Your TR Source
Chronology of the daily life of Theodore Roosevelt from January 1871 to December 1878. Notable events include the Roosevelt family’s trip to Europe and Egypt, Roosevelt’s entrance to Harvard, the death of Theodore “Thee” Roosevelt, Roosevelt’s trip to Maine, and Roosevelt meeting Alice Hathaway Lee.
Theodore Roosevelt Association
1985
Moore, Robert J. (Robert John), 1956-; Theodore Roosevelt Association
Susan Sarna recounts the formation of a young Theodore Roosevelt as a naturalist, highlighting his enjoyment of books by Mayne Reid, his first gun, and the revelation he experienced when he was fitted for eyeglasses. Sarna notes Roosevelt’s taxidermy work and his overseas trip of 1872-1873 which gave him field experience in preparing bird skins. Photographs of Roosevelt’s first gun, examples of Reid’s books, two birds mounted by Roosevelt, and an excerpt from a bird guide accompany the text.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
2019
Robert Wexelblatt finds the title of Margaret P. Griffin’s The Amazing Bird Collection of Young Mr. Roosevelt “a little misleading” because the book explores more than Theodore Roosevelt’s penchant for studying, shooting, and mounting bird specimens. Wexelblatt quotes extensively from Griffin’s work to demonstrate that the book covers other aspects of Roosevelt’s life as a boy and teenager. Wexelblatt also touches on the audience the book aims for and the experience as a teacher that Griffin brought to her project.
Two photographs of Roosevelt, examples of his bird taxidermy and sketching, and the cover illustration of the book appear in the review.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
2015
In his review of Darrin Lunde’s The Naturalist: Theodore Roosevelt, a Lifetime of Exploration, and the Triumph of American Natural History, Lowell E. Baier identifies the two theses that animate the book: that Theodore Roosevelt was a world class museum naturalist and that he was the most important conservationist of his time. Baier provides context for and discusses many of Roosevelt’s encounters with the natural world, and he lists many of the explorers, writers, conservationists, and fellow hunters who shaped his thoughts and actions. Baier praises Lunde for placing Roosevelt’s hunting in the context of his times and for acknowledging that Roosevelt hunted for both sport and science, but he faults Lunde for not recognizing the adrenaline rush of hunting and for not treating Roosevelt’s conservation record as president in greater detail.
The front cover of Lunde’s book, two photographs, and three paintings by John Seerey-Lester populate the review.
Margaret P. Griffin chronicles the evolution of Theodore Roosevelt as a naturalist in the years 1874 and 1875. She highlights the creation of a “Natural History Society” composed of Roosevelt and several of his friends who shared nature observations, read papers, and organized outings. Griffin focuses on Roosevelt’s avid interest in ornithology, and she provides excerpts from Roosevelt’s notebooks to demonstrate his detailed knowledge of different species. Griffin notes Roosevelt’s encounters with the now extinct passenger pigeon, and she details the death of Frederick Sturges Osborn, one of Roosevelt’s closest friends and fellow ornithologist.
Seven photographs accompany the essay, including one of Roosevelt and another showing examples of his bird taxidermy.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
2014
Paul Russell Cutright examines Theodore Roosevelt’s first two published works: lists of birds found in the Adirondack mountains and in Oyster Bay, New York. Cutright explores Roosevelt’s friendship with H.D. Minot who coauthored The Summer Birds of the Adirondacks in Franklin County, N.Y., and he also looks at Roosevelt’s Notes on Some of the Birds of Oyster Bay, Long Island. Cutright reviews the field work that went into each pamphlet, discusses some of the birds found in each, and compares the information found in them to observations in Roosevelt’s natural history notebooks. He also highlights the publications in which the pamphlets have been reprinted, and he lists the museums, libraries, and institutions that have these rare works in their collections. Two pages of endnotes and a biography of Cutright supplement the text.
The first page of The Summer Birds of the Adirondacks in Franklin County, N.Y. appears twice in the article along with a photograph of the Snow owl donated to the American Museum of Natural History by Roosevelt.
Paul Russell Cutright examines the thirteen natural history notebooks that Theodore Roosevelt kept during his childhood and young adult years. He notes the dates, the subjects, and the locations of the observations kept in each notebook. Cutright focuses on Roosevelt’s love of birding and most of the notebook excerpts deal with this subject. He highlights Roosevelt’s skill at identifying birds by their calls and songs, notes his considerable observation skills, and credits various naturalists and friends who influenced Roosevelt.
Two photographs of Roosevelt as a child and young man and a full-page picture of a mounted snowy owl that Roosevelt prepared accompany the article.
A listing of the officers of the Theodore Roosevelt Association along with the members of the executive, finance, and Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace committees is on page two of the article.
In “The Sighting at Pine Knot, Virginia,” Alton A. Lindsay explores the question of whether Theodore Roosevelt was the last person to report a credible sighting of the extinct passenger pigeon near his presidential retreat, Pine Knot in Virginia, in 1907. Lindsay provides a history of Pine Knot and also looks at the making of Roosevelt as a naturalist going back to his childhood. He notes some of the defining experiences in Roosevelt’s life that made him a naturalist and conservationist, such as his time in the Dakota Badlands. Like other scholars he pushes back against the idea that Roosevelt was merely a man of action and asserts that he “was a man of intellect.”
He details Roosevelt’s sighting of a small flock of passenger pigeons in May 1907, and argues that Roosevelt’s history and experience as a naturalist and ornithologist lend credibility to his claims to have seen the birds.
A photograph of President Roosevelt and another showing the Pine Knot cabin from the side and rear accompany the article.