California

A man labeled “California” and a man labeled “Jap” fight over a picnic basket full of food labeled “Public Schools,” threatening to capsize their boat. Uncle Sam looks on, holding a fishing pole that has three fish on it, says, “Quit it! Quit it!”

comments and context

Comments and Context

Anti-Japanese prejudice in California was so rife at this time, that the state attempted to exclude Japanese immigrants from public schools. It was a public and ugly controversy, spearheaded by, among others, San Francisco publisher William Randolph Hearst. He fanned the flames of prejudice through cartoons — more effective with his readers than printed editorials — once showing a Japanese schoolboy hiding plans to invade the West Coast in his textbook.

A “California Congressman” pokes a beehive labeled “Trouble with Japan,” out of which angry bees are attacking the congressman.

comments and context

Comments and Context

This cartoon illustrates a fractious problem of President Roosevelt’s second term, the persistent and sometimes ugly anti-Asian prejudice on the West Coast — mostly in California; mostly aimed at Japanese immigrants, more than other “Orientals.”

Uncle Sam sits in a chair smoking a pipe as a man labeled “California” and “States Rights” pleads with him. On a map of the United States in the background, an explosion appears over California; and newspapers in the foreground display headlines like “President’s Message Stirs Up Storm in San Francisco” and “California Dissatisfied.”

comments and context

Comments and Context

The year 1906 was possibly the busiest of President Roosevelt’s presidency. It was the high-water mark of the Muckrakers, the journalists, authors, and reformers who explosively attacked corruption in American business and finance. Congress passed many reform laws, and the administration promulgated many regulations, in many areas of American life from conservation to corporate affairs. The president engaged himself in battles with trust moguls like Edward Henry Harriman (whom the president called an unfit citizen); and other magnates like John D. Rockefeller had to defend themselves in lawsuits. Roosevelt’s own affairs included the Simplified Spelling and “Nature Fakir” crusades; and the controversy over dismissed Black soldiers in Brownsville, Texas, occupied his attention.

Mrs. M. L. Tanner wants to know if anything has been done regarding a California woman attending the Red Cross Convention in St. Petersburg.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-04-07

A conference was held to discuss the Mitchell-Kahn Chinese bill which has become objectionable to the Pacific Coast and labor interests due to several amendments. It was determined that all of the amendments recommended by the House Committee on Foreign Affairs would need to be opposed.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-03-23

Mrs. Henry A. Alexander, Eleanor Butler Roosevelt’s mother, in California, 1892.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1892

Theodore Roosevelt writes his son Kermit to discuss the honor list of animal kills from the Camp Fire Club and tell him he does not have to join the club unless he really wants to. He is glad Kermit ran in the 1,000 yard race and glad he has decided to stop training. Roosevelt says his trip to Chicago was a success but he is worked to the limit. He will be heading west soon to see Roosevelt Dam and the Grand Canyon, and perhaps to make some speeches in California.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1911-03-02

President Roosevelt writes to his son Kermit about finishing a speech and making more plans for their African trip including vaccinations and rifle practice. He is struggling with Congress to get battleships, to settle the California/Japan matter, and over Congress asking for confidential information from Commissioner of Corporations Herbert Knox Smith.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1909-01-23

President Roosevelt writes his son Kermit about recent guests at the White House and taking walks. Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt needed a break and took Ethel Roosevelt away for forty-eight hours on the Sylph. He says his hands are full with California trying to keep Japanese out of their schools. Congress is refusing to provide fortifications for the Philippines and Hawaii or allow Roosevelt to build up the navy. Kermit has taken notes on the envelope.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1907-02-04

President Roosevelt writes to his son Kermit about a planned trip by Mother, Edith, Archie, and Quentin aborted due to the snow. Roosevelt has been negotiating with the Californians over their discriminating against Japanese children. Roosevelt laments that there are problems with everything he is trying to accomplish, then closes the letter by discussing the work of Mark Twain and Robert Browning.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1907-02-16

President Roosevelt writes to his son Kermit to say he has a letter of James Monroe that he is keeping for Kermit. Edith has taken Ethel and Archie away for a few days, and Roosevelt relates a story about Archie’s football team and the dogs. Roosevelt adds that he is horribly bothered by California’s approach to immigration rules regarding the Japanese and is worried it may lead to war with Japan. He closes by saying he is taking Quentin to hear a sermon by the former Rough Rider chaplain. Kermit has taken notes on the back of the envelope.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1906-10-27

Speech regarding Abraham Lincoln, the Whig party, the Republican party, Progressives, and California. A note by Nancy Harper Carston is enclosed, identifying Hiram Johnson as Theodore Roosevelt’s running mate in 1912.

Collection

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

Creation Date

1912

Lincoln Steffens discusses with William Loeb when it would be possible for him to meet President Roosevelt to discuss the Presidential election. Steffens talks about an article for Wall Street that he thought was bad, but may include the information in another article that he is working on. He also discusses some other issues related to the conventions.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-06-13

A female figure holds out a crown labeled “The New Frisco,” fashioned after a city skyline. A bear sits on the ground next to her and, in the background, are 16th or 17th century sailing ships. The context of this cover cartoon is the destruction of San Francisco three weeks previous, and the city’s hopes for renewal.

comments and context

Comments and Context

This Hassmann cover, an elegant and sunny poster-like statement, was Puck‘s first response to the horrendous San Francisco earthquake of April 18, 1906, approximately three weeks earlier. Exigencies of planning, publishing, and distributing a weekly magazine with a cover date that was usually a week later than the printing sometimes led Puck to miss events related to daily headlines, or address them after the major components of the story.

President Roosevelt sitting on the edge of a cliff

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1904-11-08

President Roosevelt standing in front of a sequoia

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-07-18

President Roosevelt and others in a vehicle passing through a tunnel in the trunk of a giant sequoia tree.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-07-18

President Roosevelt and others in a vehicle passing through a tunnel in the trunk of a giant sequoia tree.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-07-18

President Roosevelt and others in a vehicle passing through a tunnel in the trunk of a giant sequoia tree.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-07-18

President Roosevelt in hiking attire standing on Glacier Point, Yosemite.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-07-18