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Lloyd C. Douglas writes to Theodore Roosevelt about a series of lectures John R. Mott is soon to give about spiritual life to students at the University of Illinois. Douglas is writing well-known men who know Mott’s work and soliciting brief letters of appreciation for him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-10-14
Harvard University President A. Lawrence Lowell enjoyed his visit to the White House, but missed the opportunity to speak with President Roosevelt about immigration law. Though Lowell knows Roosevelt will be too busy during his trip to Massachusetts to visit, he asks if Roosevelt could address Harvard to help students see the connection between their studies and “the battle of life.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-16
A photograph of Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (standing third from left) with other classmates at Harvard. It might be a photograph of members of Harvard’s Porcellian Club.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1905-1908
President Roosevelt writes his son Kermit to discuss barriers to electing Secretary of War William H. Taft to the presidency. He cites the defection in the black vote, big business, the labor’s unhappiness with the Republican Party, the unemployed, and the fact Taft is an Unitarian. Roosevelt also talks of Kermit’s start at college, their trip to Africa, and his first month back at the White House.
1908-10-20
Theodore Roosevelt writes his son Kermit about Archie, how he is getting on at Harvard, and what he plans to do in the future. Roosevelt also mentions Ethel visiting with her baby Richard, and how Roosevelt has gotten the whole family involved in burning brush heaps. Roosevelt says he is glad Belle married Kermit and he hopes they can come live in America again.
1915-02-17
President Roosevelt and the family enjoyed his son Kermit’s letters. Roosevelt is pleased at Kermit’s good start in college, and is particularly proud of his efforts in football and running. The weather in Washington is good, and Roosevelt is avoiding any “scramble walks” or jumping so that his leg will be healthy at the start of the trip in Africa. Roosevelt outlines five uncertain factors in the upcoming election, including the positions of corporations, the labor vote, the support of the unemployed, and a religious attack against William H. Taft.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-20
President Roosevelt has spoken with Edgar Huidekoper Wells about William R. Castle’s plan for Kermit Roosevelt to be able to graduate with his class after returning from his upcoming African safari, and both men agree with Castle’s advice. Roosevelt attributes his son Theodore Roosevelt’s graduation from Harvard University in only three years to Castle’s influence. Roosevelt regrets that neither Kermit nor Theodore Roosevelt will be able to visit Castle over the summer.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-27
President Roosevelt tells his son Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., that he is a bit bored of the sea but is otherwise having a good time. He feels proud of the nation aboard the battleship. Roosevelt asks Ted if he has read several books by T. Smollett and compares the conditions of those characters to his own at sea. He is happy to have had Ted with him in Washington, D. C., and he offers advice to him about college and growing up.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-14
President Roosevelt shares his anger with Frances Reginald Bangs about Boston Police Commissioner Stephen O’Meara’s “seeming indifference” to an attack by police on Roosevelt’s son, Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt also thanks Bangs for the kindness shown to Roosevelt’s son. He believes that an appearance in the newspapers will do his son harm among his classmates. Roosevelt says that even though his son was “acquitted,” he cannot expect much clear-headedness from college boys.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-17
If they come to lunch, President Roosevelt will explain to Caspar Whitney and Ralph Delahaye Paine why he cannot write an introduction for the book in question, even though he wants to. In a handwritten postscript, he asks Whitney to tell Paine that he agrees with what Paine says in the last Outing about the difficulties of college life.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-02-26
President Roosevelt extends good luck to the members of the class of 1907 and hopes that as adults they “prove their devotion to their alma mater by their loyalty to lofty ideals of duty.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-22
Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt explains to George R. Coleman that only his congressman can appoint him to the Naval Academy. The president has a limited number of appointments, but they are usually reserved for sons of naval officers.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1897-09-27
Edgar Huidekoper Wells updates President Roosevelt on Kermit Roosevelt’s course schedule and explains that splitting up the Greek course over two years would need to be approved by the administrative board. Wells thinks Roosevelt might like to know that Theodore Lyman had a successful hunting trip in British East Africa.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-05
Dean Wells writes to President Roosevelt about his son Ted’s grades. Wells hopes that Ted will do well with the rest of his college career now that freshman year is over.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-09
This postcard shows Shimbashi Station, one of Tokyo’s major railroad stations, with the large plaza and streets in front of it populated by pedestrians and rickshaws. At the time of the visit of the sailors of the Great White Fleet, many university students were there to meet the sailors and act as guides while practicing their English.
In Charles C. Myers’s own words, “This is the station where we arrive in Tokyo, Shimbashi Station.”
Carlos A. Valverde, the son of a Peruvian senator and minister who tried to settle trouble in Chile that led to a mob forming and burning the flag of Peru, is a student at Union college.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-03
A publication of the address by Owen Wister, graduate of Harvard University class of 1882, originally delivered at the award of academic distinctions. Wister discusses the importance of developing scholarship in the United States and gives examples of fine American ingenuity. He exhorts the assembled students at Harvard to become well-versed in a variety of fields.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-23
Theodore Roosevelt greets students and reminds them to consider the serious side of their work, as well as have a “thoroughly good time.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-05-19
President Roosevelt speaks at Cedar Falls, Iowa, about national greatness and higher education. He speaks to students about good citizenship as a way to show gratitude for higher education.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-06-02
Illustration shows a comic look at how a college education prepares a person for employment later in life. On the right, in a vertical series of six panels, from top to bottom, the most successful students are employed in a variety of menial tasks, while the one considered “such a boob” has the highest position and is now the one who employs the others. On the left, from top to bottom, are vignettes that invite before and after comparisons, for example, the college “yell leader” is now a barker at a sideshow.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1914-11-14