Your TR Source
President Roosevelt will only withdraw William Demos Crum’s appointment if he becomes convinced that he “cannot stand for his nomination.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-11-26
President Roosevelt thanks Professor Hart for his support and appreciates the insights into public opinion.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-10-30
President Roosevelt agrees with Surveyor Clarkson that it is against the principles of the Republican Party and the government to appoint an improper man simply because he is African American as well as excluding a man because he is African American. Roosevelt would prefer to appoint Rheulach as District Attorney in Alabama.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-09-29
Charles P. Johnston has requested to keep his position until January 1 and has President Roosevelt’s support. Afterwords, Roosevelt intends to replace Johnston with an African American and would like Francis Bennett Williams to discuss possible candidates with Booker T. Washington. Roosevelt would also appreciate Williams’s opinion on who should be appointed postmaster and Internal Revenue Collector.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-06-16
President Roosevelt would like a position for Mollison in Mississippi. Booker T. Washington vouches for him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-06-16
President Roosevelt informs Lewis S. Clarke that Charles P. Johnston has requested to keep his position until January 1 and has Roosevelt’s support. Afterwords, he intends to replace Johnston with an African American and would like Clarke to discuss possible candidates with Booker T. Washington. Roosevelt would also appreciate Clarke’s opinion on who should be appointed postmaster and Internal Revenue Collector.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-06-16
President Roosevelt will renominate John H. Deveaux. He has a good record and Roosevelt will not oppose him simply because of his skin color.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-05-01
President Roosevelt encloses an article and asks if it refers to the Mr. Ferguson they discussed (presumably Charles M. Ferguson of Texas). Roosevelt also inquires whether Cecil Andrew Lyon has spoken to Judge Waller Thomas Burns about a position under him for Robert Lloyd Smith.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-04-01
Booker T. Washington has sent three recommendations for the position of register in Arkansas. President Roosevelt asks Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock to have the agents of his department examine each man’s history and determine who should be appointed to replace the unfit incumbent.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-03-21
President Roosevelt is having problems with the white community in Georgia because the three best state offices are held by African Americans. He also remains firm in his support for Cuban reciprocity.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-02-04
President Roosevelt will consider Charles William Anderson’s appointment to the ministership at Haiti but there are geographic considerations that might make it necessary to appoint a person of color from Maryland or West Virginia.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-01-17
Senator Hanna recommends J. M. Holland for an appointment in Louisiana and has requested a statement from Wimberly.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-01-21
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
President Roosevelt assures Booker T. Washington that comments made about their dinner will not affect the stand he has taken or his policies in the American South. Roosevelt also requests Washington’s opinion of various political figures in Missouri and Mississippi.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-11-02
President Roosevelt is happy Curtis Guild will be writing about him for Harvard Graduates’ Magazine. Even after the reactions to his dinner with Booker T. Washington, Roosevelt will not be swayed from his policy of appointing the best candidates for positions in the American South.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-10-28
President Roosevelt asks Robert Bradley Hawley to clarify his statement regarding Robert Lloyd Smith’s opposition to Hawley’s run for Congress. No African American candidate for office has come as highly recommended as Smith or with as much support from the “best elements.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-10-31
President Roosevelt finds the reaction in the South to the Booker T. Washington incident to be “literally inexplicable.” He would not fear to have a man like Washington to dinner if it cost him every political friend he had. Roosevelt met with Governor Odell and does not anticipate any future misunderstandings.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-10-24
Senator Dixon jokes that early indications show Jack Johnson leading Booker T. Washington for the vice presidency on the Progressive Party ticket.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-11-05
Alfred Miles Beatty reports that the South is not pleased with the Taft administration. Furthermore, African Americans are prominent in the southern Republican Party and this limits the support of white Southerners. Beatty believes that a third party would be welcomed. He concludes with a description of southern agriculture and the opposition to foreign immigration.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-04-27
Fred F. Main shares a story with Theodore Roosevelt about his neighbor who, when asked what he thought of Roosevelt, said that he expected to vote for him if Roosevelt got “the denomination.” Main believes this could possibly “be worked into a cute campaign song.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-02-27