A surprise party at Oyster Bay
Subject(s): Bailey, Joseph W. (Joseph Weldon), 1863-1929, Day, James Roscoe, 1845-1923, Foraker, Joseph Benson, 1846-1917, Gifts, Harriman, Edward Henry, 1848-1909, Long, Chester I. (Chester Isaiah), 1860-1934, New York (State)--Oyster Bay, Night, Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919, Storer, B. (Bellamy), 1847-1922, Storer, Maria Longworth, 1849-1932, Surprise, Tillman, Benjamin R. (Benjamin Ryan), 1847-1918
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A group of men make a surprise nighttime visit to Theodore Roosevelt, wearing pajamas, at Oyster Bay. Edward Henry Harriman carries a basket of lemons, James Roscoe Day carries a basket of “More Lemons,” Bellamy Storer carries a cake labeled “From Dear Maria” (his wife Maria Longworth Storer), Benjamin R. Tillman carries a watermelon, Chester I. Long carries a platter of “Welsh Rabbit” (possibly a reference to Herbert Welsh), and Joseph W. Bailey carries a bunch of bananas. Joseph Benson Foraker stands in the background, tipping his hat to Roosevelt.
Comments and Context
This cartoon by Udo J. Keppler is an excellent summary for historians — and prescient commentary at the time — that despite President Roosevelt’s popularity throughout the United States, in 1907 he had a handful of nagging problems, a host of political opponents, and many looming challenges.
That group of unwelcome night visitors are represented fully, and, significantly none of them really represent Congressional opponents of the opposite party, at least concerning pending legislation.
Bellamy Storer, for instance, had been a friend of Roosevelt in matters of political influence earlier in his career, and had even assisted Roosevelt financially. He and his wife Maria were from Ohio, were allied with William Howard Taft, and were related to Roosevelt’s new son-in-law, Alice Roosevelt’s husband Nicholas Longworth. Not diplomatically, when they had an opportunity they virtually demanded a diplomatic post from Roosevelt, who eventually yielded, after which Maria sought special privileges with the Vatican, as well as asking the president to pressure the Vatican to elevate an American prelate. Roosevelt declined, then refused, and then ordered Storer to silence his wife in these matters, after which they ignored the White House’s letters. Roosevelt fired Bellamy, and afterwards Maria went public with her version of the “ungrateful” Roosevelt’s actions, or lack of actions. It was a messy scandal, and intractable for the president.
Senator Joseph Benson Foraker was virtually a professional thorn-in-the-side. He fought with his fellow Ohioan and fellow Republican Marcus Hanna in the United States Senate, and had survived in politics since the 1880s by widely condemned corruption and intrigue. He is shown Roosevelt’s midnight doorstep because he took up the cause of the black soldiers who were summarily discharged by Roosevelt in the “Brownsville Incident” almost precisely a year before this cartoon appeared. A street and saloon in Texas were shot up, and one man killed, in what was reported as carousing of drunken soldiers from a nearby base comprised of black infantrymen. Roosevelt demanded that someone come forward with any information; when no one did, he discharged the entire unit. The issue is still debated today, with many people not supposing that Roosevelt would have acted in the same fashion of the company had been white. Nevertheless, Foraker took up their cause, maligning the president and having at least one public confrontation, at a putatively private Gridiron Dinner for journalists. In this cartoon, Foraker sarcastically tips his hat to Roosevelt.
Leading the late-night gaggle is industrialist Edward Henry Harriman — with a basket of lemons, appropriately — whom, in a recent public dispute with growing recriminations, Roosevelt publicly called an “undesirable citizen.”
If Roosevelt thought, with his public popularity, and after his party’s impressive showing in the 1906 midterm elections, that he could assume tranquility in the remainder of his term, or a cowed opposition, he was mistaken.
Soon there would be another surprise visited upon Oyster Bay. Only a few months hence, a major financial panic would rock Wall Street.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1907-07-24
Creator(s)
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
Rights
These images are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. No known restrictions on publication.
Citation
Cite this Record
Chicago:
A surprise party at Oyster Bay. [July 24, 1907]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285772. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956. A surprise party at Oyster Bay. [24 Jul. 1907]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. June 4, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285772.
APA:
Keppler, Udo J., 1872-1956., [1907, July 24]. A surprise party at Oyster Bay.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285772.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. June 4, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
APA:
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-prints-and-photographs.
