Your TR Source
Theodore Roosevelt clarifies his stance on equal opportunity for all men to James E. Churchman. Roosevelt wants to help “colored citizens” so that they might help themselves.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-05-27
Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary thanks Z. Withers for his second letter and says he will pass along Withers’s suggestion to The Outlook. The secretary writes that The Outlook is in sympathy with “the negro of this country.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-05-07
President Roosevelt thanks Ambassador Reid for the interesting letter. He comments on William Jennings Bryan’s recent speech, uncertain if he should “feel more irritated or sympathetic.” Roosevelt hopes to “persuade the Cubans to act decently” and continue in self-governance.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-24
President Roosevelt believes that a bill like the one Senator Platt proposes has no chance of passing, and would “actually accomplish nothing whatever but mischief.” While in the North it might please “a few white and colored agitators,” Roosevelt believes that it would hurt the “colored” people in the South. He acknowledges the “righteous feeling” behind the proposed measure, but believes that the only practical effects of introducing it will be bad. Platt can choose for himself whether or not to introduce the measure, and Roosevelt will appreciate that his decision is based on his own best judgment.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-22
President Roosevelt believes that educating African Americans is only one part of the problem and has not yet looked into the violations of the fourteenth amendment. Roosevelt will not speak publicly on the topic and doubts that scholastic education would help a community that would elect James Vardaman, they would need “lessons of decency and honor” before seeing to the education of the illiterate.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-11-18
President Roosevelt is distressed that many Southerners consider him hostile to the South. Roosevelt understands that his policy of appointing African Americans makes him unpopular, but he argues that his appointments of African Americans in the South are far less than there should be when compared to the African American population.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-07-30
President Roosevelt believes that the “race problem” is the greatest concern for the distant future.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-07-11
President Roosevelt thanks Consul Tourgee for his kind letter, but admits his invitation to Booker T. Washington was an impulsive decision rather than a calculated one. Although he has not been able to “think out any solution” to the problematic race relations in the United States, Roosevelt feels strongly that each man, white or black, should be treated “strictly on his merits as a man” and that he, as President, should act according to his convictions.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-11-08
Harry Johnston has heard President Roosevelt’s wish to visit with him about big game preservation and the question of Liberia. Johnston is not sure of his plans yet, but if he does visit the United States he will certainly visit Washington, D.C. Johnston tells Roosevelt some of his thoughts about Liberia, writing that if Liberia fails, it will be a setback for the progress of African-American rights in the United States. There is plenty of room for African-American colonists in Western Africa, but there are many obstacles as well.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-28
President Roosevelt examines various social premises in American society that are inherently unequal for African Americans. Roosevelt calls on white Americans to seek out the good in neighbors, regardless of race, and with the goal of improving life and prosperity for all Americans. Roosevelt believes that skin color detrimentally impacts the black population’s ability to live free without the threat of violence, achieve a good education, and acquire a good paying job. The mob mentality that adversely targets African Americans must be rooted out. In relation to capital and labor, Roosevelt again criticizes the mob mentality that excites violent class hatred against the wealthy. It is not in America’s interest to elect anyone whose platform is built on “violence and hypocrisy.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-30
President Roosevelt is considering appointing a committee to study the “entire problem of race in this country.” Roosevelt is concerned with making sure the men who are appointed to this committee are men of high moral character who reflect a diversity in regions and characteristics, and he asserts that they must also be transparent and act in good faith while on this committee. Roosevelt wants the condition of African Americans in northern locales to be studied exactly as they are in the South.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-30
William H. Fleming writes to President Roosevelt about the possible disfranchisement of African American voters in Georgia. Fleming believes it would be a disaster if Hoke Smith, who advocates such disfranchisement, was nominated at the Democratic Convention. He is even more concerned about the conduct of Representative Thomas W. Hardwick, who has been decrying the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution and publicly renouncing his allegiance to those parts of the Constitution. Fleming thinks that the question should be raised in the House of Representatives, whether a member is violating their oath of office by refusing to uphold these amendments. Such an inquiry would force Hardwick to either retract his statements or be removed from office.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-17
Silas McBee, editor of The Churchman, is sending Theodore Roosevelt an advance copy of his editorial concerning African Americans and the United States.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-23
The unknown author of this memorandum warns that the “lily-white movement” in Louisiana could turn the African American vote in the North against President Roosevelt. A recent resolution passed in the Louisiana Convention calls for a response: either the reappointment of Walter L. Cohen and James Lewis, two colored men, or a statement that the action of the Louisiana Convention does not reflect the views of the President.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-05-05
Francis Bennett Williams discusses the election of negro delegates at the Louisiana Republican Convention and the objections of some convention members to sit in the convention with negro delegates.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-05-06
John E. W. Thompson will be voting for Theodore Roosevelt. Thompson wrote to Judge Alton B. Parker asking Parker to publicly announce his belief in the equal rights of all races. Parker replied that he would take Thompson’s suggestion into consideration. Consequently, Thompson concludes the amendments to the Constitution were in jeopardy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-14
The Lexington Leader prints Secretary of War William H. Taft’s speech at the Lexington, Kentucky auditorium in its entirety. He discusses at length the question of race and its relation to political participation. Taft details the differences between President Roosevelt and William Jennings Bryan and appeals to Kentuckian Democrats to evaluate their party alliance.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-08-22
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
Parker, Hale G. (Hale Giddings), -1925; Tandy, Charleton Hunt, 1836-1919
The Delaware Republican Platform endorses Theodore Roosevelt’s approach to national and foreign affairs, his opposition to corruption, and every high value that he represents. Delegates are instructed to use all honorable means to bring about his nomination for president.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-04-21
Owen Wister asks to see President Roosevelt and his wife Edith. He wants to discuss the “Negro question.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-04-09