At Truman’s Key West Retreat, Presidential Descendants to Share Memories and Photos
KEY WEST, Florida Keys — Descendants of four former United States presidents are to present memories and insights about their famous forebears during a unique gathering at Key West’s Harry S. Truman Little White House, Florida’s only presidential museum.
The 8th annual Presidential Family Forum is set for 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, at the 111 Front St. residence where former President Truman spent 11 working vacations during his 1945-53 administration. As well as relaxing, he used the visits to consider policy decisions and conduct meetings away from the pressures of Washington, D.C.
Scheduled presenters at the President’s Day Weekend forum include Truman’s grandson Clifton Truman Daniel, Gerald Ford’s daughter Susan Ford Bales, Dwight D. Eisenhower’s granddaughter Mary Jean Eisenhower and William McKinley’s great-great-nephew Jack Massee McKinley.
In a moderated panel discussion, they are to share insights into what it’s like to be related to America’s commander in chief, display photographs from their private collections and recall White House visits and other memories.
“The event is to be called ‘A Family Album’ and feature personal photographs and videos, as well as family stories,” said Robert Wolz, Little White House executive director and an author whose books include “Presidents in Paradise” about Truman and his Key West sojourns.
In addition to being Truman’s working headquarters, the Little White House also has hosted former presidents Eisenhower, Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and even William Howard Taft, who was photographed on the property in 1912.
Tickets for the Presidential Family Forum are priced at $40 per person and are available through trumanlittlewhitehouse.com. Proceeds benefit the restoration fund of the not-for-profit Key West Harry S. Truman Foundation, whose mission is to preserve and protect the Little White House State Heritage Landmark.
Event information: trumanlittlewhitehouse.com or 305-294-9911
Key West visitor information: fla-keys.com/keywest or 1-800-LAST-KEY
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World-famous Pigeon Key is a small island beneath the Old Seven Mile Bridge that housed workers constructing the Florida Keys Over-Sea Railroad in the early 1900s.
