists of 8 inch by 5 inch index cards with blanks for the card giver’s name, address, and occupation typed at the top. On the lower portion of the card are printed several rows and columns for the date called and what type of event the person attended: a call by appointment, a tea, breakfast, luncheon, dinner, reception, musicale, or if the person was a house guest. Dates are either typed or handwritten in the spaces on the card. At the bottom is a space for additional guests who may have attended with the person and not left a card. Cards for married couples specify whether the husband or wife or both attended a particular event.

The fourth series is the Inaugural Card File. This series consists of cards with the names and addresses of invitees to various Inaugural Events. Invitees were grouped into several categories, with a code typed in the upper right corner of each card: Contributors and Friends; Democratic National Committee; Individual Establishments; the “Little Cabinet” (lower level Cabinet officers); and Party Workers. If the invitee was a personal friend of the Truman family, that information would be typed in the upper right corner as well. The color of card indicates which events invitees received invitations and tickets for: white cards for ceremonies at the Capitol; blue cards for the Inaugural parade; pink cards for the 5:00 reception at the National Gallery of Art; and yellow cards for the 5:15 reception at the National Gallery of Art. If an invitee received invitations to several different events, they would have a card of each color with their name.

Related materials can be found in the Bess W. Truman Papers; the Margaret Truman Daniel and E. Clifton Daniel Papers; Harry S. Truman Papers (Office of Social Correspondence Files, Matthew J. Connelly Files, President’s Secretary’s Files, Permanent File); RG 274: Records of Presidential Inaugural Committees; Melvin Hildreth Papers; and the Alonzo Fields Papers.