Your TR Source
Edmund Heller informs Theodore Roosevelt the hunting trophies are ready to send to James L. Clark and includes a list of items. He had some of his African photographs enlarged and framed and will send some to Roosevelt. Newland Tarleton and Co. reports that Carl Ethan Akeley was in British East Africa as of six weeks ago.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-08-08
Frederick Courteney Selous believes that he has done everything he can to arrange for President Roosevelt’s upcoming trip to Africa, and gives Roosevelt advice on what further steps he may have to take to complete preparations. Roosevelt’s outfits and provisions will be forwarded to Newland, Tarlton and Co. at Nairobi once they arrive at Mombasa. Selous thinks Roosevelt may have to resign himself to meeting the Governor of British East Africa and participating in some ceremonies before leaving on his actual safari, which would have the upside of allowing for final preparations to be completed. Selous has accepted an invitation from William Northrup McMillan to visit Africa at the same time as Roosevelt, and hopes to be able to travel on the same boat as Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-13
Edmund Heller is happy to be asked to accompany President Roosevelt on his trip to Africa. Roosevelt’s route will allow the party to first collect the more common game, with the opportunity for discoveries coming later when they travel through Uganda and on the Nile. Heller’s past experience on in Africa was with Carl Ethan Akeley’s Field Museum expedition, where he was in charge of salting the skins of the game. He was not involved in outfitting the expedition. Heller regrets that he cannot immediately be of help to Roosevelt in the planning and organization of the trip.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-31
Frederick Courteney Selous informs President Roosevelt that he has secured R. J. Cunninghame as head man for Roosevelt’s safari. He has spoken to several men connected to East Africa, who all agree that Cunninghame is the right man for the job. Sir William Northrup McMillan has advised Selous about the provisions and supplies Roosevelt will need, and where he will be able to restock if necessary. Selous also discusses people like Lieutenant Governor Frederick John Jackson, who will help Roosevelt on his trip, and places where Roosevelt will have good hunting.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-28
Gregory A. Wynn describes the nineteen page book produced by the Roosevelt Memorial Association to promote the construction of a Theodore Roosevelt memorial in Washington, D.C. Wynn also examines other projects undertaken in the nation’s capital by the project’s architect, John Russell Pope. Wynn discusses why the proposed memorial failed to be built, and he compares its design to the National World War II Memorial. A photograph of Wynn and photographs of the book’s cover and title page appear in the article.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
2011
Congressional Charter for the then Roosevelt Memorial Association established in May 1920 that lists the original incorporators and includes some of the key provisions guiding the organization. These include stipulations that the association will be governed by a board of trustees; that its income will go only to further its educational goals; and that it will work to establish memorials to Theodore Roosevelt in Washington, D.C. and Oyster Bay, New York.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
2000
Gary Rice examines how the press covered Theodore Roosevelt’s 1909-1910 African safari. Rice stresses that Roosevelt wanted to severely restrict journalists’ access to his safari because the former president had signed contracts to publish his own articles and books, and he wanted to control what was written. Rice also notes that the press extensively covered Roosevelt’s preparations for the trip, and he highlights a scandal that erupted when a French journalist published an unauthorized story about Roosevelt during the safari. Roosevelt later relented and allowed American reporters Robert W. Foran and Warrington Dawson to file reports from Africa.
Rice notes that much of the coverage of the safari dealt with the number of animals Roosevelt had killed, and it stoked debates about the ethics of Roosevelt’s hunting. Rice concludes that Roosevelt’s safari and its coverage provided him with “an even bigger, more favorable public image.” Three photographs of Roosevelt in Africa appear in the article.
Three books and an essay are reviewed in the “Books” section. John A. Gable examines Kristie Miller’s biography Ruth Hanna McCormick and finds that it provides not only a look at her pioneering life in Republican politics, but that it also shows the impact of the Progressive Party into the 1920s. Gable notes that McCormick achieved many firsts for women in politics. Dennis Flanagan reviews War Plan Orange, the winner of the 1992 Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize, and reveals that American strategists had been debating about how to conduct a war against Japan decades before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
In “Theodore Roosevelt, Carl Akeley, and the American Museum of Natural History,” Debby Applegate reviews a biography of Akeley and an essay that examines his work at the museum. Applegate highlights Akeley’s relationship with Roosevelt that began with his African safari, and she highlights how the works under review stress that the museum and its Roosevelt Memorial Hall are not “timeless” but represent the thinking of the men and the times in which they were built, and she cautions against casually condemning their work. A separate “Book Notes” section mentions twenty-five books on Roosevelt related topics or from Roosevelt historians, ranging from children’s books to biographies to a cookbook. The work of David G. McCullough, Douglas Brinkley, and Sylvia Jukes Morris are highlighted.
Photographs of Miller, Akeley, and the Barosaurus exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History illustrate the sections.
John A. Gable gives a detailed report on the annual dinner of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) held on the 125th anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt’s birth on October 27, 1983, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Gable provides some history about the Museum, quotes from the address given by President Ronald Reagan, and lists some of the various dignitaries and politicians who sent messages to the assembled guests. An excerpt from the speech given by the TRA President, William Davison Johnston, the presentation of a check to the American Museum of Natural History, and the awarding of the Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal to four individuals are also covered in detail. Gable also lists many of the guests, including members of the Roosevelt family, and closes with remarks on some of the other events held to mark the 125th anniversary of Roosevelt’s birth.
Seven photographs of various guests, speakers, award winners, and members of the TRA leadership accompany the article. Photographs of the equestrian statue of Theodore Roosevelt in front of the American Museum of Natural History and of President Ronald Reagan addressing the dinner guests on a video screen are also found in the article.
A listing of the officers of the TRA, along with the members of its executive, finance, and Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace committees, is found on the article’s second page.
This four page edition of “News and Notes” is divided into six sections and is mostly concerned with a series of celebrations and commemorations of the 125th anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt’s birth. The article details the celebrations held in Indianapolis, Indiana, in New York State in New York City, Oyster Bay, and Buffalo, and at Harvard University. The Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace hosted events as did the American Museum of Natural History. Oyster Bay held a parade while the Indianapolis gathering saw the planting of a tree at the home of Roosevelt’s Vice President, Charles W. Fairbanks. The meeting at the American Museum of Natural History saw the awarding of the Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal to four recipients. A dinner was held in Buffalo while at Harvard, John Morton Blum gave a lecture.
The article also discusses the 1983 Theodore Roosevelt Public Speaking Contest for the New York City public high schools held at the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace, and it details the premiere of the documentary film The Indomitable Teddy Roosevelt at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. “News and Notes” closes with an obituary for Helen M. MacLachlan who worked for both the Theodore Roosevelt Association and the National Park Service at the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace in New York City.
A photograph from the Oyster Bay parade and two photographs of members of the Roosevelt family at Theodore Roosevelt Island in Washington, D.C., are included in the article.
In the “Book Notes” column, John A. Gable reviews Bully: An Adventure With Teddy Roosevelt which consists of the script of the play of the same name, complemented by eight pages of photographs. Gable quotes from a review of the play and from Theodore Roosevelt IV’s introduction to the book. Gable, as he did in the case of the play and film adaptation, praises the book and author Jerome Alden because he “does not tailor T.R. to fit current social or ideological fashions.”
Marvin R. Morrison reviews The End of the Game: The Last Word from Paradise which deals with the plight of the African elephant. Theodore Roosevelt’s hunting and his African safari of 1909 figure in the book and review. Morrison quotes Roosevelt, lists some of his fellow hunters, and argues that hunters are conservationists.
Invitation for the Boone and Crockett Club special meeting and annual dinner taking place on December 20th, 1911. An reservation confirmation for the dinner addressed to the treasurer is also included.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09
President Roosevelt thanks John J. Magee for his letter and tells him that he hopes James R. Mann can bring Carl Ethan Akeley and Delia J. Akeley to have lunch with him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-16
Various views from many different camera angles of Hermann Hagedorn, Roosevelt Memorial Association director and secretary, and Carl Ethan Akeley, Roosevelt Memorial Association trustee, in Roosevelt House. Film begins with a stage in an auditorium, empty except for three chairs and a table with book and papers on it; Hagedorn and Akeley enter, Akeley sits, Hagedorn speaks and introduces Akeley who speaks as Hagedorn sits. There are various shots of Akeley speaking, Hagedorn sitting behind him, and a bust of Theodore Roosevelt. A close-up of Akeley speaking fades out to a motion picture screen. Hagedorn is then seen sitting at a desk, browsing through a notebook, and looking into space as if thinking. The film then returns to Hagedorn standing and talking in the auditorium, followed by two takes of Akeley sitting at a desk, unfolding a letter, putting on glasses, reading the letter, and marking it with a pen.
Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound
1925
Side view of Theodore Roosevelt on a white horse in wilderness. The mat is inscribed to Carl Akeley (a naturalist who accompanied Roosevelt to Africa) from Alexander Lambert, Roosevelt’s personal physician and director of the Roosevelt Memorial Association.
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site
1905-1908