Blog
The Mrs. Morris Incident
July 27, 2011
Proof that you never know what you will find in our collections, intern Sarah from Austin shares with us a peculiar incident from 1906:
The day I was able to catalog a letter as “hate mail” was the best cataloging day of my life. Not only did I never expect to use such a term, but this letter would lead me to about fifty other documents related to the “Mrs. Morris incident.”
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Practically Everything You Write Goes Into History
July 22, 2011
As the interns wrap up their hours throughout this month, we ask them to share some of their discoveries while working in the Theodore Roosevelt digital library collections. Today, Beth from California shares with us some of her favorite finds:
The first letter I cataloged for the Theodore Roosevelt Center was about hunting bears. Immediately, I knew that my internship would be all I had hoped for. While reading letters discussing his campaign and letter of acceptance, I saw that many people of the time respected Roosevelt and knew he would hold an important place in the history of the United States. Even Alton B. Parker, his Democratic opponent in the election, felt he could write to Roosevelt to ask for an autograph.
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Moving Towards a Launch
July 19, 2011
As we move closer to the launch of our new website and the Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library later this year, we’re extremely busy reviewing everything we’ve cataloged so far.
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The Prodigal Son is Shot Down
July 14, 2011
One of the last letters Quentin Roosevelt wrote before his death on July 14, 1918, was to his father, reporting that he had finally shot down an enemy plane on patrol. This event happened on July 11, three days before his own death at the hands of a German air pilot while on a routine patrol.
Reading through the letters and newspaper articles that followed Quentin’s death, it is most heartbreaking to recognize the hope that people held for his safe return.
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Reports from the 1904 Republican National Convention
July 12, 2011
As part of their time with us, we ask our digital cataloging interns to write a blog post to share some of their experiences and “finds” while working in the Roosevelt collections. As they start to wrap up their internship hours, we will start to share their blog entries with you. Jessica from New York looks at the 1904 Republican National Convention this morning:
The Republican National Convention, held in Chicago from June 21-23, and the Democratic National Convention, held in St. Louis July 6-9, determined the presidential candidates for the 1904 election, Theodore Roosevelt and Alton B. Parker. Since Roosevelt did not attend the Republican National Convention himself, letters poured in from various attendees reporting on all aspects of the convention.
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A Man of Strong Opinions
July 08, 2011
As part of their time with us, we ask our digital cataloging interns to write a blog post to share some of their experiences and “finds” while working in the Roosevelt collections. As they start to wrap up their internship hours, we will start to share their blog entries with you. This one is from Adriana in Ann Arbor.
Theodore Roosevelt was nothing if not opinionated. In his later years, he consistently insulted President Woodrow Wilson to everyone, whether it was relevant to the subject at hand or not. For the most part, this makes me really like the guy, and it gives great insight into what he thought. He always said exactly what was on his mind.
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Mr. Roosevelt, the Comedian
July 05, 2011
As part of their time with us, we ask our digital cataloging interns to write a blog post to share some of their experiences and “finds” while working in the Roosevelt collections. As they start to wrap up their internship hours, we will start to share their blog entries with you. Today, Angela from Georgia chimes in about Roosevelt and his sense of humor:
One of my favorite discoveries about Roosevelt, aside from all his amazing feats and accomplishments, was that he was truly a funny guy. Shortly before I began my internship, I saw an interview with Roosevelt biographer Edmund Morris. In the interview Morris maintains that Roosevelt was one of the funniest presidents– a characteristic I was not aware of.
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Diplomacy on Horseback
July 01, 2011
As part of their time with us, we ask our digital cataloging interns to write a blog post to share some of their experiences and “finds” while working in the Roosevelt collections. As they start to wrap up their internship hours, we will start to share their blog entries with you. This one is from Kelsey in Chicago:
As a TR fangirl, I’ve taken it as my duty to preach the glory of our twenty-sixth president to my friends, loved ones, casual acquaintances, and grocery store cashiers. Now I know I’m doing my job well because the eye-rolling and sighing has (nearly) stopped, and instead they answer my leading “Speaking of birds. You know who was an accomplished ornithologist?” outbursts with properly enthusiastic replies of “TR?”
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