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African Americans are being ignored and discriminated against by southern Republicans. In Alabama, sixteen African American delegates to the state convention were excluded from political recognition. President Roosevelt will need to intervene to prevent southern discrimination from affecting the African American vote in northern states.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-09-23
President Roosevelt kneels on one knee and sings to an African American woman whose skirt is labeled “Negro Vote.” In the background, two dancers labeled “Payne” and “Crumpacker” assist in the performance; at Crumpacker’s waist is a sword entitled “For the South.” Item regards Roosevelt’s efforts to court African American voters.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-11-30
Theodore Roosevelt addresses the “negro question,” concerning African American delegates to the National Progressive Convention. Roosevelt deliberately brought into the Progressive Party African American delegates of good character from the Northern states, which was accomplished by encouraging men in the North to act fairly toward their neighbors, giving African Americans the opportunity to earn respect instead of “paying obligation to them” as the Republican Party did in the South. Roosevelt argues that following the course of action taken by the Republican Party, while politically expedient, would ultimately be detrimental to both black men and white men in the South, as well as the Progressive Party itself.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-08-06
President Roosevelt defends his appointments of African Americans, particularly the appointment of Dr. William Demos Crum as collector of customs in Charleston, South Carolina. Roosevelt will look into charges that Crum is unfit for the appointment but he will not reject Crum, or anyone else, on the basis of skin color. He denies that “negro domination” enters into the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-11-24
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 writes to R. Goodwyn Rhett to discuss the appointment of African Americans. This letter appears to be a draft of one that was sent on November 10.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-11-08
President Roosevelt informs James Adger Smyth that he will consider the charges against Dr. Crum, but that Crum’s race will not bar him from office. Roosevelt addresses race relations in regards to government employment.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-11-26
Theodore Roosevelt encloses a suggestion that he would like to be carried out in order to allay the suspicions of voters of color.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-09-30
Theodore Roosevelt explains to Floyd Reading Du Bois that the unseating of “colored” delegates from the South had nothing to do with their race, but that they were not legally entitled to their seats. In Florida, both the white and the colored delegates were unseated. In Mississippi, Benjamin F. Fridge had called for a “white” convention based on a misunderstanding, and rather than waiting for an adjustment from the National Committee, the unseated delegates held their own illegal state convention. Richard Washburn Child agrees with Roosevelt that the Mississippi decision was legally, not racially, based. Finally, the unseated delegates in Cincinnati were judged to be associated with the Republican Party machine.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-08-26
Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary encloses a corrected version of Roosevelt’s remarks at the National Progressive Convention on the “negro question,” referring to the controversy over African American delegates from Southern states. This is the copy that Roosevelt wants Oscar K. Davis to use in the pamphlet he is preparing.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-08-13
Theodore Roosevelt thanks Ryerson W. Jennings for his letter and for trying to place Booker T. Washington in contact with Roosevelt. Jennings will see what Roosevelt has to say on the “colored question” in the morning papers, most likely referencing the letter Roosevelt wrote to Julian LaRose Harris on the question of black Southern delegates at the National Progressive Convention, released 1912-08-03 to newspapers.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-08-03
Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary does not think that Louis Edelman read what Roosevelt had to say on the “race question,” referring to the issue of Southern states sending African American delegates to the National Progressive Convention, so he encloses a copy. The secretary states that all African Americans associated with the Progressive Party endorsed Roosevelt’s position, and that if Edelman reads all Roosevelt has said on the subject, he will also agree.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-08-10
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 is glad that Lucius F. C. Garvin will be in Chicago, presumably for the National Progressive Convention, and hopes Garvin will second his nomination. Roosevelt is happy to speak in Rhode Island.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-07-30
Theodore Roosevelt pledges to William Henry Maxwell that he will take up the cause of equality for African Americans. Roosevelt reminds Maxwell of the history of the Republican Party in the South and discusses how African American delegates as well as Southern white delegates were responsible for nominating President Taft.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-07-30
Theodore Roosevelt responds to Bradley Gilman’s letter and discusses the topics of marriage, divorce, and African Americans as voters and legislative representatives. Roosevelt argues the need for federal government to control marriage, divorce, and polygamy. Roosevelt asserts the need to incorporate African American representatives for the Progressive movement from states like New York, Rhode Island, Maryland, Illinois, Ohio, or Indiana at the Republican National Convention in Chicago. He writes of the inequality faced by African Americans, particularly in the South, and their absence from legislative bodies in Southern states. In his argument, Roosevelt references Booker T. Washington and writes of the Republican Party’s use of uneducated African American representation as a corrupt tactic that won the candidacy for William H. Taft with William Barnes and Simon Guggenheim.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-07-24
Theodore Roosevelt appreciates the action of the Progressive Colored Invincible League and asks Thomas Gill to get in touch with Comptroller Prendergast.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-07-08
One of Theodore Roosevelt’s children thanks William J. Yerby for the letter he sent. The author also writes that African Americans have supported Roosevelt, even in Cincinnati where President Taft had one of the dismissed Brownsville officers appear.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-06-19
Theodore Roosevelt explains that P. W. Howard is “peculiarly fit” to fulfill for his wish for a “colored man” to second his presidential nomination. Roosevelt tells Sidney D. Redmond that he does not want to commit to Howard until he knows who else will attend the Republican National Convention, and he lets Redmond know that he has already communicated with Senator Dixon about the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-06-11
Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary writes G. R. Manchester, National Roosevelt Committee, about Isaac B. F. Allen, an African American who has been traveling and participating in politics and would like financial assistance to attend the Republican National Convention.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-06-04