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Theodore Roosevelt has invited members of the government, members of leading associations, and the Inland Waterways Commission to a Conference on the Conservation of Natural Resources. He also invites Postmaster General George von Lengerke Meyer.
Massachusetts Historical Society
1908-04-20
Theodore Roosevelt invites Postmaster General Meyer to a conference on the conservation of natural resources to be held at the White House from May 13 through May 15, 1908.
Massachusetts Historical Society
1908
George Meade Bowers replies to a letter from President Roosevelt regarding the status of the Golden Trout in the Mt. Whitney region of the California Sierras. Bowers describes the habitat and distribution of this fish, as well as risks to its extermination, and proposes a study by the Bureau of Fisheries to determine the necessary steps for its preservation.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-04-22
Robert Underwood Johnson thanks President Roosevelt for meeting with his son, journalist Owen Johnson. He discusses forest reform and the publication of Gifford Pinchot’s article in The Century Magazine. He is sending a book on forest destruction to Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-02-16
Advertising postcard for the Hastings Clothing Company. The front of the postcard features a “this day in history” calendar for December 1912, and a black and white portrait of Theodore Roosevelt with a short biography highlighting his focus on conservation issues. The reverse of the card encourages people to visit Hastings Clothing Company at Post and Grant Avenue, San Francisco.
1912-12-04
A booklet published by the Progressive National Committee. The publication lists the names of people in the Progressive Party’s administration and outlines the party’s ideals and goals. The Table of Contents is as follows: Organization of the National Service; Division of Administration – Organization of State Services, Office Organization; Department Work – Social and Industrial Justice, Conservation, Popular Government, Cost of Living and Corporation Control; Bureau of Education; Bureau of Legislative Reference.
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site
1913-03-31
In a fox hunting scene, a man labeled “Special Privilege” rides on a horse labeled “Congress” through “The People’s Field” labeled “Trade, Individualism, Enterprise, [and] Opportunity.” He is following several dogs labeled “Land Trust, Oil Trust, Coal, Metal Trust, Lumber Trust, [and] Franchise Grabber” in pursuit of a fox labeled “Natural Resource.”
The telling aspect of this cartoon by Udo J. Keppler is that a bloated hunter, “Special Privilege” is in pursuit of the fox labeled “Natural Resources,” and that he rides a horse representing Congress.
First day cover for a 4-cent forest conservation stamp. The stamp is green, brown, and yellow with a forest scene featuring two deer. Beneath the postmark is an image of Smokey the Bear with the message “Keep America Green.” Along the left side of the envelope is an illustration of a forest with a black and white portrait of Theodore Roosevelt labeled “An early forest conservationist.”
Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site
1958-10-27
The Spirit of the Forest talks to Uncle Sam, pointing to denuded hillsides as a result of the tariffs on the import of lumber and wood pulp. Caption: The Spirit of the Forest.–Will you wait until then to admit lumber free?
To twenty-first century eyes, this drawing by Udo J. Keppler presents a magnificent vista; Keppler, an outdoorsman and eventually man of the West and honorary member of Indian tribes, likely regretted a landscape bereft of trees and vegetation. Under the misty foreground cloud he pictured lumber trucks with logs.
A fat man labeled “Monopoly” feasts on a large piece of meat labeled “Alaska Natural Resources” while a beggar labeled “American Homesteader” lies at his feet asking only for the morsels that fall from the table. Caption: “Fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-11-16
In a dark, bleak mountainous landscape is a tunnel labeled “Private Monopoly.” Carved into the mountainside is “All Hope Abandon Conservationists Who Enter Here.” Two mountains have faces and are labeled “Water Power” and “Timber Interests.” A man is standing in the foreground holding a rolled-up paper labeled “Forest Preservation.”
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-01-19
A female spirit labeled “Public Spirit” warns two men cutting logs, of the consequences of deforestation.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1884-01-09
A tall male figure labeled “U.S. Public Land Grant” looks like a Trojan horse from which corrupt figures labeled “Land Grafter, Timber Grafter, Mineral Grafter, Corrupt Official, [and] Power Monopolist” emerge clutching a “Fraudulent Title” or a “Transferred Claim” seeking “Mineral Rights, Timber Rights, [and] Waterpower Rights” and other claims to public lands.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1909-11-24
Ray H. Mattison responds to Superintendent Hanks’s request for advice on the content of the address to be given at the dedication ceremony for Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park. Park Historian Mattison includes a number of Roosevelt quotations on a variety of topics and his opinion on the focus of the address.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
1949-05-21
Superintendent Hanks writes to Abner B. Larson of the Mandan Production Credit Association regarding the upcoming dedication ceremony for Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park. Hanks notes that the park wishes to invite people working on behalf of the conservation of natural resources at local, state, and federal levels and would appreciate Larson suggesting names of people to invite.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
1949-03-29
A man labeled “Warden,” armed with “Warrants,” carries measuring devices and a sheet of paper that states “Fish, Game, Forestry and Food Laws.” He stands next to a young tree, a calf, and a pond with fish and a lobster. On the right are two young, poorly dressed, and underfed children passing through a doorway into a building labeled “Entrance to Factory.” Inside are other children working with machinery. Caption: The government protects young fish, young oysters, young terrapin, young lobsters, young beef, and young trees. Is it not about time the same solicitude was shown for young human beings? They are more important than trout, or lobsters, or even forests.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1913-02-05
Theodore Roosevelt, with a big stick attached to his belt, attempts to rouse Uncle Sam to the cause of conservation of natural resources.
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site
1905-1915
This postcard includes a facsimile of the hotel’s register page for one day during the National Conservation Congress, which includes the signatures of William H. Taft, Theodore Roosevelt, and Gifford Pinchot.
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site
1910
A gigantic man labeled “National Resource Grafter” sits in a wilderness setting, passing sheets of paper to a group of men labeled “Land Office Official, Kept Judge, Congressman, Politician, [and] Senator” who are reading their “Oath of Office” on the papers given them which states “Franchises, Special Privileges, Land Patents, Mineral Rights, Tax Exemption, [and] Timber Grants.” In an insert, Benedict Arnold passes papers labeled “Plans of American Fortifications” to a British military officer. Caption: He betrayed his country then; they betray their country now.
It is interesting that in mid-Summer of a presidential campaign season, as the nominating conventions are meeting and public interest in partisanship would be intense, that Puck directs many of its cartoons to general issues and not to partisan attacks or defenses — that is, party politics. J. S. Pughe’s cartoon, for instance, focused on the increasing tendency toward — or increasingly exposed — corruption in the government’s land-use policies.
A group of men identified as “Land Grafter, Politician, Special Privilege, Timber Grafter, Mineral Grafter, Public Utilities, Corporation Lawyer, [and] Tariff Grafter” sit around a table getting Uncle Sam drunk on “Stand Pat Dope” mixed with a drink from a large punch bowl labeled “Our Natural Resources.” They are smoking “Vanity Perfectos” and two men, “Land Grafter” and “Timber Grafter,” are working together to pick Uncle Sam’s watch from his pocket. In the lower left corner, Joseph Gurney Cannon and Nelson W. Aldrich are pouring the “Stand Pat Dope” into his drink. Caption: “For he’s a jolly good fellow!”
Almost week after week, in the pages of his magazine Puck, Udo J. Keppler proved himself as one of the great political cartoonists of his time. As Puck was aging and gradually losing circulation, his influence waned, yet that neither diminished the brilliance or force of his cartoons, nor the value of his work to future researchers.
The value of political cartoon is often weighed by what it “says” but does not picture — the difficult construction of subtexts and implied statements — as much as what is obvious, and made more obvious with labels, captions, and tags.