Your TR Source
President Roosevelt writes to his son Kermit to say that Ted’s eye is improving and Ted is back at Harvard. Roosevelt discusses Archie and Quentin playing, getting along with Edith, and the egg-rolling on Easter Monday. Roosevelt says he is busy with the disaster in San Francisco and is also focused on the Panama Canal issue and getting the rate bill passed.
1906-04-22
Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary provides information on Roosevelt’s actions after the 1908 Messina earthquake. The USS Celtic, already filled with provisions for the Atlantic fleet, was ordered to Messina and Roosevelt successfully encouraged Congress to pass a large appropriation for relief. He also assisted the Red Cross with their efforts.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-10-28
Theodore Roosevelt expresses his thanks, through Italian Ambassador Cusani-Confalonieri, to King Victor Emmanuel III and the people of Italy. Roosevelt maintains he was merely carrying out the desires of the American people in responding to the calamity.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-19
Theodore Roosevelt tells John St. Loe Strachey, editor of the London Spectator, that he is mistaken in believing that the American public will acknowledge Roosevelt as a leader again. Roosevelt does, however, believe that what he has said will influence public opinion and they will see that his position was right. Roosevelt sends two of his articles about the Lusitania disaster to Strachey, which were and are still not popular. Roosevelt sends his regards to Strachey’s daughter and wife and is glad their house has become an emergency hospital. Roosevelt will write James Bryce expressing his approval of Bryce’s report on German atrocities.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-05-29
President Roosevelt confirms his previous verbal orders to Secretary of the Navy Newberry that the Celtic be sent to Messina, Italy, immediately, and the Culgoa be sent there after giving the necessary supplies to the Great White Fleet. (Both ships were sent to Messina with supplies to assist with disaster relief in the wake of a recent earthquake.)
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-02
President Roosevelt informs Senator Hale that he has spoken with Secretary of State Elihu Root and Ambassador Lloyd Carpenter Griscom about the situation in Italy. Italy’s need for funds in the wake of its recent disaster is very great, and Roosevelt believes that it would not be safe to appropriate less than half a million dollars, in addition to the rations on the two supply ships that have already been sent.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-04
President Roosevelt has spoken with Secretary of State Elihu Root and Ambassador Lloyd Carpenter Griscom about the recent disaster in Italy, and tells Speaker of the House Cannon that he does not think it would be safe to appropriate less than half a million dollars to send for disaster relief, in addition to the rations already sent. (Southern Italy had suffered a massive earthquake on December 28, 1908, nearly destroying the cities of Messina and Reggio Calabria)
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-04
President Roosevelt thanks German Emperor William II for the letter and book, which were presented to him by the new German ambassador Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff. Roosevelt praises the previous German ambassador, Hermann Speck von Sternburg, but says that the new ambassador appears to be a very able man. He would be pleased to accept the invitation to speak at the University of Berlin after his African safari, and hopes to meet with William II when he is there. Roosevelt additionally comments on other major events around the world, including the recent Sicilian earthquake, the progress of the Great White Fleet on its journey, and the state of affairs in China.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-02
President Roosevelt approves Secretary of the Navy Newberry’s suggestion regarding the Culgoa, and directs that it proceed to Messina, Italy, as soon as it has distributed the necessary supplies to the Great White Fleet. (Italy had recently suffered a major earthquake, and supplies were needed there for disaster relief.)
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-02
President Roosevelt tells Chairman Patrick F. McGowan of the American Italian General Relief Committee that even though he cannot attend the meeting in person, he hopes that the Committee’s meeting at Madison Square Garden is a success. Roosevelt is doing everything he can do to help alleviate Italian suffering, including dispatching several ships of supplies, and will ask Congress for more. (Italy had recently suffered a devastating earthquake.)
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-02
William Loeb encloses a check for Theodore Roosevelt, which should be applied through the Red Cross for relief of earthquake victims in Italy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-12-31
In the wake of a tornado outbreak in Mississippi, President Roosevelt informs Governor Noel of the legal channels through which the War Department will dispatch aid and personnel, and provides him with the names of people to ask for aid. The Red Cross is also sending aid and nurses.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-02
President Roosevelt informs Mississippi Governor Noel that three surgeons have been ordered to inquire with him whether their services are needed. The National Red Cross Society will contact Noel to find out how many nurses are needed. (Mississippi had been hit with a tornado outbreak several days prior.)
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-27
President Roosevelt offers Mississippi Governor Edmond Favor Noel sympathy and federal aid following destructive tornadoes in Mississippi.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-26
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-04-10
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
English
President Roosevelt thanks Emperor Meiji of Japan for the kind letter he received referencing the contributions of the American Red Cross Society for the relief of famine in northeastern Japan. Roosevelt now thanks Meiji in turn for the generosity and sympathy the Japanese people have shown the people of San Francisco in the wake of the earthquake there.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-11
President Roosevelt confirms receipt of Acting Secretary of the Treasury Taylor’s report on the assistance given by the Revenue Cutter Service to the people of San Francisco and has ordered it to be made public. He thanks Taylor and all the officers and enlisted men of the service for providing “prompt, gallant and efficient work.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-31
President Roosevelt is sorry to report that it is impossible for the Federal Government to act as William D. Sohier believes it should regarding disaster relief in San Francisco. The Army will be finished with its work in San Francisco in nine days, and the government will have no further power there. Neither will the National Red Cross be able to advantageously act, “save through the local committees.” Roosevelt has forwarded Sohier’s letter to Secretary of War William H. Taft.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-21
President Roosevelt thanks Danforth Geer and the members of the Hoosac Club for their donation of $405 to go towards disaster relief in San Francisco, California. Roosevelt has given the check to Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Charles Hallam Keep as he is Treasurer of the Red Cross.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-05-04
President Roosevelt gives Secretary of Commerce and Labor Metcalf a list of people to meet with in San Francisco, California, once he arrives.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-04-22