Eckert-Moore, Martha Anne Papers

Friend of the Truman Family.

The papers of Martha Anne Eckert-Moore consist of correspondence, printed materials, and memorabilia mostly concerning her mother, Laura Mildred Bee; her great-aunt, Jessie McDearmon; and their friendship with members of the Truman family.

Size: Less than one linear foot (approximately 100 pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor has given their copyright interest in these papers to the United States of America. Records created by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are in the public domain. The copyright interest in other documents in the collection presumably belongs to the creators of those documents or their heirs.
Processed by: Randy Sowell (2024).

Jessie McDearmon (1863-1956) and her sister Laura McDearmon Bee (1880-1952) were longtime friends of Bess Wallace Truman and her family. Bess introduced Laura to her future husband, Benjamin Bee, and was a bridesmaid at her wedding in 1909. Their friendship continued after the two sisters left the Kansas City area and moved to California. As First Lady, Bess Truman visited the sisters in California and hosted them at the White House. Jessie received a number of letters over the years from Bess’s mother, Madge Gates Wallace, and from Margaret Truman, who addressed her as “Aunt Jessie.”

Laura’s daughter, Laura Mildred Bee (Mrs. Harley Eckert) was born in 1910. She also received a number of letters from members of the Truman family. She died in 1980.

Martha Anne Eckert-Moore collected the letters and other historical materials left to her by her mother, Mrs. Eckert. Martha Anne died in 2019.

The papers of Martha Anne Eckert-Moore consist of correspondence, printed materials, and memorabilia mostly concerning her mother, Laura Mildred Bee; her great-aunt, Jessie McDearmon; and their friendship with members of the Truman family. The collection contains letters to Laura (Mrs. Harley Eckert) and Jessie from Bess Truman, her mother Madge Gates Wallace, and her daughter Margaret Truman. Also included are letters written by relatives of Mrs. Eckert’s father, Benjamin Bee, and a letter from Harry S. Truman. The correspondence is personal in nature and contains references to exchanges of gifts, Margaret’s singing career, the health of Madge Gates Wallace, and the attempted assassination of President Truman in 1950. The printed materials in the collection mostly consist of newspaper articles about the death of Benjamin Bee in 1941, the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, and the Truman family’s visit to California in 1948. Among the memorabilia in the collection are place cards signed by President Truman.

Several photographs from the papers have been transferred to the Truman Library’s audiovisual collection. Included among them is a portrait of President Truman, with his inscription wishing Martha Anne “a long and happy life.”