Your TR Source
President Roosevelt tells his son Kermit that Secretary of War William H. Taft’s victory in the presidential election seems assured, despite the American Protective Association’s movement among Protestants who are against Taft because he is Unitarian. Roosevelt also lashes out at some of the newspaper men he says spread lies. He closes by saying he was interested in Kermit’s letter to Mother.
1908-10-24
Theodore Roosevelt tells William Roscoe Thayer that he looks forward to receiving the book. Roosevelt discusses ultramontane attacks on schools and fundamental liberties, the American Protective Association (A.P.A.), cowardly newspapers, and his position on the tariff.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-01-31
President Roosevelt tells Republican National Committee Chairman Hitchcock about the steps that are being taken to counteract the bigotry that the American Protective Association is threatening. The Association is attacking William H. Taft for being a Unitarian and supporting Catholics and is also bringing up old accusations that Puerto Rico Governor Regis Henri Post was pro-Catholic.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-23
President Roosevelt encloses a letter from Hannibal L. Hamlin, regarding the campaign’s “religious issues.” He believes that Senator Lodge’s people might want to look into the situation. Roosevelt believes it is a branch of the old American Protective Association.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-23
Reverend Sole thanks President Roosevelt for his unexpected graciousness when Father Ketcham introduced them last October. He requests permission to repeat Roosevelt’s words from their meeting, and summarizes the points Roosevelt made about the treatment of Catholics. He was particularly heartened by Roosevelt’s antagonism towards the anti-Catholic American Protective Society. Sole assures Roosevelt that in the future, Catholics will be grateful for his policy decisions on “Catholic rights” issues.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-04
President Roosevelt encloses Senator George Frisbie Hoar’s letter. Roosevelt has asked Hoar to let him know if there is anything against Oliver Wendell Holmes or any reason why anyone else should be named to the United States Supreme Court. Roosevelt is choosing to ignore the “foolish letter” of Carl Schurz, Charles Francis Adams, and Herbert Welsh, but would like to make anti-imperialism a major issue in the congressional campaigns, because it gives the Republicans an advantage over the Democrats. In a handwritten postscript, Roosevelt notes that there has been a “ferocious Catholic” outbreak against William H. Taft, Governor-General of the Philippines, on behalf of the friars.
Massachusetts Historical Society
1902-07-30
Uncle Sam knocks the heads of two men together, a masked man on the left holding papers labeled “A.P.A. Un-American Intolerance” and, on the right, a member of the clergy holding papers labeled “Greed for Public School Funds.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1894-11-07
Theodore Roosevelt speaks before an Irish gathering in Boston and calls the American Protective Association (A.P.A.), an anti-Catholic secret society, an “evil movement” in the United States.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1893-11
Senator Lodge reports on the Massachusetts Republican state convention, including Senator George Frisbie Hoar’s proposed platform and its attack on the A.P.A. (American Protective Association, an anti-Catholic organization) by asserting a non-discrimination policy. He expresses optimism for the upcoming election.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1894-10-07