The Jewish Community Foundation (JCF) and the Truman Library Institute (TLI) have partnered to offer a series of free lectures called the Truman and Israel Lecture.
The lecture series commemorates President Harry S. Truman’s historic and politically contentious decision to formally recognize the then-new State of Israel on May 14, 1948.
The JCF’s Community Legacy Fund awarded a five-year grant for a total of $50,000 to the TLI to help fund the lectures, said Merilyn Berenbom, a lifetime trustee and past president of the JCF and a TLI board member. The partnership was prompted by TLI’s interest in creating a series to commemorate the founding of Israel, so it applied for the JCF grant.
The lecture is planned to be offered annually, Berenbom said. Speakers will be chosen by consensus among leaders of the TLI and the JCF.
“This lecture series is important to the Jewish community and the general community because the lecture gives great opportunities to reflect on the impact of Truman’s decision to recognize Israel and (his decision’s) effect on world history,” she said.
Former U.S. Ambassador Dennis is scheduled to give the first lecture, on May 9, at the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library. Ross’ planned topic is twofold, TLI Executive Director Alex Burden said: Truman’s decision to recognize Israel and the historical context of that decision, and Ross’ book, titled “Doomed to Succeed: The U.S.-Israel Relationship from Truman to Obama,” which was published in late 2015.
“(Ross is) a distinguished scholar in his own right, and he’s been on the front line in the peace process with negotiations between Israel and Palestine and a diplomat in America representing our policies toward Israel,” Burden said. “(The Middle East is) a very difficult location with a difficult history, and it’s a difficult situation to deal with.”
Truman’s grandson, Clifton Truman Daniel, plans to attend the first lecture, Burden said. Advance registration is encouraged and can be made at either www.trumanlibraryinstitute.org or www.jcfkc.org. For more information, call the JCF office at 913-327-8245.
Both the grant and more than $100,000 of private donations fund the lecture series and The White House Decision Center’s educational programming at the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum. The center provides the material in five different modules: Truman’s desegregation of the U.S. military; responding to the Communist invasion of South Korea; reacting to the Soviet blockade of Berlin after World War II; ending the war with Japan; and the U.S. recognition of Israel.
The White House Decision Center was started 15 years ago, and the first Israel module was offered in the fall of 2015. About 5,500 to 6,000 students participate in the program each year, Burden said. About 90 percent of the students are high schoolers, and the remainder includes university students and other adults.
The modules are offered from Oct. 1 through early May, usually five days a week, Burden said. The coursework is part of the curriculums of high schools in Missouri and Kansas for social studies, government and history classes, but it includes no college credit. Each module costs $12 per person to attend.
“President Truman’s decision to recognize Israel was one of his greatest decisions,” Burden said. “It was a decision that had lasting effects on the Middle East and America’s policy toward the Middle East.
“Bringing it back to Kansas City, Harry Truman’s our hometown president,” he said. (Truman’s close friend and Jewish Kansas Citian) Eddie Jacobson played a really significant role, and I think it’s not a well-known role, in Truman’s decision-making.”
Burden expressed gratitude to the Jewish community and the JCF for funding the two programs.
“We need friends like that to help us share and promote President Truman’s fantastic legacy,” he said. “The Jewish community has always been very interested in and supportive of the Truman Library, and that’d due in large part to his recognition of Israel.”
