2019 TR Symposium

Theodore Roosevelt in Retrospect: An American Legacy

Theodore Roosevelt died on January 6, 1919. He was just 60 years old. When he died, Vice President Thomas R. Marshall said, “Death had to take Roosevelt sleeping, for if he had been awake, there would have been a fight.”

We all know that Roosevelt was one of the most consequential presidents in American history. Americans love to celebrate him and delight in his outsized personality, his adventures, his superb sense of humor, his capacity to attract admirers from every political party and persuasion. But Roosevelt’s legacy is never simple. In this centennial year of his death, we invite you to join us on the campus of Dickinson State University in western North Dakota, to examine, assess, and explore his contributions to American life, as well as our perceptions of them over time.

If you missed some of the talks, you can find the recordings over at the Dickinson State University YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/dickinsonstateu/videos.

Help us evaluate our programs by completing a short survey regarding this event at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/14th_Annual_Theodore_Roosevelt_Symposium_Evaluation.

“Don’t have it a statue of me; have it a statue of a cowboy or a pioneer farmer. This will be far more typical … and I am sure in the end will be far more satisfactory – and this apart from my firm belief that no man should ever have a statue until he has been dead some little time.”

Theodore Roosevelt’s response to an effort to memorialize him, May 6, 1910

Speakers

Geoffrey Wawro

Geoffrey Wawro is Professor of History at the University of North Texas and Director of the UNT Military History Center. He received his BA from Brown and his PhD from Yale. He was a Fulbright Scholar in Vienna for two years. He is the author of five books: A Mad Catastrophe: The Outbreak of World War I and the Collapse of the Habsburg Empire; Quicksand: America’s Pursuit of Power in the Middle East; The Franco-Prussian War: The German Conquest of France in 1870-71; Warfare and Society in Europe, 1792-1914, and The Austro-Prussian War: Austria’s War with Prussia and Italy in 1866.

Wawro is the co-editor of The Cambridge Military Histories, a series of monographs from Cambridge University Press. He also serves on the History Book Club Review Board. From 2000 to 2009, Wawro hosted several programs on the The History Channel, including Hardcover History, History’s Business and History versus Hollywood. He lives in Dallas, Texas.

Michael Cullinane

Michael Patrick Cullinane is Professor of U.S. History at the University of Roehampton, London. He attended Pace University (NYC) before moving to Ireland where he earned an MA and PhD in History from University College Cork. He is the author of Theodore Roosevelt’s Ghost: The History and Memory of an American Icon, winner of the 2018 Theodore Roosevelt Book Prize. The book is the first comprehensive examination of Roosevelt’s legacy. It details the frequent refashioning of this American icon in popular memory, from his death in 1919 to the erection of monuments and memorials, to the contemporary invocations by politicians, sports stars, celebrities and corporate CEOs.

Cullinane’s research interests extend to the foreign policies of the United States during the early twentieth century, and the international relations of that period. He has published books and articles on American anti-imperialism, immigration policy, global perspectives of the United States, and cultural diplomacy.

Rick Marschall

Rick Marschall is the author of more than 70 books and hundreds of magazine articles in many fields, from popular culture to history and criticism; country music, television history, biography, Christian apologetics, and children’s books. Among his best known books is Bully! The Life and Times of Theodore Roosevelt, a biography of the 26th President illustrated with more than 250 vintage cartoons.

Rick is a former political cartoonist. His anthologies of vintage cartoons have won awards in the U.S. and Europe. He has spoken in Europe on behalf of the U.S. Information Service of the Department of State; and in 1995 was consultant to the U.S. Postal Service for a 20-stamp set of commemoratives in the “American Classics” series.

Schedule

Thursday, September 12

6:00 p.m. Registration – May Hall
7:00 p.m Welcome and Introductions
7:15 p.m. Opening Session
Rick Marschall and Clay Jenkinson
The Great Roosevelt Cartoon-Off!

How much of Roosevelt’s legacy can be explored by way of the myriad of cartoons that were created during his lifetime? We’ll find out as Rick Marschall and Clay Jenkinson engage in “Dueling Cartoons,” with suggestions and commentary from all of our presenters. If TR had to be “captured” by one cartoon of the thousands he inspired, which would it be?

8:30 p.m. Book Signing with Rick Marschall

Friday, September 13

8:00 a.m. Registration/Continental Breakfast – May Hall
9:00 a.m. Opening Remarks
9:15 a.m. Geoffrey Wawro
Roosevelt and the American Century
10:15 a.m. Break & Book Signing with Geoffrey Wawro
10:45 a.m. Michael Cullinane
The Roosevelt Image in American Memory
11:45 a.m. Break & Book Signing with Michael Cullinane
Noon Lunch

Ryan Swanson
author of The Strenuous Life: Theodore Roosevelt and the Making of the American Athlete
Constance J. Moore
co-author of Maria Longworth Storer: From Music and Art to Popes and Presidents

1:00 p.m. Panel Discussion with Scholars
2:00 p.m. Break
2:15 p.m. Rick Marschall
Great Heart and the Great War – a Reassessment of TR’s Wartime Years
3:15 p.m. Break
4:30 p.m. Social
5:15 p.m. Dinner
7:00 p.m. Theodore Roosevelt in American Memory

Roosevelt’s death was followed by a vast international outpouring of editorials, reminiscences, songs, cartoons, poems, sermons, obituaries, newspaper retrospectives, and political tributes. We have assembled a sample of these preliminary assessments of his achievement and legacy for your entertainment.

Saturday, September 14

Field trip to Regent and Medora, North Dakota

8:00 a.m. Registration for Field Trip/Breakfast – DSU Student Center 116A
8:30 a.m. Depart for Enchanted Highway and Badlands Tour
11:00 a.m. Panel with guest scholars – A wide-ranging discussion and synthesis of symposium themes – Enchanted Castle, Regent
12:15 p.m. Lunch and return through southern Badlands
4 p.m. Closing reception – Rough Riders Hotel, Medora

Accommodations

Please make travel and hotel arrangements early to ensure availability. Discounted guest rooms are available for symposium registrants at the following:

RAMADA GRAND DAKOTA LODGE

10-minute drive from Dickinson State University
532 15th Street W, Dickinson
701-483-5600
$79 plus tax
Reservation code “Theodore Roosevelt Symposium”
Reservation deadline is August 30, 2019

BADLANDS MOTEL

40-minute drive from Dickinson State University
Pacific Avenue, Medora
701-623-4444 or 800-633-6721
$99 plus tax
Reservation deadline is August 21, 2019