American Museum of Natural History

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edward North Buxton

President Roosevelt asks Edward North Buxton for clarification about hunting guns and safari guides. Roosevelt would likely avoid hunting in the reserves, as the idea bothers him, and he would also like to avoid all press coverage and fanfare while out on Alfred E. Pease’s ranch. He enjoys hearing of Edward North Buxton and Emily Digby Buxton’s life together, and writes that he and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt have spent time over the summer taking rides and going out on the water, while Ted Roosevelt gets ready to go into business. In a postscript, Roosevelt writes that he would like to avoid the reserves completely, but wonders if it would be possible to hunt one or two potentially restricted specimens outside the reserve, for the National Museum.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-10

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John Lewis Childs

President Roosevelt tells John Lewis Childs that he recently shot a yellow-throated or Dominican warbler for purposes of identification and gave the skin to the American Museum of Natural History. Roosevelt also came across a recently hatched spotted sandpiper the other day while riding.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-20

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John Burroughs

Theodore Roosevelt would be glad to have a book made of the Yellowstone sketch. Roosevelt cut the clover quickly and was not thinking about nests until afterward. Roosevelt asks Burroughs if he has Chapman’s book on the warblers. Roosevelt feels that he has become “a little like a nature faker myself.” He is interested in a chipmunk that crosses the tennis court during games.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Sophia A. Preusch to Theodore Roosevelt

Sophia A. Preusch was inspired to write Theodore Roosevelt because she opened a dictionary at the word “delightful.” She says she saw Roosevelt during his 1910 parade in New York, and supposes he has read about her, describing herself as a troublemaker. She inquires after Oyster Beach, talks about museums, and sends well wishes to Roosevelt’s family.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-14

Creator(s)

Preusch, Sophia A. (Sophia Anna), 1878-1932

Letter from Charles D. Walcott to Theodore Roosevelt

Charles D. Walcott acknowledges a letter from Theodore Roosevelt from earlier in the month regarding collections from Roosevelt’s African safari and the American Museum of Natural History, addressing some of his questions and concerns specifically about white rhinoceros specimens and a research paper on giant elands. Walcott agrees with Roosevelt that the collections should be used by the museum and may send Waldron DeWitt Miller to discuss things with Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-13

Creator(s)

Walcott, Charles D. (Charles Doolittle), 1850-1927

Memorandum from Newton Bishop Drury to Lawrence C. Merriam

National Park Service Director Drury highlights the investigatory process of locating the Elkhorn Ranch and provides several recommendations for further inquiry.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Creation Date

1948-04-21

Creator(s)

Drury, Newton Bishop, 1889-1978

Theodore Roosevelt memorial hall and statue

Statue of Theodore Roosevelt and facade of the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall at the American Museum of Natural History.

Collection

Dickinson State University

Creation Date

Unknown

Creator(s)

Unknown

Letter from Ray H. Mattison to Josephine D. Kimball

Historian Ray H. Mattison will attempt to contact the American Museum of Natural History regarding the Elkhorn Ranch diorama. He is sending a complimentary copy of Theodore Roosevelt and the Dakota Badlands.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Creation Date

1959-01-20

Creator(s)

Mattison, Ray H., 1903-1980

Letter from Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt to Frank M. Chapman

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary writes Frank M. Chapman to ask to borrow “the frog swallowing the lizard” which Roosevelt sent to the museum several months ago. The loan is for Mrs. Ella May Howland, the wife of the publisher of The Outlook, and the bearer of the letter will undertake to return it after a day or two.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-06-12

Creator(s)

Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles D. Walcott

Theodore Roosevelt asks Charles D. Walcott if he knows when Edmund Heller is set to publish a certain study based on what the group discovered on a recent trip, as Roosevelt is anxious to make a permanent record of their travels. Roosevelt also asks when Walcott will send a pair of rhinoceros to the American Museum of Natural History where they will be displayed.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-05

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edmund Heller

Theodore Roosevelt is obliged to Edmund Heller for the interesting letter. Roosevelt discusses the hunting abilities and experience of Charles Jesse Jones, Paul James Rainey, and R. J. Cunninghame. Roosevelt also discusses his article Concealing and Revealing Coloration in Birds and Mammals.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frederic Augustus Lucas

Theodore Roosevelt gives Frederic A. Lucas, Director of the American Museum of Natural History, consent for a case to be given to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. Roosevelt mounted the Egyptian birds in winter 1873 and 1874 and an owl at the time it was shot.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-28

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frank M. Chapman

Theodore Roosevelt submits footnotes and changes to galley proofs reviewing Abbott H. Thayer’s article in the July issue of Popular Science Monthly. The changes focus on concealing coloration of some species.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-11

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frank M. Chapman

Theodore Roosevelt writes Frank M. Chapman of his wish that he could work exclusively as a naturalist — or the more modern “biologist.” He will look at Camps and Cruises, page 235, to see how Chapman views the relationship between color and haunt and may include a few sentences if the galley proofs of Roosevelt’s article arrive. Roosevelt is “well aware that there are plenty of men who could have done this criticism much better” and he would rather do the work than have it left undone. He encloses a page to go in an appropriate place and will include a long footnote to address Thayer’s Popular Science Monthly criticism, even though Thayer’s opinion changes from one page to another.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-05

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Fairfield Osborn

Theodore Roosevelt will be away the following week, so he chooses June 16 for his meeting with Henry Fairfield Osborn. Roosevelt is sending a corrected copy of his manuscript and wishes Osborn to return the other one. If Osborn is interested in the manuscript, then Roosevelt will illustrate it by drawing specimens from the American Museum of Natural History. Roosevelt asks if Osborn has gotten the white rhinoceros skin and praises William T. Hornaday’s mounted rhinoceros head.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Fairfield Osborn

Theodore Roosevelt is working on the article, but is not sure if Henry Fairfield Osborn would care to publish it. Roosevelt is not doing much research in other books, because he would like it to be based on what he has observed. Roosevelt also believes there have been facts on the cougar that have been overlooked.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-05-08

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt to Charles N. Sellers

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary advises Charles N. Sellers to write to Frank M. Chapman at the American Museum of Natural History for the information he needs.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-25

Creator(s)

Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Fairfield Osborn

Theodore Roosevelt believes that Carl Ethan Akeley should be satisfied with getting a bull elephant with tusks that weigh sixty pounds apiece while in Africa. Roosevelt is starting a study of concealing coloration and asks Henry Fairfield Osborn if the American Museum would be interested in publishing such a study. Roosevelt is disappointed that no one in the scientific community has questioned the absurdities in Abbott Handerson Thayer’s book on the subject. Roosevelt adds that he would like to come to the Museum in a few days to see Osborn and Frank M. Chapman.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-21

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Mary Cynthia Dickerson

Theodore Roosevelt only has time to send Mary Cynthia Dickerson a brief article. He would like the photographs she mentioned if Scribner’s agrees to reproduce them.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1910-12-13

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Fairfield Osborn

Theodore Roosevelt tells Henry Fairfield Osborn, President of the American Museum of Natural History, that he hopes he and Henry Fairfield Osborn can get Ham Fish into the museum. Roosevelt also encloses a letter of Fish’s. In the future, Roosevelt will take Osborn up on his invitation to get lunch and let Osborn show him the American Museum of Natural History.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-03-01

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919