For Teachers

We’d love to speak to classrooms, whether in person (if we’re able to travel there), or virtually! Whether you have a specific topic your class is learning about, or want an overview of Theodore Roosevelt’s life, let us know and we’ll do our best to tailor things to what would be useful. We also have a host of videos of speakers from our past symposia and classroom presentations we’ve given as part of the Presidential Primary Sources Project available on our YouTube channel – https://www.youtube.com/@TRCenteratDSU/playlists

In addition to letters and documents, we have lots of other material that might be a little more engaging for students. Collections like “The Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division” and the “Sherman Grinberg Film Collection” feature many film clips of Roosevelt and his time, as well as compilation clips from after his lifetime. We also have several recordings of Theodore Roosevelt’s voice, as well as recordings of sheet music from the time. Other collections have a wide variety of visually interesting materials, including political cartoons, postcards, photographs, and more!

For lesson plans and other materials developed to meet North Dakota and national classroom standards, visit the “Teach with TR” page of our partner, the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.

Whatever subject you teach, it’s likely Theodore Roosevelt himself had thoughts about it! Whether your focus is art, geography, biology, political science, English, or another discipline, we have a wide variety of records that might be of use.

As a couple examples:
Art: Photographs, political cartoons, professional artwork, and postcards, can help show late 19th and early 20th century artistic practices, or inspire creativity in your students. Coloring pages are also available on our website.
Geography: Many postcards and maps in our collections highlight different areas that Theodore Roosevelt traveled to. His trip exploring the River of Doubt may interest students!
Biology: We have a wide array of letters, articles, and writings we have written by or sent to Theodore Roosevelt concerning ornithology and conservation of natural resources.
Political Science: Our vast array of early 20th century political cartoons depict many of the people and issues of the time, and chains of correspondence between political leaders of Theodore Roosevelt’s time help demonstrate how Roosevelt was thinking about the issues of government.
English: Theodore Roosevelt was a well known writer in his time, and produced a large number of books, magazine articles, speeches, and more! Many of his letters contain his thoughts and opinions about the writing process, and about books he read (and he read a lot)!

Whatever your focus, we most likely have resources you can use– feel free to contact the TRC staff for further information about what resources may be most useful to you!

Some things in the digital library may require a bit more caution than others to place them in their proper context. Items dealing with topics such as race may contain language or concepts that would be considered offensive today, while other materials may deal with outdated social theories. If you would like assistance considering how to provide context for sensitive or offensive materials, please feel free to reach out for assistance.

Many of our partners that we work with have their own websites to help people learn about Theodore Roosevelt and his world! A short list would include:
Roosevelt’s home at Sagamore Hill – https://www.nps.gov/sahi/index.htm
(along with artifacts there) – https://artsandculture.google.com/explore/collections/sagamore-hill-national-historic-site?c=assets
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site – https://www.trsite.org/
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace Site – https://www.nps.gov/thrb/index.htm
Theodore Roosevelt Association – https://www.theodoreroosevelt.org/
Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library – https://www.trlibrary.com/
Harvard Library’s Theodore Roosevelt Collection – https://library.harvard.edu/collections/theodore-roosevelt-collection
Theodore Roosevelt Papers at the Library of Congress – https://www.loc.gov/collections/theodore-roosevelt-papers/about-this-collection/