Cutright, Paul Russell, 1897-1988

Mark W.T. Harvey begins his review of Douglas Brinkley’s The Wilderness Warrior by noting that it is a very large book with much to say, but Harvey asserts that in his zeal to convey the story of Theodore Roosevelt as a conservation crusader, Brinkley tries to cover too much, provides too many details, and overwhelms the reader with his accumulation of facts and anecdotes. Harvey also argues that this barrage of knowledge comes at the expense of analysis and interpretation, and he believes that Brinkley lets his enthusiasm for his subject overtake the need for a critical perspective. Harvey contends that Brinkley does not adequately explore what terms like conservation, preservation, and wilderness meant in Roosevelt’s time and how Roosevelt acted to fulfill the meaning of these designations. Although he faults Brinkley for making Roosevelt too much of “a conservation hero,” Harvey concludes his review with praise for Brinkley for raising the profile of Roosevelt as an unrestrained lover of nature and a bold leader in the fight to conserve the nation’s natural resources.

The front cover illustration of The Wilderness Warrior, one of Roosevelt’s bird lists, two photographs of the Elkhorn Ranch, and seven photographs of Roosevelt accompany the essay.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2011

Gregory A. Wynn describes three lists of birds made by Theodore Roosevelt in 1877, 1879, and 1908. Wynn notes the rarity of these lists, and he remarks at how they demonstrate Roosevelt’s deep knowledge of birds, especially of their songs. Wynn provides the context for the assembling and publication of each list, and he highlights Roosevelt’s bird watching with Viscount Edward Grey in England in 1910 and the contributions made to Roosevelt scholarship by Paul Russell Cutright. The first page of each list appears in the essay along with a photograph of Wynn.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2010

Creator(s)

Wynn, Gregory A.

Char Miller explores the use and evolution of the Antiquities Act of 1906, which President Theodore Roosevelt made extensive use of during his second term in office. Miller notes how the Act emerged from the Progressive movement with its faith in a strong central government and trained experts. Miller notes that the Act has been seen as part of the growing power of the executive branch of government, but he notes that the national monuments created by the Act lacked protection and development for decades until the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Miller highlights national monuments such as Devils Tower, Navajo National Monument, and the Grand Canyon. 

The article includes five photographs of Roosevelt in 1895, 1903, 1910, 1911, and 1914.

Tweed Roosevelt asks why there has been so little consideration of Theodore Roosevelt’s record as a conservationist. He reviews some of the major biographies and histories of Roosevelt and his time and finds that their examination of Roosevelt as a conservationist is scanty at best. Tweed Roosevelt identifies Roosevelt’s father, Theodore Roosevelt, and his uncle, Robert Barnwall Roosevelt, as important figures in shaping Roosevelt’s interest in the natural world, and he surveys the actions taken by Roosevelt as Governor of New York and President of the United States to safeguard rivers, forests, birds, and natural wonders such as the Grand Canyon. 

Two photographs of Theodore Roosevelt and one of Robert Barnwall Roosevelt supplement the text. 

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Seventeen topics compete for attention in the ten pages of this edition of the “News and Notes” section. The restoration of Sagamore Hill National Historic Site by the National Park Service and the acquisition of Theodore Roosevelt’s rustic retreat, Pine Knot, by the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) receive extensive coverage. The section also highlights the ninetieth anniversary of the establishment of Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge and the visit by President Bill Clinton to the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt.

“News and Notes” covers the various student awards and contests sponsored by the TRA as well as the natural history research grants given by the American Museum of Natural History. The section also provides information about the Woman’s Roosevelt Memorial Association and defends Roosevelt’s stance on women’s issues. An article by Bill Bleyer about the restoration of Sagamore Hill is reprinted in “News and Notes” along with a letter from a TRA member who complains about the glorification of Roosevelt in the pages of the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal.

Seven photographs of various subjects, including Sagamore Hill, Pine Knot, and the USS Theodore Roosevelt appear in the section.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Variety marks the “News and Notes” column as it covers twelve topics over five pages. The first three topics involve awards and prizes conferred in 1988, and describe the Theodore Roosevelt Public Speaking Contest for the New York public schools, research grants from the American Museum of Natural History, and the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize. The column reprints Tweed Roosevelt’s address on the 100 year anniversary of Arbor Day in Albany, New York, and notes the passing of Paul Russell Cutright who wrote two books about Roosevelt as a naturalist. “News and Notes” also highlights the speaking engagements of John A. Gable, promotes the Theodore Roosevelt Association’s publication of a collection of Roosevelt’s speeches, The Man in the Arena, and refutes assertions made in the media that Roosevelt believed in astrology.

A photograph from the finals of the public speaking contest, an illustration of Roosevelt, and one of both sides of the Theodore Roosevelt Association medallion appear in the column.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1988

Three book reviews, a book notice, and a look at Paul Russell Cutright’s career comprise the “Book Reviews” section. In “TR: The Making of a Conservationist,” Lewis L. Gould reviews Cutright’s Theodore Roosevelt: The Making of a Conservationist and notes that the work covers the formative years of Roosevelt’s life better than his first work on Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt: The Naturalist. Gould says that Cutright challenges some of the assumptions made by David McCullough about Roosevelt’s childhood asthma. John A. Gable discusses Cutright’s two works on Roosevelt, lists his publications in the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal, and reviews his teaching career and publications in “Paul Russell Cutright: Historian of Natural History.” 

In “Presidential Children,” Gable gives a scathing review of Sandra L. Quinn and Sanford Kanter’s America’s Royalty: All the Presidents’ Children. Gable notes that the book is riddled with factual errors and that it has a “truly pathetic” bibliography. Gable also reviews Richard H. Collin’s Theodore Roosevelt, Culture, Diplomacy, and Expansion and notes that Roosevelt’s foreign policy was impacted by American culture and by the need to counter the imperialism of the leading European states. The section concludes with a notice about the publication of Between Ocean and Empire: An Illustrated History of Long Island which includes an essay on Roosevelt and Sagamore Hill written by Gable. 

This edition of the “News and Notes” section opens with a report on the annual meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA). The report notes the election of new members and classes of the Board of Trustees and of the TRA’s leadership for 1985-1986. The section also covers the TRA’s involvement in the Outward Bound program and the granting of the first Theodore Roosevelt Scholarship for that program, the results of the Theodore Roosevelt Public Speaking Contest for the New York City public high schools, and the passing of Philippa Jeffries Roosevelt. 

The section also covers the “first scholarship conference devoted entirely to TR” at Canisius College in Buffalo, New York, which was held in October 1985. It also notes new works on Theodore Roosevelt, a panel on Roosevelt’s foreign policy to be held at the meeting of the Organization of American Historians, and highlights the work of Frederick W. Marks and Serge Ricard on Roosevelt’s diplomacy found in this issue. The section closes with a notice that Edmund Morris has signed a contract to write a biography of President Ronald Reagan. 

Photographs of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, and of Edmund Morris are included in the section.

John A. Gable provides a comprehensive accounting of the conservation record of President Theodore Roosevelt, and in ten quotations dating from 1905 to 1912, Roosevelt explains his philosophy of conservation. Roosevelt stresses that natural resources must be carefully managed for future generations and that conservation is the most important issue facing the country. Gable lists the 21 reclamation projects, 150 national forests, 51 bird refuges, and 4 national game preserves established by Roosevelt during his presidency. Gable also lists the 5 national parks and 18 national monuments created during Roosevelt’s tenure. He also notes the 7 different commissions and conferences called by Roosevelt during his presidency to study issues related to conservation and natural resources.

Photographs of Roosevelt at the dedication of the Roosevelt Dam in Arizona, at a federal bird refuge in Louisiana, and on horseback supplement the text.

A listing of the officers of the Theodore Roosevelt Association along with the members of its executive, finance, and Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace committees is included in the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Much of this edition of the “News and Notes” section revisits and elaborates on articles published in this issue of the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal. “The TR Exhibit at the Johnson Library” quotes from the remarks made by William Davison Johnston, President of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA), at the library, notes the gifts given by the TRA to Lady Bird Johnson, and promotes the exhibit’s catalogue. The section also provides excerpts from a letter written by the leadership of the TRA to President Ronald Reagan thanking him for visiting the graves of General Theodore Roosevelt and Quentin Roosevelt in June 1984, and it notes that this issue of the journal is dedicated to Jean Schermerhorn Roosevelt.

The section also touches on some of the awards given to high school students by the TRA and highlights talks on Roosevelt presented at Lamar University in Texas and at Sagamore Hill. It also revisits the TRA Police Award ceremony in New York City and cites the contributions of Paul Russell Cutright and the National Geographic Society to the article on President Roosevelt’s conservation record.

An illustration of a bronze medallion depicting Theodore Roosevelt, two photographs of Lady Bird Johnson, and a photograph of Roosevelt speaking are found in the section.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

In “News of the Association,” John A. Gable discusses plans for the Quasquicentennial of Theodore Roosevelt’s birth during 1982 and 1983. He provides a detailed look at an article about Roosevelt’s conservation legacy in National Geographic Magazine and also examines Paul Schullery’s article about Roosevelt and fishing in The American Fly Fisher. Gable discusses Roosevelt’s use of the Antiquities Act, notes the passing of members of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA), and quotes extensively from a letter from Alton A. Lindsay praising the value of the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal to scholars. Gable notes the TRA’s support of the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in Buffalo, New York, praises the documentary film My Father the President about life at Sagamore Hill, and acknowledges the work of Wallace Finley Dailey of Harvard University in compiling a bibliography of journal and magazine articles about Roosevelt.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1982

Creator(s)

Gable, John A.

William J. Kolodnicki praises Paul Russell Cutright and Michael J. Brodhead for their biography of Elliott Coues, an important figure in the history of American ornithology whose Key to North American Birds helped develop the birding skills of Theodore Roosevelt. John A. Gable reviews Howard W. Allen’s Poindexter of Washington: A Study in Progressive Politics about Miles Poindexter and his transformation from progressive to conservative in the first quarter of the twentieth century. David G. McCullough asserts that a photograph of a young Roosevelt that is usually captioned as Roosevelt preparing to box actually shows him dressed to row.

A full page photograph of Roosevelt dressed to row with McCullough’s explanatory caption makes up the third page of the “Book Notes” column.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1982

This “News Notes” column covers the latest in Theodore Roosevelt scholarship from contributions to the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal to the issuance of paperback versions of books on Roosevelt to listing the latest articles published on Roosevelt in historical journals. It also notes speeches and an interview given by the executive director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, John A. Gable.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1982

Creator(s)

Unknown