Your TR Source
Dickinson State University (DSU), located on the edge of the North Dakota Badlands, strives to be a premier university in the Upper Great Plains. DSU is also the physical home of the Theodore Roosevelt Center.
To celebrate the centennial year of Theodore Roosevelt’s birth in 1958, a Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Commission was created by the United States House of Representatives. The Commission worked with the Theodore Roosevelt Association to coordinate activities to commemorate the anniversary of Roosevelt’s life. In observation of the centennial, Dickinson State University, then Dickinson State Teacher’s College, organized a symposium to honor Roosevelt’s memory and to give recognition to the role North Dakota played in his life. The symposium theme was Responsible Citizenship, and the keynote speakers included Senator John F. Kennedy, Howard K. Beale, Hermann H. Hagedorn, Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton, and Theodore Roosevelt McKeldin.
The 1958 Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Symposium collection housed at DSU was digitized and cataloged by TR Center staff and an intern working on-site. The collection includes manuscripts, letters, pictures, newspaper articles, magazine clippings, comics, mementos, speeches and books about the image, life and legacy of Theodore Roosevelt. Highlights in the collection are a copy of a handwritten autobiography and other manuscripts authored by Theodore Roosevelt. Some of the latter are titled “The Home Ranch,” “Frontier Types,” “Sheriff’s Work on a Ranch,” and “The Ranchman’s Rifle on the Crag and Prairie.” The collection includes extensive documentation on the Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Symposium hosted by Dickinson State Teacher’s College along with photographs and articles about Roosevelt and his life.
For full details on the 1958 Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Symposium collection, please see the Finding Aid.
See below to view documents from this collection in the Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library.
Students from Balliol College of the University of Oxford are traveling across the United States and will be near Dickinson, North Dakota, in early August. Reverend Sherrill asks if they could be shown some local history or attend Hermann Hagedorn’s speech.
1959-07-09
Edward Converse Blackorby seeks to confirm that Secretary of the Interior Seaton will appear as the fourth speaker for the Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Symposium.
1958-07-25
Alma Kjelland Kerr has spoken with Kermit Roosevelt and believes that he can be convinced to make a trip to North Dakota. Kerr hopes to accompany him along with a few Middle East ambassadors and their wives, giving them the opportunity to see “our real America.” Kerr suggests a travel program and asks if it is suitable.
1958-07-26
North Dakota Governor John Edward Davis is on vacation and will return to the office on August 4.
1958-07-28
Newsletter for North Dakota librarians, including a resolution from the American Library Association encouraging observance of the Theodore Roosevelt Centennial.
1958
Jack R. Smutz encloses letters regarding a possible visit by Kermit Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt’s grandson, to North Dakota this summer. Nothing is finalized but Smutz suggests the possibility of arranging another symposium featuring Kermit Roosevelt.
1958-08-13
Lorne Kennedy encloses the requested photos and biographical material regarding Secretary of the Interior Fred Seaton. Travel arrangements for Seaton are still being finalized.
1958-08-13
North Dakota Governor Davis agrees to introduce Secretary of the Interior Fred Seaton at the Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Symposium. He suggests that one of the North Dakota Supreme Court judges introduce Maryland Governor Theodore Roosevelt McKeldin if former North Dakota Governor C. Norman Brunsdale is unavailable.
1958-08-14
Edwin J. Haslerud, Director of Extension Services at North Dakota Agricultural College, agrees to promote Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton’s appearance at the Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Symposium.
1958-08-15
Jack R. Smutz understands that another symposium lecture cannot be arranged for Kermit Roosevelt. If Roosevelt does visit North Dakota, Hazel Webster Byrnes, who will be in charge of Roosevelt’s schedule, will contact the college’s hospitality committee.
1958-08-18
Lloyd R. Good, Range Manager at the Custer National Forest, agrees to assist in publicizing the Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Symposium and plans to attend Secretary Fred A. Seaton’s address.
1958-08-29
Lorne Kennedy confirms Secretary of the Interior Fred A. Seaton’s travel plans.
1958-09-05
Unknown list, possibly sponsors or attendees of the Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Symposium.
1957-1958
Invitation for President Scott to be a platform guest at Senator Kennedy’s speech during the Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Symposium.
1958-03-19
Senator Young suggests that New Hampshire Senator Styles Bridges could serve as a speaker at the Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Symposium.
1958-03-25
Harold O. Bullis, Senator Milton Ruben Young’s assistant, acknowledges receipt of President Scott’s letter of April 3. Young will respond after he returns from Easter recess.
1958-04-07
Edward A. Hummel, Superintendent of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, will be unable to attend the Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Symposium but suggests inviting Howard Baker, Region 2 Director of the National Park Service.
1958-04-15
Senator Young hopes to attend part of the Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Symposium and would like to know if Vice President Richard M. Nixon declines to attend so he can begin searching for a replacement.
1958-04-15
On behalf of the North Dakota Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Commission, Marion J. Piper thanks President Scott and the members of the Symposium committee for the “excellent meeting” and all their work on the Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Symposium.
1958-04-15
Violet Norlin Wiper thanks President Scott for the “many courtesies” during her visit to Dickinson, North Dakota, for the Theodore Roosevelt Centennial Symposium. She requests a copy of Senator Kennedy’s address if one is available.
1958-04-16