Mary Margaret Truman, the only child of Harry and Bess Wallace Truman, was born on February 17, 1924.
The Truman family at the Democratic National Convention. Note the arrow Margaret is wearing
I thought I’d written about Margaret Truman on this blog. But I hadn’t. I wrote a post about her mother and another about one of her best friends, Jane Tunstall Lingo. But then I remembered that I wrote about the friends for an article in The Arrow of Pi Beta Phi. What follows is my first draft of that article.
Jane Tunstall Lingo and Margaret Truman met when they were students at Gunstun Hall School in Washington, DC. Margaret, the daughter of then Senator Harry Truman, entered the school as a fifth grader. From September to January she would attend school in her hometown of Independence, Missouri, and then spend the rest of the school year at Gunston Hall. Margaret later called Jane her “first Washington friend.”
They were both only children. Jane’s mother, Marie Tunstall Lingo, was an initiate of the DC Alpha chapter at George Washington University and was an active member of the DC Alumnae Club. She served as director of the United Service Organization (USO) in Washington and Jane’s father was a Commander in the U.S. Navy. The February 1942 alumnae club meeting took place at the Lingo’s home at 1731 Lanier Place NW in the Adams Morgan neighborhood where Gunston Hall School was also located. Senator Truman was the commencement speaker when Margaret and Jane graduated from Gunston Hall.
Jane later said that she planned to attend Bryn Mawr College but decided on George Washington University after a campus visit. Margaret wanted to be a singer, but her father insisted she get a college education. The best friends ended up together at GWU. On February 6, 1943, they became initiates of DC Alpha and sorority sisters. It’s a good bet that Jane’s mother was present during the ceremony.
In 1945, Margaret’s father became Vice President and the March 1945 Arrow proudly announced the fact that one of its collegiate members was the daughter of the Vice President. Three months later, on April 12, 1945, upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the same Pi Phi became the daughter of the President of the United States. Margaret’s home became 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The members of the DC Alpha chapter and the Washington DC Alumnae Club were on occasion guests of the Truman family at the White House.
During the summer of 1945, Jane accompanied Margaret and First Lady Bess Truman to their home in Independence. On July 9, 1945, Margaret was the guest of honor at the Kansas City Alumnae Club picnic held at the summer home of Kansas Alpha Gertrude Speck Newcomer. Approximately 175 Pi Phis spent the afternoon swimming, boating, playing bridge, and meeting Margaret and Jane at the home at Lake Lotawana. The group enjoyed a buffet supper served on the lawn.
When Jane and Margaret graduated in 1946, President Truman was the commencement speaker. When he was reelected in 1948, Jane was co-chair of the Program Committee of the Inaugural Ball.
Jane Lingo, Margaret Truman, President and Mrs. Truman. (Harry S. Truman Library & Museum.)
In 1956, Jane returned to GWU where she worked for the next 60+ years. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate, she became an assistant director of university relations. She was one of the first women members of the National Press Club when she was invited to join it in 1971.
Margaret Truman married Clifton Daniel in 1956 and they had four sons. Margaret became a writer of mysteries set in and around Washington, DC, biographies of her parents and books about the White House and First Ladies. Jane died in 2007 and Margaret in 2008.
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