Your TR Source
Joseph W. Henderson calls for justice for “the negro,” by discrimination stopping at West Point and Annapolis. A National Conference of Colored Men to be held in Rhode Island.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1917-03
President Roosevelt clarifies William H. Taft’s opinion on the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, and on the appointment of African Americans, for Lawrence F. Abbott. Namely, that Taft shares Roosevelt’s sentiments, as well as those of The Outlook, on Mississippi Governor James Kimble Vardaman and Representative John Sharp Williams. Roosevelt offers a list of the principle African American appointments he has made while in office, and encourages Abbott to contact Booker T. Washington for further statement on the character of the appointees.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-06
President Roosevelt advises William H. Taft to publicly distance himself from Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker, and to make it known publicly that Foraker has taken his negative position towards Roosevelt and Taft because of his own involvement with corporations, and not due to his feelings toward African Americans. For the good of the Republican party, Roosevelt feels that Taft must be strong in his resistance to Foraker, so as to show his opposition to politicians being bought by corporate interest.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-09-19
Henry S. Pritchett, president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, writes to President Roosevelt about “the Negro question.” Pritchett claims that Republican Reconstruction was a failure, and argues that the federal government should stop trying to enforce the Fourteenth Amendment, since legislative threats are not making the Southern states comply. He recommends that the Southern states be allowed to control their own voting laws, subject only to outside criticism without force. Pritchett admits the Southern states will immediately disenfranchise most African Americans, but that this will be fair since they will also disenfranchise ignorant whites. He believes Roosevelt will still be allowed to make some African American appointments pending approval of local white leaders. Pritchett encloses an article he wrote on the subject and pages from James Ford Rhodes’s history. Rhodes, a historian specializing in Reconstruction, adds a postscript to Pritchett’s letter saying he agrees with Pritchett’s recommendations and will discuss with Pritchett conversations he had previously on the subject with Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-06
Henry Edwin Tremain writes to President Roosevelt about the “Representation Plank” in the Republican Party’s recent campaign platform. Tremain points out that Census data shows eligible voters are not participating. This restriction of civil rights violates the fourteenth and fifteenth amendment and should result in a reduction of representation in Congress.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-15
Article defends President Roosevelt from attacks claiming he is against the 14th Amendment.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-14
This article suggests issues that Judge Parker should address in his letter of acceptance, such as trades-unionism in the public service, equal rights, and civil service reform.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-19
In this excerpt from a paper read at a recent meeting, George N. Tillman, a Southern Republican, comments on the personal popularity of President Roosevelt which helped him win re-election to the presidency, overcoming people’s concern that he might act rashly on various matters. Tillman then discusses the relations between the races, and asserts that Roosevelt surely does not intend that blacks and whites should intermingle socially, as he “is blue blood himself, with a Southern strain.” Tillman argues for uplift of blacks through education, without social interaction and intermarriage, which means the “ruin of both races.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-05
The writer summarizes Judge Speer’s statement to a grand jury in Savannah, Georgia, regarding efforts to “solve the negro problem and restore the good name of the South.” Speer discusses how racial conflict increases crime and hinders criminal investigations.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-12-09
Attorney General Moody discusses new state constitutions passed in some southern states designed to keep African Americans from having the right to vote. Moody declares that under the Fifteenth Amendment these new laws are unconstitutional. He calls for change so that African Americans are treated equally under the law.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-07-05
Benjamin R. Tillman, as “Simon Legree,” whips a black man labeled “Negro Voter.” Caption: Simon Legree Tillman — Don’t I own you, body and soul, you black dog? / Uncle Tom — Yuh may own mah body, Marse Tillman, but mah soul belongs t’ de Republican Pahty!
Some cartoons dip back into their recent pasts to confirm events or truths for readers’ sakes; and some, of course unwittingly, are Rosetta Stones for researchers of future generations seeking to understand the realities of another time.
Cartoonist Udo J. Keppler’s dramatic cartoon in Puck might fit that definition. It is shockingly violent, but depicts a moment in a frequently performed theatrical play that was sympathetic to blacks. “Uncle Tom” and Uncle Tom’s Cabin have become pejorative words, but Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel, possibly the best selling book of the nineteenth century, was a rallying-cry for equality. (President Abraham Lincoln reportedly met Mrs. Stowe and said, “Ah! The little lady who caused this big war!”)
President Roosevelt, as a southern plantation owner, rides on a donkey, holding an umbrella, a jug of “Corn Lickker” behind him. William Loeb walks behind, holding the donkey’s tail. In the background, perched on a tree, is a bird labeled “Vardaman.” Caption: “Way down South in the land of cotton.”
In the middle of October 1905, President Roosevelt undertook a tour of Southern states. He clearly hoped to ameliorate White southern opposition to his presidency, feelings that largely emanated from his White House invitation to Booker T. Washington in his first days as president.
The tour, and Roosevelt’s desire to mend fences, were not all cosmetic. He frequently professed a pride in his Southern heritage — his mother Martha (“Mittie”) was a Southern belle from a plantation at Roswell, Georgia, reportedly the model for Tara in Gone With the Wind, and he was proud of his two uncles, important figures in the Confederate Navy, who had emigrated to England after the war.
President Roosevelt stands with his right hand on the left shoulder of an African American man, probably Booker T. Washington but not identified, and his left hand on a paper labeled “15th Amendment.” Behind them is a statue labeled “Lincoln – With Malice Toward None With Charity Toward All,” showing Abraham Lincoln standing at the top with freed African American slaves. Caption: President Roosevelt–Lincoln emancipated you, the people gave you citizenship and I’ll protect your rights.
The controversy that clearly inspired this cartoon by Keppler was the famous Indianola, Mississippi, post office matter. In the weeks preceding this cartoon’s publication, Minnie Cox, the black postmistress of Indianola (having been appointed by President Harrison and again by President McKinley), was forced from her office by white Democrats of her town under threats including lynching. President Roosevelt exercised his prerogative as president and ordered her reinstated, and the post office closed until she returned to her post. Residents were obliged to travel 30 miles to transact postal business. Roosevelt had offended Southern whites by inviting Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House shortly after his assuming office. President Cleveland had invited the pioneer crusader for Black rights, Frederick Douglass, to the Executive Mansion amid even greater outcries, perhaps because Mrs. Douglass was white. It is interesting that Keppler here shows Roosevelt assuring a man (likely an unlabeled Booker T. Washington) and not Postmistress Minnie Cox herself. There is no record of a public outreach to Booker T. Washington during this affair; however, he had become a political adviser publicly identified with Roosevelt, to whom he often turned for matters of policies and patronage.
President Roosevelt points Rodman Paul Snelling’s attention to an open letter that was published and defends his appointment policy, particularly appointing people of color.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-10-12
President Roosevelt expresses his disgust at lynching and mob violence. The best method to discourage lynching is to ensure that “justice under the forms of law shall be as expeditious and even-handed as possible.” When a community discriminates against someone due to their color, the path is paved for discrimination in other areas.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-07-09
Theodore Roosevelt views Robert S. Hartgrove as a “colored man who has caught the spirit of the movement” who has tried to inspire in the South. This is the only way that Roosevelt sees, and Julian LaRose Harris agrees, for African Americans to realize citizenship and full political rights.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-08-19
Theodore Roosevelt describes in detail the challenging issue of race in the Progressive Party, as well as the Republican and Democratic Parties. He says, “We have made the Progressive issue a moral, not a racial issue.” Roosevelt concludes that the Progressive Party, as well as Southern black men, will be best served by appealing to Southern white men who support civil rights.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-08-01
Theodore Roosevelt writes Joseph E. Wiley regarding his letter from Booker T. Washington in which he discusses the benefits of constructing a cotton mill.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-07-09
Theodore Roosevelt sends his thanks to R. H. Waterford for the letter and contribution. Roosevelt was pleased with the fact that the bulk of “colored citizens” stood by him in election districts and Roosevelt would like to see equal justice done to both colored and white men.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-05-29
Theodore Roosevelt sends his thanks to Bishop Cottrell and assures him that while President he did his best to bring equal opportunity to all citizens, regardless of color, and hopes to do so again if nominated as President.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-05-28