Theodore Roosevelt’s Return to New York, 1910 [2]

On June 18, 1910, Theodore Roosevelt returned to New York City after a fifteen-month tour abroad, having travelled through Africa and western Europe. An elaborate city celebration drawing a million people marked his homecoming. Aboard the ocean liner Kaiserin Auguste Victoria ex-President and Mrs. Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt were met by a revenue cutter, the Manhattan, carrying the Roosevelt children. Roosevelt then went aboard a larger cutter, the Androscoggin, and officially became a guest of the city. After boating up the Hudson River along the New Jersey shore to West Fifty-Ninth St., the Androscoggin moved back along the Manhattan shore to Battery Park, followed by a water parade of almost one hundred vessels. Roosevelt was greeted by Mayor William J. Gaynor at the Park, where both briefly spoke to an assembled crowd, with notables seated on a flag-draped stand expanded for the occasion to hold 600 people. Battery ceremonies were followed by a parade up Broadway and Fifth Avenue to the Fifty-Ninth St. plaza, where it dispersed. In the parade Roosevelt, Mayor William J. Gaynor, and chairman of the city’s welcoming committee, Cornelius Vanderbilt, together rode in an open carriage, preceded by Roosevelt’s regiment of Rough Riders, First United States Volunteer Cavalry. Also in the parade were approximately 2000 other veterans of the Spanish-American War. On the film are views of the open harbor, with various vessels assembled for Roosevelt’s visit, including the Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, the Androscoggin, and the Manhattan; Roosevelt alone on the lookout station of what appears to be the Androscoggin as it moves into port; street scene in which photographers scramble to get clear view of carriages as notables pass through street cordoned off with greenery; Roosevelt and Vanderbilt move toward Battery speakers platform, beside which is visible the stand erected for Roosevelt’s family and dignitaries; Roosevelt and Mayor Gaynor, who steps forward to greet Roosevelt, ascend platform; men mill around base of platform; side view of Roosevelt speaking from written notes, with Gaynor behind him; scenes of crowds and tents in what appears to be Central Park south; parade moves toward camera and passes in front of decorated stands; Roosevelt, standing in carriage, pauses in front of stands; shots of mounted police, mounted band, carriages, marching band.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1910

Creator(s)

Unknown

Publication Date

2021-03-04

Period

African Safari (March 1909-1910)

Record Type

Video

Resource Type

Video

Rights

These items are presented through a cooperative effort between the Library of Congress and Dickinson State University. See the Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library Terms of Use for further copyright information.

Citation