Your TR Source
John Hicks informs Theodore Roosevelt that he has completed arrangements for the unveiling of a bust of Roosevelt at the Oshkosh, Wisconsin, public library. He asks if Roosevelt could send a message to be read at the unveiling, and suggests that Roosevelt may care to comment on western history.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-10-13
Richard Watson Gilder, editor of Scribner’s Monthly, informs President Roosevelt about his struggle to highlight the latter’s presidency in one editorial. Gilder shares the closing paragraphs of the resulting work, a joint effort between himself and Robert Underwood Johnson, editor of The Century Magazine. He remarks that history will give credit to Roosevelt’s many accomplishments during his presidency.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-17
George Otto Trevelyan believes that President Roosevelt must be happier with the results of the United States election than he was in 1865 when he was first elected to Parliament. He thinks Roosevelt’s trip to Africa is a “splendid idea” and hopes that Roosevelt will visit in 1910 when he is in England. Trevelyan discusses his current writing projects, and notes that he thinks it is easier to get a literal sense of the tragic poets when they are translated in prose, rather than verse. Trevelyan will enclose a copy of a speech he gave at a publishers’ dinner.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-17
W. Sloan Simpson suggests that President Roosevelt write a history of Texas when he returns from his African trip. He celebrates the “glorious victory” in the election.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-11-10
Acting on the suggestion of his friend, Charles Lang Freer, Thomas Spencer Jerome contacts President Roosevelt about meeting again upon his return to America. Jerome would like to revisit their previous discussion “as to the nature of the human game in general.” However, he understands if Roosevelt does not have time to spare. If Roosevelt passes through Naples on his Africa trip, Jerome would gladly receive him at his villa.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-08-28
Archduke Salvator of Austria sends President Roosevelt a copy of his manuscript investigating the history of Parga and hopes Roosevelt with accept them with his “usual kindness.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-14
Benjamin B. Hampton asks President Roosevelt if he would be willing to write a variety of articles, either before or after leaving the presidency. Hampton believes that people view Roosevelt as a practical philosopher, and that a series of short essays from him on such topics as divorce or luxury would be very good. He also proposes longer character sketches of figures in American history that would contribute to a new historical view of the United States. These would be published in Broadway Magazine, which Hampton plans to rename Hampton’s soon. If Roosevelt is willing to undertake this work, they can discuss terms of payment, but Hampton wanted to gauge Roosevelt’s interest first.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-07-07
De Alva Stanwood Alexander asks President Roosevelt if he could explain why, in 1884, it was not possible for Republicans to nominate someone other than James Gillespie Blaine for president. Alexander is doing research for a new volume of his Political History of the State of New York, and has found a letter that seems to suggest that there was a possibility that someone other than Blaine could have been nominated if various opposition groups had joined forces. Alexander praises Roosevelt’s recent article.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-15
Commander William Sowden Sims of the U.S. Navy sends William Loeb an extract from a new Italian history of Rome. Sims draws a comparison between the political methods of Cataline mentioned in the extract and those used by William Jennings Bryan, and says that this may interest President Roosevelt.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-02-20
Earl Grey, Governor General of Canada, speaks to the Women’s Canadian Club about raising the funds to erect a “colossal statue of the Angel of Welcome and Peace” on the Plains of Abraham to welcome emigrants to Canada. This should be done to celebrate the tricentennial of the founding of Quebec. Describing Canada’s history, Grey compares the United States’ dedication to erecting patriotic monuments and preserving its past to the lack of enthusiasm in doing the same in Canada.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-01-28
James Bryce, British Ambassador to the United States, thanks President Roosevelt for forwarding a copy of a letter from Benjamin Franklin. Bryce is interested in Franklin’s “expression of his religious feeling” despite the popular perception that he was not a religious man.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-03
John St. Loe Strachey thanks President Roosevelt for his letter, with which he agrees. Strachey does not understand how people think civil liberties do not need protecting. He worries that autocrats like Napoleon will feed on people’s unwillingness to stand up for what is right. Strachey hopes that they will meet again in October when he visits.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-21
Frederick Scott Oliver responds to criticisms and comments that both President Roosevelt and Senator Lodge have made regarding his book on Alexander Hamilton. Oliver discusses his motivations for writing the book and some of the questions and comments Roosevelt had. Oliver also appreciates Roosevelt’s assessment of the American Revolution in his writings.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-06
Senator Lodge encloses a letter from William E. Alger, consular agent in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, who happens to be Lodge’s cousin. Lodge thanks Roosevelt for sending him Frederick Scott Oliver’s biography on Alexander Hamilton and reviews the work and other Hamilton biographies, and expresses his opinion on early American politics.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-20
Henry Cabot Lodge has enclosed a letter from Arthur Dehon Hill, son of President Roosevelt’s former Harvard professor Adams Sherman Hill, expressing his thoughts on the war not as “purely history” but as if “actual experience.” Hill’s views are a contrast to Owen Wister’s comments about those born after the war. Lodge would like Hill’s letter back as it is his only copy.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-14
George Haven Putnam sends President Roosevelt a book on American history, which he considers an original, striking, and valuable contribution to the field. Putnam compares the author, Oliver, to George Otto Trevelyan in the sense that both are able to study American history with full freedom from the local prejudices characteristic of other British authors, although Putnam thinks Oliver is more critical than Trevelyan.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-06
Ambassador Meyer writes to President Roosevelt comparing the situation in Russia to events in France during the French Revolution. Meyer goes into detail about the current political crisis in Russia, mentioning the need for reform, the need for improved conditions for the military, and the public opinion of the czar. Meyer describes the shutting down of newspaper offices, the imprisonment of editors, and strikes that could take place. He suggests that an American military attache could be of great help to him, as communication and media in St. Petersburg are not reliable.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-20
Arthur von Briesen responds to Major General G. L. Gillespie’s request for further information on Briesen’s statement that he had gotten his facts regarding a sword supposedly gifted by King Frederick II of Prussia to George Washington from Mr. Ward. He has since come to believe that the story may be rather different, based on a book by Friedrich Kapp which says that the sword came from the sword-maker Theophilus Alte of Solingen. This is further reinforced by a letter from Washington to John Quincy Adams.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-19
J. G. Rosengarten cites a book by Friedrich Kapp to General Gillespie with information that he believes dismisses the myth that Frederick II, King of Prussia, sent a sword to George Washington as a gift. He will report any further information he discovers on the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-19
Major General Gillespie informs William Loeb that Arthur von Briesen could not give a citation for the story dealing with the presentation of a sword to George Washington by King Frederick II of Prussia, and admits “that the ‘pretty story’ has been completely exploded.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-20