Graham, Wallace H. Papers

Dates: 1918-1996

White House Physician, 1945-1953; Personal Physician to Harry S. Truman, 1945-1972

The papers of Wallace H. Graham consist of clippings, correspondence, financial records, handwritten notes, invitations, medical records, memorabilia, memoranda, photographs, printed materials, reports, scrapbooks, speeches, telegrams, sound recordings, motion pictures, handwritten notes and drafts of his memoirs related to his personal life, military career, medical career and role as a physician to Harry S. Truman.

[Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List]

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Size: 12 linear feet, 8 linear inches (about 23,200 pages).
Access: Open, with the exception of documents that are closed for reasons of national security.
Copyright: Velma Graham and Heather Foote donated to the U.S. government their copyright interest in all unpublished writings in this collection. Documents created by U.S. government employees in the course of their official duties are also in the public domain. Copyright interest in other documents presumably belongs to the creators of those documents, or their heirs.
Processed by: Jan Davis, Sharie Simon, Kamera Moore, Amy Crossley, and David Clark (2010).


[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

1910 (October 9)

  

Born, Highland, Kansas

1928-1930

  

Attended University of Missouri

1932

  

A.B., Central Missouri State College

1936

  

Graduated, Creighton University School of Medicine

1936 (June 4)

  

Appointed First Lieutenant, Army Medical Reserve Corps

1937-1938

  

University of Vienna General Hospital

1938-1939

  

Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, Scotland

1939

  

University of Budapest, Hungary

1940

  

Cook County General Hospital, Chicago, Illinois

1941

  

Chief Pathologist & Ward Surgeon, Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri

1941 (December 24)

  

Promoted to Captain

1942-1945

  

Chief of Surgical Service, 24th Evacuation Hospital

1943 (January 30)

  

Promoted to Major

1944 (January 10)

  

Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel

1945 (August 14)

  

Promoted to Colonel

1945-1953

  

White House Physician; Chief of Surgical Section, Walter Reed Army Hospital

1945-1972

  

Personal Physician to Harry S. Truman

1951

  

Promoted to Major General

1953

  

Returned to private practice

1972-1982

  

Personal Physician to Bess W. Truman

1996 (January 4)

  

Died, Kansas City, Missouri
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

COLLECTION DESCRIPTION

The papers of Wallace H. Graham consist of clippings, correspondence, financial records, handwritten notes, invitations, medical records, memorabilia, memoranda, photographs, printed materials, reports, scrapbooks, speeches, telegrams, sound recordings, motion pictures, handwritten notes and drafts of his memoirs related to his personal life, military career, medical career and role as a physician to Harry S. Truman. The collection is arranged in two series, a Subject File, arranged alphabetically, and a Memoirs File, arranged chronologically.

The Subject File contains clippings, correspondence, financial records, invitations, medical records, memorabilia, memoranda, photographs, printed materials, reports, scrapbooks, speeches, telegrams, sound recordings, and motion pictures, which primarily relate to Wallace Graham’s work as the White House Physician and as Harry S. Truman and Bess Truman’s personal physician. The series also contains correspondence, clippings and photographs related to Wallace Graham’s family.

In addition to materials relating to Wallace Graham’s service as Harry S. Truman’s physician, the series contains clippings, correspondence, memoranda, printed materials and reports pertaining to various individuals and organizations, including the American College of Surgeons, American Medical Association, Richard Bolling, Clark Clifford, Central Missouri State, Creighton University, Thomas Eagleton, Robert Ferrell, Alonzo Hamby, Harry S. Truman Birthday Celebration, Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award, Harry S. Truman Library, William Hassett, Herbert May, Missouri State Medical Association, Charles Murphy, New York Academy of Sciences, Monte Poen, Harry Vaughan, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and Westminster College.

The series also includes medical records that consist of correspondence, operation reports, physical examination reports, patient histories, electrocardiograms, lab reports, insurance claims, hospitalization records and a prescription log book. Most of the medical records relate to Harry and Bess Truman from 1945 until their deaths. Harry Truman's medical records have been digitized. Other medical records relate to Truman administration members, their families and other individuals treated by Dr. Graham during his service as the White House Physician or as a private practice doctor. Additional materials include medical records related to Heads of State or individuals from foreign countries. At the request of President Truman, Wallace Graham treated individuals in other countries, such as King Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia. The series also includes documents relating to medical trips Wallace Graham took to Antigua, Mexico, and Peru.

The Memoirs File contains handwritten notes, handwritten and typed drafts with annotations and a final draft. The memoirs relate experiences during Wallace Graham’s youth, college and medical school days, and service in World War II and the Truman administration. There is little information in the memoirs after 1953, when Wallace Graham returned to Missouri and worked as a private practice physician.

Books have been transferred to the book collection; photos, audio recordings and motion pictures have been transferred to the audiovisual collection; and memorabilia transferred to the museum collections. The museum collection also has Wallace Graham’s medical bag, which contains medical instruments and medication.

Related collections at the Truman Library include the President’s Secretary’s Files, Official File and Post-Presidential Papers. The Truman Library also has an oral history with Wallace Graham.

[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

SERIES DESCRIPTIONS

Container Nos.

  

Series

1-22

   SUBJECT FILE, 1918-1996
Clippings, correspondence, financial records, handwritten notes, invitations, medical records, memorabilia, memoranda, photographs, printed materials, reports, scrapbooks, speeches, telegrams, sound recordings, and motion pictures. Arranged alphabetically.
23-29   MEMOIRS FILE, ca. 1980-1996
Handwritten notes and drafts, typed drafts with annotations, and final drafts. Arranged chronologically.
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]

FOLDER TITLE LIST

Box 1

SUBJECT FILE, 1918-1996

  • Air Force
  • American College of Surgeons
  • American Medical Association
  • Antigua Medical Mission
  • Army
  • Audio Recordings
  • Battle Report, Washington
  • Belgium
  • Biographical Information
  • Bolling, Richard
  • Books
  • Brazil
  • Canada
  • Cancer Research
  • Cards (Business, Place, Membership…)
  • Central Missouri State College
  • Certificates
  • Clifford, Clark

Box 2

  • Clippings, 1931
  • Clippings, 1936
  • Clippings, 1938
  • Clippings, 1941
  • Clippings, 1943
  • Clippings, 1945
  • Clippings, 1946
  • Clippings, 1947
  • Clippings, 1948
  • Clippings, 1949
  • Clippings, 1950
  • Clippings, 1951
  • Clippings, 1952
  • Clippings, 1953
  • Clippings, 1954
  • Clippings, 1955
  • Clippings, 1957
  • Clippings, 1958
  • Clippings, 1959
  • Clippings, 1960
  • Clippings, 1961
  • Clippings, 1963
  • Clippings, 1964
  • Clippings, 1965
  • Clippings, 1966
  • Clippings, 1967
  • Clippings, 1968
  • Clippings, 1969
  • Clippings, 1970
  • Clippings, 1971
  • Clippings, 1972 [1 of 6; January-October]
  • Clippings, 1972 [2 of 6; December 3-15]

Box 3

  • Clippings, 1972 [3 of 6; December 16-25]
  • Clippings, 1972 [4 of 6; December 26-27]
  • Clippings, 1972 [5 of 6; December 28]
  • Clippings, 1972 [6 of 6; December 29-31]
  • Clippings, 1973 [1 of 3; January 1-22]
  • Clippings, 1973 [2 of 3; January 23-27]
  • Clippings, 1973 [3 of 3; February-November]
  • Clippings, 1974
  • Clippings, 1975

Box 4

  • Clippings, 1976
  • Clippings, 1977
  • Clippings, 1978
  • Clippings, 1979
  • Clippings, 1980
  • Clippings, 1981
  • Clippings, 1982
  • Clippings, 1983
  • Clippings, 1984 [1 of 2; January-February]
  • Clippings, 1984 [2 of 2; March-December]
  • Clippings, 1985 [1 of 2; January-August]

Box 5

  • Clippings, 1985 [2 of 2; October-December]
  • Clippings, 1986
  • Clippings, 1987
  • Clippings, 1988
  • Clippings, 1989
  • Clippings, 1990
  • Clippings, 1991
  • Clippings, 1992
  • Clippings, 1993
  • Clippings, 1994
  • Clippings, Undated [1 of 2]
  • Clippings, Undated [2 of 2]
  • Community Chest
  • Correspondence-A
  • Correspondence-B
  • Correspondence-C
  • Correspondence-D
  • Correspondence-E
  • Correspondence-F
  • Correspondence-G

Box 6

  • Correspondence-H
  • Correspondence-I
  • Correspondence-J
  • Correspondence-K
  • Correspondence-L
  • Correspondence-M
  • Correspondence-N
  • Correspondence-O
  • Correspondence-P
  • Correspondence-R
  • Correspondence-S
  • Correspondence-T

Box 7

  • Correspondence-U
  • Correspondence-V
  • Correspondence-W
  • Correspondence-X, Y, Z
  • Correspondence-Unknown
  • Creighton University
  • Dominican Republic
  • Eagleton, Thomas
  • Ferrell, Robert
  • Financial
  • Germany
  • Golden Gloves
  • Graham Family
  • Graham Family Correspondence
  • Graham, James

Box 8

  • Graham, Velma
  • Greeting Cards
  • Gridiron Club
  • Hamby, Alonzo
  • Harry S. Truman Birthday Celebration, 1957
  • Harry S. Truman Birthday Celebration, 1958
  • Harry S. Truman Birthday Celebration, 1960
  • Harry S. Truman Birthday Celebration, 1964
  • Harry S. Truman Birthday Celebration, 1970
  • Harry S. Truman Birthday Celebration, 1971
  • Harry S. Truman Birthday Celebration, 1984
  • Harry S. Truman Centennial
  • Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award, 1974
  • Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award, 1978
  • Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award, 1980
  • Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award, 1981
  • Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award, 1982
  • Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award, 1984
  • Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award, 1986
  • Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award, 1987
  • Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award, 1988
  • Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award, 1989
  • Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award, 1992
  • Harry S. Truman Good Neighbor Award Foundation
  • Harry S. Truman Inauguration, 1949

Box 9

  • Harry S. Truman Library Copies [1 of 2]
  • Harry S. Truman Library Copies [2 of 2]
  • Harry S. Truman Library Correspondence
  • Harry S. Truman Library Institute
  • Harry S. Truman Public Service Award
  • Hassett, William
  • Health Resources Advisory Committee
  • Heroes Are Made Not Born by Dorothy C. Augustin
  • Honduras
  • Insurance
  • International College of Surgeons

Box 10

  • Invitations, 1945
  • Invitations, 1946
  • Invitations, 1947
  • Invitations, 1948
  • Invitations, 1949
  • Invitations, 1950
  • Invitations, 1951
  • Invitations, 1952
  • Invitations, 1953
  • Invitations, 1954
  • Invitations, 1955
  • Invitations, 1957
  • Invitations, 1958
  • Invitations, 1966
  • Invitations, 1982
  • Invitations, 1984
  • Invitations, undated
  • Malaxa, Nicholaus
  • Masonic Papers
  • May, Herbert
  • Medical Information [1 of 2]

Box 11

  • Medical Information [2 of 2]
  • Medical Records [1 of 2]
  • Medical Records [2 of 2]
  • Memorabilia
  • Menus
  • Mexico Trip
  • Missouri State Medical Association
  • Motion Picture Films
  • Murphy, Charles
  • Navy
  • Netherlands
  • New York Academy of Sciences
  • Nicaragua
  • Oral History

Box 12

  • Oral History—Harry S. Truman Library
  • Oral History—National Park Service
  • Orchids
  • Peru Trip
  • Photographs
  • Photographs—Graham, Wallace
  • Photographs—Guatemala
  • Photographs—Negatives
  • Photographs—Physicians to the Presidents
  • Photographs—Shangri-La, Chief Bautista
  • Photographs—Truman, Harry S.
  • Photographs—Truman, Margaret
  • Photographs—Walter Reed Hospital
  • Photographs—West Port Medical Center
  • Poen, Monte
  • Postcards
  • Prescription Log Book

Box 13

  • Press Conference Reports
  • Press Releases
  • Printed Materials, 1918
  • Printed Materials, 1936
  • Printed Materials, 1938
  • Printed Materials, 1939
  • Printed Materials, 1941
  • Printed Materials, 1942
  • Printed Materials, 1943
  • Printed Materials, 1944
  • Printed Materials, 1945
  • Printed Materials, 1946
  • Printed Materials, 1947
  • Printed Materials, 1948
  • Printed Materials, 1949
  • Printed Materials, 1950

Box 14

  • Printed Materials, 1951
  • Printed Materials, 1952 [1 of 2]
  • Printed Materials, 1952 [2 of 2]
  • Printed Materials, 1953
  • Printed Materials, 1954
  • Printed Materials, 1955
  • Printed Materials, 1956
  • Printed Materials, 1957

Box 15

  • Printed Materials, 1958
  • Printed Materials, 1959
  • Printed Materials, 1960
  • Printed Materials, 1964
  • Printed Materials, 1965
  • Printed Materials, 1966
  • Printed Materials, 1967
  • Printed Materials, 1970
  • Printed Materials, 1972
  • Printed Materials, 1973
  • Printed Materials, 1974
  • Printed Materials, 1975
  • Printed Materials, 1976
  • Printed Materials, 1978
  • Printed Materials, 1980
  • Printed Materials, 1981
  • Printed Materials, 1982
  • Printed Materials, 1984
  • Printed Materials, 1985
  • Printed Materials, 1987
  • Printed Materials, 1989
  • Printed Materials, 1990
  • Printed Materials, 1993
  • Printed Materials, 1996
  • Printed Materials, Undated
  • Project Retirement
  • Public Health Service

Box 16

  • Saudi Arabia Trip [1 of 2]
  • Saudi Arabia Trip [2 of 2]
  • Schedules
  • Scrapbook
  • Scrapbook, 1944-1946 [1 of 2]
  • Scrapbook, 1944-1946 [2 of 2]

Box 17

  • Scrapbook, 1945-1946 [1 of 2]
  • Scrapbook, 1945-1946 [2 of 2]
  • Scrapbook, 1946
  • Scrapbook, 1947-1948 [1 of 2]
  • Scrapbook, 1947-1948 [2 of 2]

Box 18

  • Scrapbook, 1949-1950 [1 of 2]
  • Scrapbook, 1949-1950 [2 of 2]
  • Scrapbook, 1951-1952
  • Scrapbook—Photographs [1 of 2]

Box 19

  • Scrapbook—Photographs [2 of 2]
  • Sigma Tau Gamma
  • Speeches, 1945
  • Speeches, 1946
  • Speeches, 1949
  • Speeches, 1950
  • Speeches, 1951
  • Speeches, 1952
  • Speeches, 1978
  • Speeches, Background Material and Undated
  • State Department
  • Travel Papers & Instructions

Box 20

  • Truman, Bess, 1945-1981
  • Truman, Bess, 1948
  • Truman, Bess, 1949
  • Truman, Bess, 1950
  • Truman, Bess, 1952
  • Truman, Bess, 1953
  • Truman, Bess, 1954
  • Truman, Bess, 1955
  • Truman, Bess, 1956
  • Truman, Bess, 1957
  • Truman, Bess, 1959
  • Truman, Bess, 1965
  • Truman, Bess, 1970
  • Truman, Bess, 1971
  • Truman, Bess, 1972
  • Truman, Bess, 1974
  • Truman, Bess, 1976
  • Truman, Bess, 1977
  • Truman, Bess, 1978
  • Truman, Bess, 1979
  • Truman, Bess, 1980
  • Truman, Bess, 1981
  • Truman, Bess, 1982
  • Truman, Bess, 1985
  • Truman, Bess, Undated
  • Truman, Harry S.—Correspondence, 1945
  • Truman, Harry S.—Correspondence, 1946
  • Truman, Harry S.—Correspondence, 1947
  • Truman, Harry S.—Correspondence, 1949
  • Truman, Harry S.—Correspondence, 1950
  • Truman, Harry S.—Correspondence, 1951
  • Truman, Harry S.—Correspondence, 1954
  • Truman, Harry S.—Correspondence, 1955
  • Truman, Harry S.—Correspondence, 1956
  • Truman, Harry S.—Correspondence, 1957
  • Truman, Harry S.—Correspondence, 1958
  • Truman, Harry S.—Correspondence, 1960
  • Truman, Harry S.—Correspondence, 1961
  • Truman, Harry S.—Correspondence, 1962
  • Truman, Harry S.—Correspondence, 1972
  • Truman, Harry S.—Correspondence, 1982
  • Truman, Harry S.—Correspondence, Undated
  • Truman, Harry S.—Medical Records, 1945
  • Truman, Harry S.—Medical Records, 1946
  • Truman, Harry S.—Medical Records, 1947
  • Truman, Harry S.—Medical Records, 1948
  • Truman, Harry S.—Medical Records, 1949

Box 21

Box 22

  • Truman, Martha
  • Truman, Mary Jane
  • Vaughan, Harry
  • Wallace, George P.
  • Wallace, Madge
  • Walter Reed Army Medical Center
  • Westminster College
  • White House
  • White House Correspondence Guide, A-GI
  • White House Correspondence Guide, GR-RE
  • White House Dispensary Lists
  • White House Invitations and Cards

Box 23

MEMOIRS FILE, ca. 1980-1996

  • Handwritten Notes [1 of 7]
  • Handwritten Notes [2 of 7]
  • Handwritten Notes [3 of 7]
  • Handwritten Notes [4 of 7]
  • Handwritten Notes [5 of 7]

Box 24

  • Handwritten Notes [6 of 7]
  • Handwritten Notes [7 of 7]
  • Typed Draft, 1910-1941 [1 of 5]
  • Typed Draft, 1910-1941 [2 of 5]
  • Typed Draft, 1910-1941 [3 of 5]

Box 25

  • Typed Draft, 1910-1941 [4 of 5]
  • Typed Draft, 1910-1941 [5 of 5]
  • Typed Draft, 1942-1945 [1 of 8]
  • Typed Draft, 1942-1945 [2 of 8]
  • Typed Draft, 1942-1945 [3 of 8]

Box 26

  • Typed Draft, 1942-1945 [4 of 8]
  • Typed Draft, 1942-1945 [5 of 8]
  • Typed Draft, 1942-1945 [6 of 8]
  • Typed Draft, 1942-1945 [7 of 8]
  • Typed Draft, 1942-1945 [8 of 8]

Box 27

  • Typed Draft, 1945-1953 [1 of 3]
  • Typed Draft, 1945-1953 [2 of 3]
  • Typed Draft, 1945-1953 [3 of 3]
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Special Tribute
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Prologue
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 1, Growing Up
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 2, Trip to Colorado
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 3, Moving to the City
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 4, High School
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 5, The University and Medical College with Internship

Box 28

  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 6, Post Graduate Study & Residency, Europe, Vienna
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 7, Life in Hungary
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 10, Jumping Off, Invasion
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 11, Initiation into Battle
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 12, Following the Front Lines
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 13, Paris
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 14, Holland
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 15, The Ardennes
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 16, Over the Rhine to Concentration Camps
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 17, Bergen-Belsen
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 18, From Potsdam to Washington
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 19, The President Remembers: Early Years
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 20, The President Remembers: World War I and After, 1917-1922
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 21, The President Remembers: Politics, 1941-1945
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 22, Shangri-La
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 23, Arabia
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 24, Peru
  • Typed Draft by Chapter: Chapter 25, Brazil
  • Final Draft: Special Tribute
  • Final Draft: Chapter 1, Growing Up in Highland

Box 29

  • Final Draft: Chapter 2, A Trip to Colorado
  • Final Draft: Chapter 3, Moving to the City
  • Final Draft: Chapter 4, High School
  • Final Draft: Chapter 5, The University and Medical College with Internship
  • Final Draft: Chapter 6, Internship, Post Graduate Study & European Residency
  • Final Draft: Chapter 7, Life in Hungary, Surgery, and Return to Hitlerian Conquest
  • Final Draft: Chapter 8, Preparation for War; Holland to Scotland, Royal College of Surgeons, & Return to U.S.
  • Final Draft: Chapter 9, The Jumping Off Place; Cheddar
  • Final Draft: Chapter 10, Jumping Off
  • Final Draft: Chapter 11, Initiation into Battle
  • Final Draft: Chapter 12, Following the Front Lines
  • Final Draft: Chapter 13, Paris
  • Final Draft: Chapter 14, Holland
  • Final Draft: Chapter 15, Battle of the Ardennes
  • Final Draft: Chapter 16, Last Days; Over the Rhine to Concentration Camps
  • Final Draft: Chapter 17, Bergen-Belsen
  • Final Draft: Chapter 18, From Potsdam to Washington
  • Final Draft: Chapter 21, The President Remembers: Politics, 1941-1945
  • Final Draft: Chapter 22, Shangri-La
  • Final Draft: Chapter 23, Arabia
  • Final Draft: Chapter 24, Peru
  • Final Draft: Chapter 25, Brazil
[ Top of the page | Administrative Information | Biographical Sketch | Collection Description | Series Descriptions | Folder Title List ]