Feature writing

Letter from Lawrence F. Abbott to Theodore Roosevelt

Lawrence Abbott acknowledges President Roosevelt’s return of the China article payment, and appreciates his attitude in the matter. There will be editorial reviews in The Outlook on the situation between Ohio Senator Joseph Benson Foraker and Oklahoma Governor Charles Nathaniel Haskell, which Abbott finds fascinating. Abbott worries that related corruption would permeate other areas of government if William Jennings Bryan is elected President.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-25

Letter from Robert J. Collier to Theodore Roosevelt

Robert J. Collier would be pleased to have lunch with President Roosevelt on August 1. He hopes to convince Roosevelt to print some future articles in Collier’s. Collier regrets having lost the initial chance, since Roosevelt has committed to Scribner’s, and he is thinking of negotiating directly with Charles Scribner to see if he would be willing to sell some of the articles to Collier’s.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-14

Letter from S. S. McClure to Theodore Roosevelt

S. S. McClure modifies his offer to hire President Roosevelt to write journal articles while on his African safari. McClure offers Roosevelt $60,000 for twelve articles, or $100,000 for twenty articles if Roosevelt visited other countries around the world after completing his safari. McClure is also interested in publishing a book by Roosevelt, and would offer royalties of 20% for the first five thousand copies, and 22 1/2% for sales beyond that. McClure says that he needs these articles more than others, and compares the situation to a conversation between General Daniel Edgar Sickles and President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. He would like to talk to Roosevelt in person, if possible.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-01

Letter from Caspar Whitney to Theodore Roosevelt

Caspar Whitney tells President Roosevelt that S. S. McClure hopes to get the rights to publish articles from Roosevelt’s African safari. Whitney suggested that McClure propose expanding Roosevelt’s trip to places like India and the Philippines, and offer to pay more. Whitney is not sure why McClure approached him to talk, but Whitney tells Roosevelt that in making this suggestion he hoped to help Roosevelt get the most out of his trip, and wanted to make sure the facts were straight when McClure approached Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-01

Letter from S. S. McClure to William Loeb

S. S. McClure tells William Loeb that he has sent H. Rider Haggard with a letter to President Roosevelt offering $6,000 per article for Roosevelt’s African series. Before Roosevelt makes a final decision, McClure would like to visit him personally to make his case. McClure believes that magazines are a better medium for Roosevelt’s articles than newspapers, and says that McClure’s Magazine is both worthy and has a large circulation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-02

Letter from S. S. McClure to Theodore Roosevelt

S. S. McClure writes again to President Roosevelt to ask about the chance of having Roosevelt write articles for McClure’s Magazine. McClure recently spoke with Albert Shaw, who advised that Roosevelt not decide on the matter for a few days, and mentioned the benefit of having articles printed in a magazine rather than a newspaper.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-02

Letter from Caspar Whitney to Theodore Roosevelt

Caspar Whitney advises that if President Roosevelt follows his advice of his previous letter, to be sure to get protection in the case of making a contract–to get a guarantee that the company would be able to pay Roosevelt. Whitney says that the company he wrote to Roosevelt about is entirely solvent, but is carrying a big load, and the $100,000 that they offered is a lot of money. Whitney hopes he is not intruding too much, but he is interested in helping Roosevelt claim opportunities available to him, and offers Roosevelt his services in other areas as well.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-03

Letter from Robert J. Collier to Theodore Roosevelt

Robert J. Collier is disappointed by the news that President Roosevelt has made a decision regarding his African articles before Collier was able to meet with him in person. Collier recalls that he had been one of the first, nearly two years ago, to suggest a trip after Roosevelt leaves the presidency; and he understood that Roosevelt would talk with him before making a decision. He argues that Roosevelt’s articles would reach a greater number of people if Collier’s publishes them than they would if they appear in Scribner’s, and he increases his earlier offer of $50,000 to $100,000 for the rights to publish them serially, with the understanding that Scribner’s would subsequently publish them in book form.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-09

Letter from S. S. McClure to Theodore Roosevelt

S. S. McClure is disappointed that he was unable to get Roosevelt’s African articles, but he is pleased, if he could not get them, that they will be published in Scribner’s Magazine. He hopes that Roosevelt will eventually agree to write something for McClure’s Magazine, and that he did not annoy Roosevelt in trying to get the African articles.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-09

Letter from Charles Scribner to Theodore Roosevelt

Charles Scribner is very happy about Robert Bridges’s success in arranging for the articles President Roosevelt writes while in Africa to be published in Scribner’s Magazine. The company will send a formal letter and contract to Roosevelt soon, which will be sufficient unless Roosevelt wants a more defined agreement. Scribner has given the news to his reporters, as he could not keep it secret any longer.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-09

Letter from John Callan O’Laughlin to William Loeb

John Callan O’Laughlin hopes that William Loeb has been enjoying his articles, and asks if Loeb knows if it has been printed in any Anti-Taft papers. O’Laughlin believes that Secretary of War William H. Taft has 461 votes for him, and still has a wide field to draw from for the other necessary votes. O’Laughlin will be back in early March.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-02-25

Letter from Silas McBee to William Loeb

Silas McBee encloses two advance copies of the upcoming Churchman — one for President Roosevelt and one for William Loeb. McBee thinks Roosevelt will especially enjoy the article on “Lambeth Palace and the Archbishop of Canterbury.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-14

Chronology January 1892 to December 1898

Chronology of the daily life of Theodore Roosevelt from January 1892 to December 1898. Notable events include the death of Elliott Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt is appointed New York City Police Commissioner, his tenure as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, the Spanish-American War, and Roosevelt’s gubernatorial campaign.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association

Creation Date

1985

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Hamilton Holt

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt thanks Hamilton Holt from The Independent, but he does not have time to write anything.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1897-04-23

Letter from Joseph M. Phillippi to Theodore Roosevelt

Joseph M. Phillippi asks Theodore Roosevelt to contribute an article to the Religious Telescope and offers financial remuneration.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-12-03

Notes on Gifford Pinchot as a Writer

Continuing a conversation about Gifford Pinchot that has extended over several issues of the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal, Barry W. Walsh comments on Pinchot’s writing career, which extended over five decades. While Pinchot occasionally employed researchers and writers to help him, he wrote many of his pieces entirely by himself, and even provided assistance to Theodore Roosevelt in drafting some speeches.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1988

Note on Arthur B. Reeve

Arthur B. Reeve wants to write an article about the “freak correspondence” that Theodore Roosevelt received to show why it is futile to write such letters to Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-03

Letter from Russell J. Coles to Theodore Roosevelt

Russell J. Coles tells Theodore Roosevelt his plan for assisting the war effort, since he has not succeeded in getting into the Army or Navy. Coles intends to reduce the high cost of living by increasing the supply of food and leather from sources which are now going to waste. He will identify sharks, rays, or other fish suitable either for eating or for the production of leather. Coles will go to North Carolina to study this question, and he plans to publish an article with his findings. He feels that having a doctorate would lend additional weight to his findings, and he asks Roosevelt if he would be able to help him acquire an honorary degree in order to advance this cause.

Collection

America

Creation Date

1917-06-04

Letter from Caspar Whitney to Theodore Roosevelt

Caspar Whitney sends President Roosevelt a copy of the article “Fishing versus Shooting as a Remedy for Brain Fag,” which interviewed several English sportsmen and was published in The Outing Magazine. Whitney thinks doing a similar article in which American sportsmen were interviewed would be interesting, and asks Roosevelt to read the article and send him his thoughts. Whitney has also sent similar requests to several other prominent sportsmen.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-01

Letter from S. S. McClure to Theodore Roosevelt

S. S. McClure tells President Roosevelt that he wants the articles that he will write while on safari in Africa more than he has ever wanted anything for his magazine. McClure also has ideas for other series of articles that he thinks Roosevelt should write, including a history of the development of the United States since the death of Abraham Lincoln, and a study of social and governmental matters in other countries.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-07-02