Appropriate group for the Jamestown exposition

A sculpture labeled “Pocahontas pleading for the life of John Smith” depicts Theodore Roosevelt labeled “The Great Father” holding a big stick over his head and standing over John Smith labeled “Railroads,” about to strike him, as Pocahontas labeled “Wall Street” tries to stop Roosevelt.

comments and context

Comments and Context

The cover of Puck with L. M. Glackens’s distinctive but unusual cartoon requires familiarity with contemporary events and popular trends in 1907. Readers of the day would not have required more than rudimentary labels that were, actually, largely superfluous for them.

The “Jamestown Exposition” was a major event of the day, held to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the founding of that seminal American colony in Virginia. Not that the United States lacked for World’s Fairs or near equivalents — the Chicago Columbian Exposition; the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo; the St Louis World’s Fair — but the Jamestown celebration was the closest America could organize for a birthday party. Among its celebrants and speakers was President Roosevelt.

Roosevelt visited the Exposition twice, once on opening day with a speech; and to visit the Georgia state pavilion, which was modeled on his maternal ancestors’ plantation in Roswell, Georgia. Otherwise the only building he visited, either trip, was the notable Negro Building, designed to honor the progress of Blacks in America. It was also one of the few profitable enterprises or exhibitions at the fair.

On April 26 — the Exposition opened on the exact 300th anniversary of settlers’ landing — the United States was beginning to see storm clouds on the economic horizon, and that is another subtext of the cartoon. American railroads were showing signs of instability after decades of expansion and dominance as trusts allied with other businesses. Corruption (watered stock, unfair competition), over-extension (in the face of hopes of expansion at a time when motorized vehicles, ocean trade and the looming Panama Canal), and relentless pursuit by Muckraking journalists and reform politicians all combined to threaten the stability of railroads.

Making the future even murkier was the fact that railroads had interlocking directorates with other trusts, and vital alliances with coal, iron, steel, and agricultural interests. In fact Glackens’s cartoon is somewhat prescient because over the subsequent half-yearn railroads went bankrupt, drawing down with them several coal, iron, and oil companies, as well as financing institutions. Eventually the Knickerbocker Trust Company, America’s third largest bank, would go bankrupt; and a depositors’ rout led to the 1907 Panic.

That was all in the relatively immediate future of Puck‘s cartoon. The other relevant fact about the composition — besides the obvious reference to Jamestown’s iconic legend about Captain John Smith and Pocahontas — is the arrangement of the figures. Rather than easily drawing realistic figures (in a cartooning context), he made the Chief, Smith, and the Indian heroine as figures in a statue. The “group” resembled that such as was made famous, and ubiquitous in American homes, by sculptor John Rogers.

Since the Civil War Rogers fashioned more than a hundred “groups” of clay and plaster that were mass-produced, with much hand-finishing, predominantly in categories of sentimental themes, historical events and personalities, scenes from Shakespeare, and such. They were relatively inexpensive (around forty dollars) and, as can be imagined, very heavy. Many have survived to this day, but very few in original condition.

Glackens was winking, in a way, at his readership, by suggesting a historical frieze combining history and current events. It is interesting to note that Roosevelt, even portrayed as a paunchy Indian, still wields that iconic Big Stick, irresistible to all cartoonists.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1907-04-24

Creator(s)

Glackens, L. M. (Louis M.), 1866-1933

Period

U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)

Repository

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Page Count

1

Record Type

Image

Resource Type

Cartoon

Rights

These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.

Citation