Teddy’s valentine
Subject(s): Africa, Beauty contestants, Cupids (Art), Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919, Valentine's Day, Valentines
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The bust portrait of “Miss Africa” appears over a heart on a Valentine’s card that states “Will You Be My Valentine?”, with two black putti.
Comments and Context
Seven and a half years after Theodore Roosevelt, practically in his first days as president, invited the black educator Booker T. Washington to the White House for dinner, Puck chose to traffic in the outrage and opposition to the act with this Valentine cartoon by Frank A. Nankivell.
Not even timely, but certainly gratuitous, the black Valentine must certainly have referred to that incident; during his presidency there were other interactions with blacks, including further meetings and consultations with Washington; and the insistence on the appointment of a black postmistress in a Mississippi town, also over the objections of white southerners. Roosevelt had received criticism (continuing somewhat to this day) for dismissing a regiment of black soldiers in an incident on a Texas army base; but anyone who thinks Roosevelt would have acted differently with an all-white regiment does not know Roosevelt well.
So this Valentine’s cover stands as a sad vestige of racial attitudes of the day, and a sad commentary, a rare occasion, when Puck was short of fresh ideas at deadline time.
One must also consider that the “Miss Africa” motif is a nod to Roosevelt’s imminent trip to Africa. But the proposed 10-month safari and big-game hunt would logically have inspired Nankivell to draw wild animals and not stereotypical black children, as dozens of cartoonists did (and as a senator wished for “every lion to do his job”).
Collection
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Creation Date
1909-02-10
Creator(s)
Nankivell, Frank A. (Frank Arthur), 1869-1959
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:
Teddy’s valentine. [February 10, 1909]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o291079. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Nankivell, Frank A. (Frank Arthur), 1869-1959. Teddy’s valentine. [10 Feb. 1909]. Image.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 12, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o291079.
APA:
Nankivell, Frank A. (Frank Arthur), 1869-1959., [1909, February 10]. Teddy’s valentine.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o291079.
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. March 12, 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.
