Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

The grave of Quentin Roosevelt in France, and pack mules with ammunition on the Santiago Trail, Cuba

The film opens with a brief shot of several unidentified men on a boat before moving to scenes of American and French soldiers placing a new fence around the grave of Quentin Roosevelt along with a new headstone engraved in French. After a short break, the film then shows scenes of mules, loaded with boxes of ammunition, being driven along a trail, likely near Santiago, Cuba. About 12,000 mules were taken to Cuba and used primarily for transporting immediate reserves of small-arms ammunition during the Spanish-American War. Some of the men may be civilian mule skinners hired by the Army to handle the pack mules.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1898-1920

A visit to Theodore Roosevelt at his home at Sagamore Hill

First film footage taken of Theodore Roosevelt at his home at Sagamore Hill, Oyster Bay, Long Island, during the summer of 1912. Film contains views of the house and surrounding grounds and Roosevelt reviewing his mail, assisted by his son Archie. William P. Helm, Associated Press correspondent for New York City and Washington from 1910 to 1918, who was detailed to Woodrow Wilson and Roosevelt during the 1912 campaign, speaks informally with Roosevelt under trees. The film continues with Roosevelt riding his horse, Sidar, away from Sagamore and stopping to feed the horse from his hand. Roosevelt and his dogs set out across a field with Sagamore visible in the background. Roosevelt, in white shirt and vest, chops down a tree. A band and crowd of men are seen on Sagamore grounds, and Roosevelt addresses a large group of men from Sagamore porch.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1912

George Dewey on the deck of the Olympia

Admiral Dewey returns to New York City on September 27, 1899, following his victory at Manilla Bay in the Spanish-American War. He paces the deck of his flagship, the Olympia, anchored at Tompkinsville, Staten Island. Dewey and three of his officers await the arrival of visitors. A group of dignitaries, including several naval officers, board. The first person to step on deck may be Rear Admiral William Thomas Sampson, Commander of the North Atlantic Squadron. Dewey greets the visitors. These visitors may be members of the Washington or New York City reception committee. The film is out of sequence, and other individuals also appear on deck. The camera angle and distance make positive identification of visitors impossible.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1899-09-27

Airmen honoring Theodore Roosevelt by dropping wreaths on his grave

On October 20, 1919, as part of opening day ceremonies of Roosevelt Week, to honor Theodore Roosevelt and raise funds for the restoration of Roosevelt House in New York City, military aviators fly from Hazelhurst Field, Mineola, New York, to Oyster Bay to drop wreaths on Roosevelt’s grave site in Young’s Memorial Cemetery. The film has scenes of two pilots sitting in a biplane with an emblem showing the name of Mitchel Field, a picture of a dog, and the numbers 41866. The rear pilot is given two wreaths, one with a ribbon inscribed “American Legion” and the other “Spanish American War Veterans.” There is a scene of the biplane taking off, then aerial views of what is probably Oyster Bay and the surrounding area. The wreath is dropped, the a group of men retrieve it and carry both wreaths to Roosevelt’s grave site. The final views are of two men in uniform placing the wreaths on Roosevelt’s grave with the tombstone visible.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1919-10-20

TR’s arrival in Africa

Animated caricature of the animals’ attitude towards Theodore Roosevelt’s arrival in Africa. Views of a huge tree filled with frightened animals, as a monkey on the ground peers over a cliff; he begins jumping up and down, pointing and climbing the tree as Roosevelt appears over the rim of the cliff with a gun in his hand.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1909

Chauncey Depew, Senator Perkins, and Governor Whitman of New York, at GOP Convention, 1916, Chicago, Ill.

Scenes from the 16th Republican National Convention held in Chicago, June 7-10, 1916. Long shot of delegates outside the Congress Hotel. Medium shots, from left to right, of Mrs. Olive H. Whitman; Governor Charles S. Whitman of New York (1915-1918); Francis Hendricks, former New York State Senator (1886-1891); George W. Perkins, a leader in the Progressive movement (1912-1916); Chauncey M. Depew, former New York State Senator (1899-1911); and a medium shot of the Coliseum where the convention was in session.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1916

Scenes of William Boyce Thompson

William Boyce Thompson, a wealthy financier, founder of the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research at Yonkers, and first president of the Roosevelt Memorial Association, actively began supporting Theodore Roosevelt for the 1920 Republican presidential nomination just before Roosevelt’s death in January 1919. He appears here with friends, posing in front of an unidentified monument and walking through a city park; the woman standing beside him may be his wife, Gertrude Hickman Thompson.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1920

Dr. William Crawford Gorgas

The film has about 2 feet of views of Dr. William Crawford Gorgas, chief sanitation officer of the Panama Canal (1904-1913) and a member of the Isthmian Canal Commission, standing in front of a building. The location of this sequence is undetermined. The remainder of the film shows Dr. Gorgas and an unidentified man riding on a Panama Canal Company train. The two men are silhouetted against passing scenery of the Canal Zone as Dr. Gorgas shows the other man points of interest. The train passes a body of water which is probably a part of the canal, countryside, buildings probably on Front Street, Colon, including a YMCA club. The final scene is of people walking across tracks after the train passes.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1904-1913

Gifford Pinchot signing an old age pension bill, 1923

Scenes from May 10, 1923, when Governor Gifford Pinchot of Pennsylvania signed into law an old age pension bill which authorized payment of allowances to indigents more than seventy years old, guaranteeing a minimum daily income of one dollar. The first time a gubernatorial bill-signing was filmed in the Pennsylvania State Capitol, the event drew reporters, public officials, and members of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, an organization which strongly supported the measure.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1923

Japanese and Russian peace delegates leaving New York City in 1905

On August 5, 1905, the Japanese and Russian delegations to the Portsmouth Peace Conference left New York City to board ships which would take them first to Oyster Bay to talk with Theodore Roosevelt and then to the conference in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. This film includes views at the wharf of the New York Yacht Club of the Japanese delegation boarding two U.S. Navy steam launches; and part of the Russian delegation walking down a ramp to the wharf. The first three men are unidentified. The last two men are the chief Russian envoys, Sergei Witte and Baron Roman von Rosen. The delegation is greeted by Third Assistant Secretary of State Herbert H. D. Peirce and others. The Russians board a steam launch. The final view shows a man walking down the ramp and then boarding another launch. Members of the Japanese delegation included Baron Kogoro Takahira, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States, and envoy Jutaro Komura.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1905

Theodore Roosevelt speaking in Panama

Theodore Roosevelt gives a speech on the steps of a cathedral in Panama.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1906-11

President Roosevelt, 1901-1909

Film celebrating Theodore Roosevelt’s achievements as President of the United States. It was produced by the Roosevelt Memorial Association with Caroline Gentry, Director of Films, and Mae V. Manning, Film Editor. Contains a collection of still images and video footage following Theodore Roosevelt from his assumption of the presidency after the assassination of President McKinley through his 1905 inauguration. Includes sections on fighting the trusts, the anthracite coal strike of 1902, Roosevelt’s conservation efforts, the creation of the Roosevelt Dam, the handling of the Russo-Japanese War, and the creation of the Panama canal.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

Unknown

Roosevelt cartoons

Slideshow of five cartoons that feature Theodore Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

Unknown

Theodore Roosevelt in support of the war effort

This film compilation presents Theodore Roosevelt at various public functions in support of the war effort.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1917-1918

Theodore Roosevelt in Louisiana

Views of TR walking on the beach. Holding his hat, TR stands near bushes on an island and follows the flight of birds. Film photographed by Herbert K. Job of the National Audubon Society, on an expedition with TR to bird sanctuary islands off the Louisiana coast in June 1915.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1915

Story of the Panama Canal. Part one

Compilation film revealing the story of Panama Canal construction, which Theodore Roosevelt considered one of his most valuable contributions to foreign affairs. This portion of the film details the need for building the canal, and the early attempts to do so, and includes many still images and maps, in addition to the film clips.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1927

Theodore Roosevelt reviews the fleet

President Roosevelt greets naval personnel while reviewing the fleet in 1907.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1907

TR’s funeral at Oyster Bay, 1919

Originally part of the newsreel series, Universal current events, this film shows scenes from Theodore Roosevelt’s funeral in Oyster Bay, New York on January 8, 1919.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1919

Scenes of Theodore Roosevelt on board SS Guiana

Theodore Roosevelt on board SS Guiana leaving for the West Indies.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1916

Mr. Roosevelt pays his respects to Penrose and Archbold

Theodore Roosevelt discusses the duty of the American people to stand up and be heard if they believe in the Progressive cause. He explains the corruption that both the Republican and Democratic parties have allowed to enter into American politics and how a vote for the Progressive Party will combat that. He also explains recent testimony in Congress given by Pennsylvania Senator Boies Penrose and John D. Archbold of Standard Oil Company. While those two men were testifying against Roosevelt, they were in fact testifying for actions taken by Cornelius Newton Bliss when he was treasurer of the Republican Party.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1912-09-22