June 12, 2012
Since we started our work on the Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library, a number of individuals have gifted physical items to us which complement the digital collections. Today we want to highlight just a few of these, recognizing and acknowledging the donors and sharing these wonderful items with you.
Charles Moose of Baltimore, Maryland, recently sent this copy of the Saturday Evening Post from May 4, 1912. This issue includes a featured interview with Theodore Roosevelt about the Taft presidency, accompanied by photographs taken in 1905 of Roosevelt at Sagamore Hill, rowing a boat, helping get the hay in and holding an axe. This item is the latest arrival among several shipments Charles has sent, of books and magazines by and about Roosevelt. Charles says, “My enthusiasm for TR came in through the Teddy Bear door. My late wife became a teddy bear artist while I became a teddy bear historian to resolve the question of who created the teddy bear… In my research, in addition to collecting information about teddy bears, I also began to collect everything I could find on TR. I became a great admirer. I thank Sharon Kilzer for helping find a good home for my TR library.”
Many thanks to Charles and to these other donors have gifted materials to the Center:
Jennifer Stoffel of St. Louis, Missouri, sent us a copy of Theodore Roosevelt’s Autobiography which belonged to her great-grandfather, Martin J. Ingham. The book was accompanied by an original letter to Ingham signed by Theodore Roosevelt.
Constance Walter’s late husband Mark Klemetsrud performed for several decades as Roosevelt, including a C-SPAN appearance during Dickinson State University’s 2001 symposium on TR as a Western Writer. Constance has donated Mark’s Theodore Roosevelt book collection to the Theodore Roosevelt Center.
Mike Thompson, author of The Travels and Tribulations of Theodore Roosevelt’s Cabin, has won many Theodore Roosevelt look-alike competitions and appeared as Roosevelt in the 2010 documentary film Theodore Roosevelt: A Cowboy’s Ride to the White House. An avid collector, Mike has gifted a number of items to the Center, including books, memorabilia stamped with pictures of Roosevelt’s cabin, and other Rooseveltiana.
Each one of these gifts has enriched our collections for students, scholars, and other visitors. We are grateful to these donors, and we look forward to continuing to supplement our collections to create a deep and rich experience for Roosevelt admirers and scholars.