Record’s White House subscriber interested
Subject(s): Legislative bodies--Periodicals, Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919, Teddy bears, Texas--Brownsville, United States Capitol (Washington, D.C.)
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President Roosevelt holds the “Congressional Record” in his hands with the headline, “Senate–Speech–Brownsville Incident” with an illustration of the U.S. Capitol building on the right side. A teddy bear looks over Roosevelt’s shoulder.
Comments and Context
The infamous Brownsville Incident — the murder of a bartender and wounding of a policemen near United States Army barracks housing a battalion of black soldiers — occurred in August of 1906, yet in January of 1907, the date of this cartoon, it remained a controversial topic. President Roosevelt, after none of the one hundred sixty-seven soldiers came forward with any form of witness or rumor account, summarily cashiered all the soldiers.
More controversy lay ahead; in a few months the supposedly good-natured and private Gridiron Club banquet boiled over when a longtime Roosevelt critic, Republican Senator Joseph Benson Foraker of Ohio, criticized the president. The goodwill among Black Americans that Roosevelt established when he invited Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House in 1901 was damaged. The controversy, only partially assuaged by presidential pardons in 1972, excites bitter exchanges to the present day.
Cartoonist Clifford Kennedy Berryman seemed to have access only to photographic reference of a smiling Roosevelt for his cartoon. If Roosevelt was indeed pleased at the debates in the Congressional Record, it would have been largely by the endorsements of Southern race-baiters like “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman, senator from South Carolina. He and other Southerners had excoriated Roosevelt a few years earlier for the White House dinner invitation. The president indeed had more supporters than opponents on the issue… but surely it was one controversy he scarcely enjoyed.
Collection
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
Creation Date
1907-01-08
Creator(s)
Berryman, Clifford Kennedy, 1869-1949
Language
English
Period
U.S. President – 2nd Term (March 1905-February 1909)
Page Count
1
Production Method
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:
Record’s White House subscriber interested. [January 8, 1907]. Library of Congress Manuscript Division.
https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301401. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Berryman, Clifford Kennedy, 1869-1949. Record’s White House subscriber interested. [8 Jan. 1907]. Image.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 5, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301401.
APA:
Berryman, Clifford Kennedy, 1869-1949., [1907, January 8]. Record’s White House subscriber interested.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/digital-library/o301401.
Cite this Collection
Chicago:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
MLA:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. March 5, 2026. https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division.
APA:
Library of Congress Manuscript Division. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University. Retrieved from https://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/collection/library-of-congress-manuscript-division.
