HARRY TRUMAN TOPIC OF HISTORY CONFERENCE AT SEMO NEXT MONTH

Former President Harry S. Truman will be the focus of the annual Southeast Missouri Historical Conference April 26-27 at Southeast Missouri State University.

The conference, which is free and open to the public, will be held in Room 121 of Rhodes Hall.

Dr. J. Christopher Schnell, history professor and coordinator of the conference, said Truman's domestic and foreign policy, character, private life, achievements as president and life after his presidential term will be examined.

The conference will open at 7:30 p.m. April 26 with a presentation by Dr. Alonzo Hamby, Ohio University history professor, on Truman's decision to drop the Atomic Bomb.

Hamby graduated from Southeast Missouri State University. He is author of the book, "A Man of the People: The Life of Harry S. Truman."

At 9 a.m. April 27, Dr. Lawrence Larsen, history professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, will discuss "Boss Tom Pendergast and Harry Truman."

Larsen is an award-winning scholar and has written two biographies.

At 10:30 a.m. April 27, Lawrence Hackman, the director of the Truman Library in Independence, will speak.

The conference is sponsored by the university and the local chapter of Phi Alpha Theta, an international honor society for the study of history.