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President Roosevelt sends his regrets to Booker T. Washington that he must give up his visit to Tuskegee for the present. Roosevelt also asks Washington when he plans to come north, as he wishes to talk over the question of future appointments in the South along the lines of their previous conversation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-09-14
Sixteen appointees are listed for the State, Treasury, War, Post Office, and Interior Departments. The list includes the posts to which President Roosevelt nominated them and the dates of the appointments.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-22
In the first vignette, an African American man is labeled as the “proposed usher of the black rod.” In the second vignette, Secretary of War William H. Taft is labeled, “a nifty lord-in-waiting–waiting still for the nomination.” In the third vignette, Gifford Pinchot holds a tennis racket and is labeled, “first lord of the inner closet, with insignia of office.” In the fourth vignette, Henry Huttleston Rogers, Edward Henry Harriman, and John D. Rockefeller are labeled, “a group of bad barons in attitutes expressive of deep dissatisfaction and possible rebellion. In the fifth vignette is a “suggestion for royal coat of arms.” There is the big stick–;”Of course there can be but one sceptre.” The coat of arms includes the motto, “In votes we trust to bust the trusts.”
Lyman Abbott returns to President Roosevelt a letter by Judge Jacob Trieber which described the positive actions of some white Southerners towards black Southerners. Abbott expresses his desire to see such news shared with Northerners. Abbott also mentions the delay in confirming the appointment of a black man, William Demos Crum.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-03-06
In response to a letter from William R. Funk about the possibility of a white man, John R. King, succeeding John T. Williams, a black man, as American Consul in Sierra Leone, President Roosevelt tells Secretary of State Root to work with Booker T. Washington to find a “good colored man” for the post.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-30
President Roosevelt often receives letters like the one enclosed by Booker T. Washington. He has been assured that all the African Americans in office are personally against him, but all of those statements are specifically contradicted at the same time. Roosevelt will not consider the Southern delegates for any appointments. His real concern is the inability to know the character of the men, “particularly the colored men,” who hold offices in the South.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-12-12
Charles William Anderson expresses his disapproval of William L. Wilson as a potential postmaster of New York. One of his objections is that Wilson placed African Americans William H. Butler and Major R. Poole in positions in the New York legislature, despite how they “had used the vilest epithets in referring to President Roosevelt, because of the Brownsville incident.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-08
Booker T. Washington writes to President Roosevelt regarding the sensitive nature of removing African Americans from office in the South.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-01-04
Two prominent African Americans, Hale G. Parker and Charleton Hunt Tandy, ask President Roosevelt to allow them to serve as special commissioners to gather information for an exhibit at the upcoming Louisiana Purchase Exposition concerning African American progress and accomplishment since emancipation. They enclose a petition which was sent to states with a “large colored population,” and which they now present to the President.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-04-22
Francis Bennett Williams discusses the selection and appointment of Republican Party officials in New Orleans, Louisiana. Williams recommends the removal of United States Marshal Charles Fontelieu, to be replaced by Victor Loisel, and the removal of Registrar of the United States Land Office, Walter L. Cohen.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-10-24
R. H. Ward recommends Robert Lloyd Smith to President Roosevelt. Smith, an African American, earned the respect of every member of the Texas legislature and worked effectively across political party lines. Ward endorses Smith’s “honesty and capacity.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-10-26