Roosevelt Memorial Association Film Library

A narrative of Theodore Roosevelt’s role in bird preservation which includes factual footage taken on his visit under the auspices of the National Audubon Society to bird sanctuary islands off the coast of Louisiana, June 1915. Mating habits and domestic life of snowy egrets and their plunder by hunters are dramatized. Scenes of egrets’ nests and the hunt, kill, and plucking of birds serve as the prologue to depiction of Roosevelt as bird preservationist. Views of Roosevelt and John Milliken Parker, leader of the Louisiana Progressive party, aboard the Audubon Society’s boat, the Royal Tern. Views of Roosevelt standing in marshes, with what is perhaps the Louisiana Conservation Commission yacht in background. Herbert Keightley Job, photographer for the expedition and noted ornithologist, appears on the beach with his camera. Roosevelt examines eggs and talks with other members of the expedition: a man who is probably J. Hippolyte Coquille, a local photographer; M. L. Alexander in light pants, president of the Louisiana Conservation Commission; Parker, with his back to camera; and game warden William Sprinkle. Additional scenes of Roosevelt exploring the island and observing birds along the beach, and views of a variety of shore birds including royal terns, black skimmers, laughing gulls, brown pelicans, blue herons, and egrets.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1924

Creator(s)

Roosevelt Memorial Association Film Library

This film depicts Theodore Roosevelt’s commitment to the reclamation of desert land and his belief that natural resources exist for the public benefit. Included are close-up views of Frederick Haynes Newell, first director of the U.S. Reclamation Service and Gifford Pinchot, first chief forester and leader of the conservation movement in the U.S.; both influenced Roosevelt’s thinking and action on conservation. Roosevelt fought successfully for the passage of the Reclamation Act of 1902, which authorized the creation of the reclamation service. In 1906 work on the Roosevelt Dam on the Salt River in Arizona began and was completed in 1911. Film consists of views of desert area, including many varieties of cactus; construction of the dam; the completed dam, hydroelectric plant, reservoir, and irrigation system. Scenes of fields and orchards, sheep and cattle grazing, men clearing, plowing, and harvesting fields with various types of farm equipment, and scenes of crops of wheat, alfalfa, and melons, all represent the benefits brought to the Salt River Valley area by the availability of water.

At the formal dedication of the dam on March 18, 1911, Roosevelt presses an electric switch opening sluice gates, and speaks and shakes hands with workers. Behind him on the platform are, left to right: a woman who may be Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt; a bald man who is probably Louis C. Hill, supervising engineer of the project; an unidentified man; Benjamin A. Fowler, president of the National Irrigation Congress; another unidentified man; Richard E. Sloan, territorial Governor of Arizona; and a man who is probably John P. Orme, president of the Salt River Valley Water Users’ Association.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1928

Unrelated segments of Theodore Roosevelt and his sons Quentin and Archie at various times and locations. Medium close view of Quentin wearing a WWI uniform standing by a wooden shed in Mineola, New York, May 1917; long shot of Archie in uniform astride a horse possibly in 1917; Archie in uniform, with a cane, standing by a building possibly in 1918; medium shot of Theodore Roosevelt speaking from the porch at Sagamore Hill; close shot of Theodore Roosevelt sitting at the 5th Annual International Flower Show in the Grand Central Palace, New York City on March 20, 1917; long shot of crowds and Theodore Roosevelt in a motorcade probably during 1917, location unknown; Theodore Roosevelt speaking from a flag-decked platform possibly in 1917; and Theodore Roosevelt with an unidentified man standing and talking on outside steps of a house, identified by interior title as in Washington, D.C.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1918

Creator(s)

Roosevelt Memorial Association Film Library