Blum, John Morton, 1921-2011

The “Book Notes” column has two separate articles dealing with the historiography of Theodore Roosevelt. In “Paperbacks on T.R.,” John A. Gable looks at seven works, mostly biographies and mostly published in the 1960s, about Theodore Roosevelt and notes the contributions that each makes to the study of Roosevelt. Frederick W. Marks reviews ‘A Good Innings’: The Private Papers of Viscount Lee of Fareham in “A Special English Friend: Arthur Hamilton Lee.” Marks traces the history of the Roosevelt-Lee friendship, examines the editing of the volume by Alan Clark, and remarks on Lee’s descriptions of prominent Americans. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1977

Description of the ceremony surrounding the dedication of new library space at Harvard for the Theodore Roosevelt Collection, a reading alcove, and exhibit space across three separate libraries. The article notes the benefactors for the facilities, the speakers at the ceremony, and provides a brief description of each of the new spaces dedicated to furthering the study of Theodore Roosevelt. It also gives a history of the collection and of the Theodore Roosevelt Association’s role in amassing and safeguarding its contents. The article is accompanied by two pictures which show some of the dignitaries at the ceremony and the other is of a young Roosevelt during his student days at Harvard.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1976

G. Wallace Chessman looks at the evolving historiography of the study of Theodore Roosevelt and places his own work on Roosevelt’s time as Governor of New York within that framework. He asserts that Roosevelt’s reputation suffered in the 1930s with the publication of Henry Pringle’s biography (Theodore Roosevelt: A Biography), but the work of historians such as George Mowry and John Blum served as a correction to Pringle’s work. Chessman argues that the 1930s, with its isolationism in foreign affairs and its hostility to big business, further undermined Roosevelt’s standing.

Chessman argues that as Governor of New York, Roosevelt mostly took stands that should be viewed as “progressive,” and that he successfully navigated a course between obedience to the New York political machine led by Thomas Platt and his own reform agenda. He says that Roosevelt’s time as governor prepared him for the presidency, and he concludes his essay by contending that Roosevelt, however much he loved the American West, should primarily be seen as a man of New York City: “T.R. was surely an urban man.”

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Historian Ray H. Mattison responds to H. Raymond Gregg, the regional chief of interpretation, regarding a proposal that the National Park Service make an intensive investigation of Theodore Roosevelt’s personal papers in order to gather information to make an archaeological investigation of the Elkhorn Ranch site. Mattison notes that he and others have already made thorough investigations into the relevant materials, and he believes there would be little to gain from retreading the same materials. He agrees, however, that the Elkhorn Ranch deserves a detailed study.

Collection

Midwest Archeological Center

Creation Date

1958-09-22