City made sacrifices for its favorite sone

Immediately after Harry Truman took the oath of office, Independence public officials knew they needed to do something locally that would create a lasting legacy to their favorite son, the 33rd president of the United States.

It was Mr. Truman who pushed for the idea of creating a library to preserve his official presidential papers for the entire world to research and study. The resulting Truman President Library & Museum became the first of the presidential libraries in the country. If my memory serves me correctly, there were no tax dollars involved in its original funding and construction. The funds were donated from private sources and individuals, not only locally, but also from across the nation. Upon completion, the building was then turned over to the government to operate and maintain.

From the beginning, the city of Independence was required to furnish the land for the facility, and the particular site that was finally chosen was done so for a couple of very good reasons. One, it was in a prime location on a major highway and was close by the Truman home and the center of town. Secondly, the city already owned the land, which had been donated many years earlier by the Slover family of Independence for a city park.

At the time construction began, Slover’s Park was the town’s only city park of any size. The project did require that a few homes be purchased and removed from about one square block on the northeast corner of the campus where the structure actually sits today.

Naturally, many neighbors were thrilled at the idea that the Truman Library would be built so close to us, but at the same time bemoaned the fact they had to give up their beautiful park. City leaders promised the park would be replaced as soon as possible, and as close by as possible. That took a few years longer to achieve than had originally been anticipated, and eventually took the aid of urban renewal.

The location chosen for the replacement park was directly across U.S. 24, a predominately black residential neighborhood, affectionately known as “The Neck.” Many people saw the neighborhood as an eyesore so close to the Truman Library, so eminent domain was declared and four square blocks of family homes were cleared for the new city park, and the many families who lived there had to be relocated.

The new park was named McCoy Park in honor of the first mayor of Independence, William McCoy, whose stately home stands to this day at 410 W. Farmer, one block south of the park.

Many of us probably had friends or classmates who lived in the Neck prior to the park. I, for one, had a few friends there, such as Fred Thomas who fancied pigeons and beagles, much like myself. Fred worked at McConnell Feed Mill nearby where Marvin, Roger and I used to purchase food for our pet pigeons many years ago. Thelma and Nancy Copridge were classmates, as was Joyce Jacobs.

As a teenager, I flipped hamburgers alongside Shirley Porter at the Golden Point and the Ox Bow Drive In. Joan Paul Bland grew up there, and she and David are more like family than friends. A couple of other kids who grew up in the Neck were Alversia Pettigrew and her late husband, Lorenza, and both of them had the most beautiful singing voices I have ever heard to this day. Alversia put together a book, “Memories of a Neck Child,” that describes the Neck Neighborhood and people who called it home from her own childhood perspective.