Harvard College (1780- )

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edgar Huidekoper Wells

President Roosevelt thanks Harvard Dean Edgar Huidekoper Wells for taking an interest in his son Ted’s education, but feels that the standards that Wells has set out in a recent letter “put an altogether impossible ideal before him.” Roosevelt feels that he cannot ask his son to do more than he himself did, and explains how he found himself ranked at Harvard. Roosevelt hopes that Ted will be able to join the Porcellian club, and that he will do some philanthropic work while at Harvard.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-20

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Laurance Irving Neale

President Roosevelt thanks Laurance Irving Neale for the letter. He enjoyed having Neale and the Harvard Political Club visit the White House.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-03-23

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Theodore Roosevelt

President Roosevelt writes an encouraging letter to his son Ted Roosevelt, who has been placed on academic probation at Harvard. He includes portions of letters from Dean Byron S. Hurlbut and Professor William R. Castle, showing that people at Harvard feel kindly toward him and believe that he can overcome this setback. He urges his son to study hard and focus on academics, rather than athletics or a social life.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-23

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edgar Huidekoper Wells

President Roosevelt feels badly after receiving news that his son Ted Roosevelt is on probation at Harvard, but Ted admitted that during his first three months there, he was “extremely foolish.” Roosevelt tells Edgar Huidekoper Wells that he believes Ted intends to do better.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-23

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William R. Castle

President Roosevelt thanks William R. Castle for the reassuring letter about his son Ted Roosevelt’s college career. Ted and his father are both chagrined following a letter from Edgar Huidekoper Wells informing them that Ted has been placed on academic probation. Ted intends to place academics and work above everything else next semester.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-02-20

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Kermit Roosevelt

President Roosevelt tells his son Kermit about a surprise weekend visit from Ted Roosevelt. Ted, who brought a friend, is enjoying Harvard even though he will not make the freshman football team. Roosevelt leaves tomorrow for his southern trip, and looks forward to it being over, when he will be done with “tours of speech-making.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-10-17

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Theodore Roosevelt

President Roosevelt is happy to hear that his son Ted is having fun and doing well in his first semester at Harvard despite a rocky start. In particular, Roosevelt is glad that Ted’s studies are going well and is surprised that he made the freshman football team. He offers his son advice about gaining popularity and good standing in his class.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-10-10

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Matthew Hale

President Roosevelt’s son Archie still remembers Matthew Hale. Roosevelt is pleased that Hale is on the Harvard Law Review. He tells Hale that he has asked the State Department to make “that appointment” to Adams if it is possible.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-09-25

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles William Eliot

President Roosevelt is frustrated with photographers and reporters harassing his son Ted Roosevelt at Harvard and asks if Harvard President Charles William Eliot can do anything about it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-09-29

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Agnes Irwin

President Roosevelt wishes he could accept Dean Agnes Irwin’s offer to speak at Radcliffe College, but he is unable to do so. He similarly had to tell Dean Le Baron Russell Briggs he was unable to undertake another engagement to speak at Harvard College.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-06-03

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Walter C. Baylies

President Roosevelt asks Walter C. Baylies to find out if there will be a demand for his presence at official occasions after the commencement day dinner. If there is not, Roosevelt will come to the club immediately afterwards for some “rational enjoyment.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-03-31

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Finley Peter Dunne

After inviting Finley Peter Dunne and Margaret Ives Dunne to the White House, President Roosevelt spends the rest of his letter discussing Finley Peter Dunne’s recent article entitled the “Anglo-Saxon Triumph.” Roosevelt takes umbrage with Dunne’s belief that individuals should look down on particular Americans due to their ancestry and specifically references those of Irish and German ancestry. In a postscript, Roosevelt states the current temptation is toward Anglophobia, not Anglomania, and the easiest thing for a politician to do is find fault with England. The president prides himself in getting a greater portion of Irish and Catholic Americans to vote for him than any previous Republican candidate without any significant attack on England.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-23

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Robert Codman

President Roosevelt assures Bishop Codman that he trusts Sherrard Billings to run Groton School just as well as Endicott Peabody.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-22

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Oscar S. Straus

President Roosevelt enjoyed Lebowich’s article, and wishes he had been amongst the Harvard men in Roosevelt’s regiment. Roosevelt agrees with Lebowich that he attempts to treat Jews and Catholics as he does Protestants; Roosevelt believes that in the future there will inevitably be Jewish and Catholic presidents and, thus, hopes that he treats them as he would want to be treated by a Jewish or Catholic president, i.e., “without regards to the several creeds which they profess or the several lands from which their ancestors have sprung.” Roosevelt tries not to be patronizing or condescending, and appreciates that Lebowich noticed that.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-15

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to H. S. Thompson

President Roosevelt will engage Matthew Hale, his kinsman by marriage, as a tutor for his son Ted. Roosevelt was impressed by all the Harvard men that H. S. Thompson recommended.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-27

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Frank Nelson Doubleday

President Roosevelt thanks Frank Nelson Doubleday for sending him a volume of short stories by Rudyard Kipling. Roosevelt was disappointed that some of his favorite stories about soldiers in the South African War were not included and asks Doubleday to find out where he might obtain copies. Roosevelt also states that if he does not get a tutor from Harvard, he will write to young Parker.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-14

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Sherrard Billings

President Roosevelt thanks Sherrard Billings for his letter and would be sorry to feel that they had lost any moral influence. Ted Roosevelt will not be returning to Groton School but will take a tutor and attempt to enter Harvard College when he is eighteen. Roosevelt would prefer for Ted to stay at Groton but has accepted his decision. Kermit Roosevelt will be returning to Groton.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09-02

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to H. S. Thompson

President Roosevelt requests H. S. Thompson’s assistance in finding a tutor for Ted Roosevelt.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-30

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles William Eliot

Theodore Roosevelt has finished fourth form at Groton School and President Roosevelt is looking for a tutor to prepare him for education at Harvard College.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-23

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Endicott Peabody

President Roosevelt writes to inform Endicott Peabody that Ted Roosevelt will not be returning to Groton School. He will be attending Harvard next fall.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-23