Documentary television programs

William N. Tilchin reviews Ken Burns’s documentary film The Roosevelts: An Intimate History about Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Eleanor Roosevelt. Tilchin examines all seven episodes of the documentary, and he largely praises the latter episodes devoted to the Hyde Park Roosevelts while expressing serious reservations about the first two episodes centered on Theodore Roosevelt. Tilchin criticizes the treatment of Roosevelt’s service prior to and during the Spanish-American War by Burns and by three “talking head” commentators, and he admonishes the film for its coverage of Roosevelt’s presidential diplomacy. Tilchin also faults Burns for failing to recognize the evil nature of Joseph Stalin’s reign over the Soviet Union. Overall, Tilchin finds much to like in the film, but he believes that it will never be seen as “a masterpiece.”

The review is supplemented with twenty-six images over ten pages from the Theodore Roosevelt Collection at Harvard University and by three illustrations of the DVD set from the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2015

Fourteen topics across eleven pages comprise this edition of the “News and Notes” section. The section covers some of the Theodore Roosevelt Association’s (TRA) annual awards, including police awards, and the public speaking contests in and around New York City. It highlights the passing of Sarah Alden Derby Gannett, a grand daughter of Theodore Roosevelt, author Michael Teague, and Teddie R. Bell Kaltenbacher, a girl famously named after Roosevelt. “News and Notes” also provides updates on the effort to secure Roosevelt the Medal of Honor, the schedule for the “Theodore Roosevelt: Icon of the American Century” exhibit of the National Portrait Gallery, and production of the index for volume XXII of the TRA Journal.

Six photographs, three from the police award ceremonies, two from the speaking contests, and one of the Gannett family, supplement the text.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1999

The “News and Notes” section highlights the expansion of the Theodore Roosevelt Association’s (TRA) Public Speaking Contests and Police Awards to Long Island, New York, and it provides notices of the deaths of three TRA members who served on the association’s Board of Trustees. The section also notes an upcoming PBS documentary on Theodore Roosevelt, considers the operation of Sagamore Hill in the face of budget cuts, and includes a recollection of Roosevelt by Frank Ross McCoy, a former President of the TRA.

Four photographs, two from the ceremonies marking the TRA Police Award for New York City, supplement the text.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1994-1995

This edition of “News and Notes” details the annual police awards conferred by the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) in Dallas, New York City, and on Long Island, New York. It also reviews the results of the TRA Public Speaking Contests held in New York City and Long Island. The section updates readers on the status of Pine Knot, Theodore Roosevelt’s retreat in Virginia, and it promotes a two part documentary on Roosevelt to be aired on PBS in October 1996. “News and Notes” highlights the annual Fourth of July celebration in Oyster Bay, New York, and notes the retirement of Barbara Brandt from her post at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in Buffalo, New York.

The section also features an excerpt from a speech about Roosevelt given by Elihu Root in 1919, and it features four extracts from Roosevelt’s writings and addresses under the title of “TR Said…”. Six photographs appear in the section as does an illustration of Sagamore Hill done by architect Tuck Harvey.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1996

The film, “The Indomitable Teddy Roosevelt,” which aired as a television special in 1986 is available for purchase as a video cassette from Prism Entertainment. The program won several major awards.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1988

Creator(s)

Unknown

Article on the documentary “The Indomitable Teddy Roosevelt” which provides a history of the production of the film and lists its producers and actors, including members of the Roosevelt family. The article also discusses the role of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) in making the film, especially that of its Executive Director, John A. Gable. It also covers the many different kinds of films and filming techniques used in the production of the documentary. Most of the article consists of reviews of the film found in twelve different newspapers from across the United States.

A photograph of Theodore Roosevelt used in the film, a recreated scene of the Roosevelt family at Sagamore Hill, and a photograph of Gable in a cameo role supplement the article. A listing of the officers of the TRA along with the members of its executive committee appears on the fourth page of the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1986

William Davison Johnston, President of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA), opens this lengthy and crowded edition of the “News and Notes” section by praising the documentary “The Indomitable Teddy Roosevelt,” noting the opening of the Roosevelt Study Center in the Netherlands, and discussing the role of the TRA in the commissioning of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt. The section covers the conferring of two awards sponsored by the TRA: the TRA Police Award and the Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt Naval History Prize. Officer Vivian F. Picciarelli won the Police Award for 1986 and was the first woman to do so while Ronald H. Spector won the Naval History Prize for his book Eagle Against the Sun. “News and Notes” also discusses the work of historians Edmund Morris and Joe F. Decker on Theodore Roosevelt’s political language, and it notes the recent publications of TRA Executive Director John A. Gable on Roosevelt, Gifford Pinchot, and Amos Pinchot.

“News and Notes” also covers the death of David Russell Roosevelt, a great grandson of Theodore Roosevelt, the reprinting of Sagamore Hill: An Historical Guide by the TRA, efforts to mark the spot of Roosevelt’s famous bear hunt of 1902 in Mississippi, and the various student contests and awards for high school students sponsored by the TRA. The section also examines the donation of letters to Harvard University by Joanna Sturm, Alice Roosevelt Longworth’s granddaughter. Letters to and from Theodore Roosevelt with Alice Hathaway Lee, his first wife, and Longworth, his daughter, make up most of the donation. An exhibit at Harvard and an article, both based on the correspondence, are also covered. The section closes with a report on three benefits, two balls and a reception, held in July and August 1986, to benefit the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The historic locations for the events, the involvement of the Roosevelt family, and the officers of the ship who attended are all discussed.

A photograph of Harrison Engle and Sidney D. Kirkpatrick working on the documentary “The Indomitable Teddy Roosevelt,” an illustration of both sides of the TRA medallion, an illustration of Mount Rushmore National Memorial, and the Roosevelt family coat of arms appear in “News and Notes.”

John A. Gable opens this edition of “News and Notes” by quoting from the notice placed in the New York Timesby the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) upon the death of Alice Roosevelt Longworth. He notes the recent work of biographers, historians, and journalists on Theodore Roosevelt, and he details some of his work as Executive Director of the TRA, giving lectures to high school students, taping a cable television program on Roosevelt, and conducting tours of Youngs Cemetery and Sagamore Hill. Gable highlights the support of the Pizza Hut restaurant chain for the Roosevelt Genealogical Project.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1980

Creator(s)

Gable, John A.

John A. Gable, Executive Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA), provides a summary of the TRA’s efforts to promote the study and appreciation of Theodore Roosevelt in the Bicentennial year 1976. He touches on subjects covered in detail in articles in this issue of the Journal, such as the Roosevelt film collection, the reissue of Roosevelt’s biography of Gouverneur Morris, and efforts to improve the neighborhood surrounding the Roosevelt Birthplace in New York City. He closes by noting that there has been an increase in memberships in the TRA in the past year.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1976

Creator(s)

Gable, John A.

Notice about two Theodore Roosevelt documentaries that aired on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) stations in 1973 and 1975, and which are available for purchase and distribution. “He Who Has Planted Will Preserve” focuses on Roosevelt the naturalist and conservationist, and is available for sale on video cassette. “A Man for All Times” looks at Roosevelt more generally, including interviews from those who knew him or studied him, and will be made available for broadcast on other television stations after originally airing on WLIW on Long Island, New York.  

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1976

Creator(s)

Unknown

This notice provides brief reviews of two television shows about Theodore Roosevelt that aired in November 1975: a documentary, A Man for All Times, and a play, The Roosevelts of Sagamore Hill. The article notes the involvement of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) in both productions and says that both are “endorsed” by the TRA.  

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1976

Creator(s)

Unknown