“Curfew shall not ring to-night!”
Subject(s): Bell towers, Bells, Big business, Corruption, Presidents--Election, Presidents--Term of office, Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
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A woman labeled “Corrupt Corporations” stands in a bell tower, hanging onto the clapper of a bell labeled “Third Term” which bears the countenance of Theodore Roosevelt.
Comments and Context
“Curfew Shall Not Ring Tonight” is one of those occasional lines from a poem that is otherwise obscure by a poet who is known for nothing else. The same situation sometimes attends songs and hymns. In the case of this cartoon’s theme and caption (which correctly should be “Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight”), a poem by a 16-year-old girl from a small Michigan town, traded for a subscription to a Detroit newspaper, gained a semblance of immortality.
Rose Hartwick Thorpe was the young poet, and she based her poem on the poignant love story, possibly a legend, of a girl whose lover was sentenced to death by the Puritans, at the ring of the curfew bell in the evening. She pleaded with the Roundhead executioner, who turned away her cried for clemency. In desperation she climbed to the town’s bell tower and physically prevented the clapper from ringing. Soon thereafter Oliver Cromwell entered the town and was so moved by the girl’s devotion that he pardoned the prisoner.
The line from the poem, so moving and inviting, on its own, of meanings and alternate meanings, has lived in a thousand conversations, speeches, songs, parodies, advertisements; and in uncountable references whose speakers were not familiar with the original context.
Cartoonist L. M. Glackens both preserved the context of the famous poem which was published, at the time, in books versions and in many languages, with the Puritan setting; but made his political point. Corporations, and indeed many Americans, felt that the success of President Roosevelt’s policies depended on the actual presence of Roosevelt in the White House, as for a third term — that no one should rely on its logical inevitability or the adroitness of his successor.
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1907-09-18
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
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:
“Curfew shall not ring to-night!”. [September 18, 1907]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285891. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Glackens, L. M. (Louis M.), 1866-1933. “Curfew shall not ring to-night!”. [18 Sep. 1907]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. August 3, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285891.
APA:
Glackens, L. M. (Louis M.), 1866-1933., [1907, September 18]. “Curfew shall not ring to-night!”.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o285891.
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. August 3, 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.
