American Legion

On August 23, 1921, as part of its French tour, the American Legion delegation attended the ceremonies of laying the cornerstone for the Roosevelt Bridge, which was built to replace the bridge the Germans destroyed in 1918 over the Marne River in Château-Thierry, France. The bridge was named after Theodore Roosevelt and his son Quentin who was killed in action in France. Camera pans the town, the many French and American dignitaries and soldiers attending the event, and the Marne River; final sequence is long shots of the formal dedication ceremony. Identified on the extreme left of group are: Franklin D’Olier, former National Commander, and Major John G. Emery, current National Commander of the American Legion.

Collection

Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound

Creation Date

1921-08

Creator(s)

International News

Drawing of a bronze tablet, “Placed in memory of Lt. Quentin Roosevelt by Quentin Roosevelt Post, Dept. of Missouri, St. Louis, USA, The first post organized by the American Legion.”

Collection

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

Creation Date

Unknown

Creator(s)

Unknown

Rene Brierre writes to Edith Roosevelt regarding tomb of Quentin Roosevelt, Memorial Day, American Legion etc. Calling card included, references Brierre as delegate to American Legion.

Collection

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

Creation Date

1946-06-20

Creator(s)

Brierre, Rene

Theodore Roosevelt informs his son, Theodore Roosevelt, that the American Legion has written him because the younger Roosevelt has not yet applied. The elder Roosevelt is sending a blank application that the younger Roosevelt can fill out and return to the American Legion. The elder Roosevelt also says it was nice seeing the younger Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor Butler Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-07-10

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt is pleased with Archibald B. Roosevelt’s letter and believes the camp is doing “just exactly what it ought to do.” Roosevelt says that he and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt are leaving on a trip today and he believes it will be good for her health. He asks Archibald to fill in and send the application for enrollment in the American Legion at his earliest convenience.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-07-10

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt is glad that Robert B. Rogers likes what has been done in connection with the American Legion, and he thanks him for the poem.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-03-18

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt is pleased to accept the election as an advisory member of the American Legion.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-03-18

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt compliments G. Edward Buxton on his piece in The Providence Journal. Roosevelt also notifies Buxton that the forthcoming Metropolitan will open with what Buxton told him, and that he hopes Buxton will join the American Legion.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-03-18

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Keith Muchowski focuses on the literary life of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., the eldest son of Theodore Roosevelt. Muchowski shines a spotlight on two types of books written, co-written, or edited by Roosevelt: stories and tales from the battlefields of World War I and hunting stories based on expeditions to Asia with his brother Kermit Roosevelt. Muchowski also looks at Roosevelt’s role in the founding of the American Legion and his time as governor general of the Philippines, and he laments that Roosevelt’s death in July 1944 prevented him from chronicling his service in World War II.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2016

Creator(s)

Muchowski, Keith

Seven books receive scrutiny in the “Reviews” section, including two biographies of Theodore Roosevelt, specialized studies of the White House and Memorial Day, a collection of Roosevelt’s writings, a look at the Rough Riders of Arizona, and a study of turn of the twentieth-century American foreign policy. John A. Gable notes that Stacey A. Cordery’s biography of Roosevelt serves as a comprehensive historiographical study as it draws on thirty years of Roosevelt scholarship in its quotes and analysis. Gable also offers thoughts on Kathleen Dalton’s biography of Roosevelt, and he provides excerpts from five other reviews of the work that highlight Dalton’s coverage of the role of women in Roosevelt’s life and that affirm Roosevelt as a moderate radical. Of Brian Thomsen’s collection of Roosevelt’s writings, The Man in the Arena, Gable says: “there is no reason to buy this book.”

Gable also reviews Marty F. Feess’s Theodore Roosevelt’s Arizona Boys which examines the life of the Arizona Rough Riders after the Spanish-American War and the many actions taken by their Colonel to help them succeed in their post-war lives. Henry J. Hendrix faults Warren Zimmermann’s First Great Triumph for injecting present day views into his analysis of the makers of foreign policy in Roosevelt’s presidency. Hendrix also examines A History of Memorial Day which traces the transformation of the holiday from a solemn occasion to a day of recreation. Jeremy M. Murphy highlights Gable’s chapter on the Roosevelts in his review of The White House: Actors and Observers, and he also notes the work’s use of the photographs  of Frances Benjamin Johnston.

An illustration and a photograph of Roosevelt supplement the text.

Charles W. Snyder examines the life of Theodore Roosevelt, President Theodore Roosevelt’s oldest son, who struggled to emerge from the long shadow cast by his famous father. Snyder provides a comprehensive biography of the younger Roosevelt, looking at his service in both world wars, his stints as Governor General of Puerto Rico and the Philippines, and his career in politics. Snyder also looks at the breach that developed between the Oyster Bay and Hyde Park, New York, branches of the Roosevelt family, and he examines Roosevelt’s opposition to the New Deal and his support of isolationism in the 1930s.

Ten photographs of Roosevelt appear in the article: three of these show Roosevelt with members of his family and six of them are from his service during World War II; a photograph of his home, Old Orchard, also illustrates the article. A text box with a listing of the officers of the Theodore Roosevelt Association is found on the second page of the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1991

Nicholas LaBella, the Superintendent of Youngs Memorial Cemetery, describes the organizations and groups that make pilgrimages and visits to Theodore Roosevelt’s grave during the course of a year. He notes that the Masons come in April and the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars in May. October, the month of Roosevelt’s birth, is the “busiest month for formal pilgrimages.” 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1978

Creator(s)

LaBella, Nicholas, 1934-2011

Two songs are included: “Glorious heroes of the great world war” and “For right and dear old glory.” On page four are quotes by and about Theodore Roosevelt, concerning the need to rouse slumbering patriotism and awaken a sense of duty to one’s country.

Collection

Dr. Danny O. Crew Theodore Roosevelt Sheet Music Collection

Creation Date

1918

Creator(s)

Curtice, J. F.

Kermit Roosevelt regrets that he and his family cannot visit Robert Harry Munro Ferguson this summer. He provides an update on many Roosevelt family members. Belle Roosevelt is searching for a new home for the family in New York.

Collection

Arizona Historical Society

Creation Date

1919-07-22

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Kermit, 1889-1943

Envelope featuring a black and white photograph of Quentin Roosevelt in uniform on the left side. In the center of the envelope is a circular stamp with an image of Theodore Roosevelt in the center with two rings around it. On the inner ring is printed “Memorial Day Celebration Home of Theodore Roosevelt” and on the outer ring is “Quentin Roosevelt Post No. 4 American Legion.”

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site

Creation Date

1929-05-30

Creator(s)

Unknown

Piano score for a one-step, march and two-step dedicated to the American Legion in memory of Theodore Roosevelt. Samples for other sheet music are included on the back cover.

Collection

Gregory A. Wynn Theodore Roosevelt Collection

Creation Date

1919

Creator(s)

Lincoln, Harry J., 1878-1937

Cartoon depicts Theodore Roosevelt dressed as a Rough Rider holding a horse labeled “American Legion” as he saluted the First Emergency Reserves. A typed note in the scrapbook says this cartoon is how the name American Legion came to be. Caption: An American Legion of 250,000 men, to act as a reserve army, is being formed. Colonel Roosevelt says he and his four sons will gladly join.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1915-03-03