Materials in this collection include brief film clips, usually newsreels, of Theodore Roosevelt, as well as his family and associates. See below to view the Sherman Grinberg Film Collection.
Theodore Roosevelt was a master of media coverage, and the Library of Congress notes that “he was the first U. S. president whose life was extensively recorded and preserved in the motion picture format.” From his presidency, to the African Safari, to his Progressive Party political campaigns, many scenes from Roosevelt’s life are documented on film. The collection also includes footage of Roosevelt’s wife Edith in her later years, his son Ted, and others.
The Sherman Grinberg Film Library, located in Los Angeles, California, is the world’s oldest and largest privately held film archive, with over forty moving image libraries. The library has over twenty million feet of film with content that ranges from 1895 to 1957. In addition to footage of TR, there are over 49,000 historic newsreel clips from the Paramount and American Pathé Newsreel Collections ranging in date from 1897 to 1957 on the Grinberg website to watch, download and license. For more information, please visit https://www.shermangrinberg.com/
Various pieces of commonly known footage of Theodore Roosevelt from different times and places compiled into one film. He is seen speaking to and greeting guests at Sagamore Hill, and posing with Navy officers. The footage begins with a shot of ruined buildings, likely damaged in World War I. For unknown reasons, a shot of William F. Cody giving his Indian Scout handshake to a line of visitors is inserted near the middle of the footage.
Newsreel footage of Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt aboard a ship traveling through the Panama Canal. Establishing shots show the shop docked and sailors working. Roosevelt smiles and chats with others. Appended is footage of the Canal and Panama City taken in 1906.
Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt is filmed reading prepared remarks on the United States Constitution from a sheet of paper. She sits on a couch in a library, perhaps at Sagamore Hill.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt is filmed speaking to a crowd from a podium at the American Museum of Natural History. Archival footage shows construction of the Panama Canal, Theodore Roosevelt delivering speeches, and his hunting expedition in Africa.
Sound recording engineers G. Robert Vincent and H. E. Reeves set up equipment to record a wax cylinder of one of Theodore Roosevelt’s addresses onto motion picture film.
Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt celebrates her 76th birthday with friends and family. They are on Stehli beach at Bayville, New York. There is a birthday cake and flowers on a large table. Roosevelt greets guests and kisses her great-grandson William Roosevelt Jr.
Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt celebrates her 76th birthday with family and friends. They are on Stehli Beach at Bayville, New York. Roosevelt cuts her birthday cake and kisses her great-grandson William Roosevelt Jr.
Actors at the 1939 New York World’s Fair are seen milling around between acts of their performances. Standing next to a vendor’s booth, an actor portraying Abraham Lincoln drinks a Coca-Cola alongside an actor portraying George Washington eating an ice cream sandwich. An actor portraying Theodore Roosevelt in his cavalry uniform adjusts his mustache and puts on his gloves as he walks. An actress steps out of a door frame and puts on her enormous hat.
Film of the interior of Sagamore Hill. Panning shots of Father’s Dressing Room and the Drawing Room, as well as the Front Hall and North Room. Closeups highlight certain trophies.
Film of Sagamore Hill. Exterior still and panning shots of the porch from several angles. Interior panning shots of the Drawing Room, Nursery, Dining Room, Mother’s Room, Father’s Dressing Room, North Room, Front Hall, and Library. Closeups highlight certain household objects and trophies.
Film of Theodore Roosevelt’s funeral. Civil War veterans march in front of the funeral home, waving flags. Pallbearers transport the flag-draped casket from the hearse to the grave uphill, led by Reverend George E. Talmadge. General Peyton Conway March and Vice President Thomas R. Marshall are seen standing at the train station. William Howard Taft is helped down the hill following the ceremony.
Ted Roosevelt, son of Theodore Roosevelt, is filmed playing baseball in a charity game with other famous people. An actor impersonates his relative Franklin D. Roosevelt, waving from an automobile.
