Peace, Oscar Papers

Chief Turret Captain, USS Missouri, 1947

The papers of Oscar Peace consist of certificates, photographs, and memorabilia that were collected mainly during the September, 1947 Presidential cruise on the U.S.S. Missouri. The Peace Papers include certificates for his achievements in the Navy, photographs of the U.S.S Missouri and its crew, and memorabilia collected around the time of President Truman's Rio de Janeiro trip.

Size: Less than one linear foot (about forty pages).
Access: Open.
Copyright: The donor gave to the U.S. government her copyright interest in all writings in the collection. In addition, documents prepared by United States government employees in the course of their official duties are also in the public domain. Copyright interests in other documents presumably belong to the authors of the documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Jeremy Ford (2005) as part of the Truman Library Internship Program.
Supervising Archivists: Randy Sowell and David Clark.

The Oscar Peace Papers mostly consist of certificates, photographs, and memorabilia from the September, 1947 Presidential cruise aboard the USS Missouri.

The Missouri traveled to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to pick up the President and Mrs. Truman and their daughter Margaret, who had flown to Rio earlier to attend the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Continental Peace and Security. Following the conference, the Missouri brought the Presidential party back to the United States. Peace was Chief Turret Captain aboard the Missouri during this trip.

The documents in the Oscar Peace papers are dated from 1945-1947. The folders in this collection are arranged by title in a single series, the Subject File. The collection consists of less than one linear foot of material (about forty pages).

A couple of certificates in the collection attest to Peace’s service in the Navy during World War II and his appointment as Chief Turret Captain. There are photographs of Peace, the crew of the Missouri, the Presidential party, and the ship itself. Other items in the collection include fliers for boxing events held aboard the ship, menus for meals that were served, and a card to Peace signed by Harry, Bess, and Margaret Truman, giving their best wishes “to the Chief Royal Pirate.” Peace played the role of a pirate in the crossing-the-equator ceremonies aboard the Missouri, in which the Presidential party also took part. The collection includes some photographs of these festivities and a couple of certificates Peace received for his participation.

The Truman Library also has a microfilm copy of the logbook of the U.S.S. Missouri (July-December 1945), as well as the papers and files of Robert L. Dennison, Captain of the Missouri and later Naval Aide to President Truman.