Convention Hall

Convention Hall in Kansas City, Missouri, appears at two turning points in Harry S. Truman’s military story: as a place where his artillerymen drilled before deployment, and as the gathering place that welcomed them home. Its shift from training ground to reception hall frames the passage from preparation for war to public celebration after it.

A Site for Training

In May 1917, drilling took place on Kansas City streets across from Union Station and inside Convention Hall. The hall was one part of a wider training routine as Truman’s artillery unit organized and prepared for military service. Its presence in that routine places the building within the practical beginnings of the soldiers’ wartime experience, rather than only among the civic settings of their return.

The Homecoming Reception

When the returning artillerymen reached Kansas City in 1919, their march proceeded uptown from Union Station toward Convention Hall. They wore their packs and steel helmets, while Truman and the other officers rode on horseback. Along Grand Avenue, crowds pressed fifty deep; flags decorated buildings and lampposts, and a large welcome arch stood at Eleventh Street. The parade ended at the hall, where the soldiers received a formal reception attended by Ethel Noland and other Independence residents.

A Place Between War and Home

The hall’s two appearances mark a striking change in the unit’s circumstances. In 1917, it was part of the setting for drilling and preparation; in 1919, it received men returning from France amid public cheering and tears. The homecoming celebration also opened onto the next stage of Truman’s life: three days after the parade, the men received their final discharges at Camp Funston, and Truman married Bess Wallace several weeks later.