Your TR Source
By request of Oscar K. Davis, Frank Harper encloses a copy of the speech Theodore Roosevelt made on the Kishinev Massacre of Russian Jews.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-03-26
President Roosevelt compliments Oscar S. Straus for his article responding to attacks on Jews. However, he believes Straus’s appointment to and service in the Cabinet will be the better answer.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-06
President Roosevelt quotes a portion of a letter from George von Lengerke Meyer for Jacob H. Schiff’s information, in which Meyer discusses the Russian refusal to discuss the Bialystok massacre. Roosevelt appreciates the horror such massacres provokes, including that of the Armenian people in Turkey, but believes that sending warships to allow the persecuted people to escape would be “a spectacular bit of folly,” as warships are unfit for the purpose. He comments that “if the object was to take away the fugitives and not to do something theatrical,” it would be better to hire ordinary steamships for the purpose.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-26
President Roosevelt believes that the proposition of the editor of the American Hebrew is foolish, and tells Nathan Bijur that the American government has already done everything it could, “consistently with our own self-respect and with the advantage of the Russian Jews.” The public agitation for further action, “represents not an effective purpose to do good to those who are suffering in Russia, but to exploit, in the interest of entirely selfish individuals, the Jewish vote in America.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-07-11
President Roosevelt tells Jacob H. Schiff that he had already begun to discuss the matter with Secretary of State Elihu Root before receiving Schiff’s telegram. Roosevelt does not wish to say exactly what has been done about the matter and on behalf of the Jews in Russia, as “the efficacy of anything that is done depends largely on there being no symptom of offense to the Russian authorities.” He explains the difficulty there is in trying to influence policy in Russia on behalf of the Jewish population there, and says that while the government is doing everything it can do, it “would not only be utterly futile, but would put this nation in an undignified position, and would be a harm instead of a help” for the government to attempt any direct action.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-22
President Roosevelt tells Oscar S. Straus he expressed his feelings on the subjects he wrote about. He encloses a copy of his letter to Jacob H. Schiff regarding concerns about the treatment of Jewish people in Russia.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-14
Although President Roosevelt sympathizes with Jacob H. Schiff’s concerns regarding crimes committed against the Jews in Russia, he does not think it wise or proper for the United States to take any action. He does not believe any diplomatic action will help, and war is not an option.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-14
For the upcoming celebration of the 250th anniversary of the settlement of Jews in the United States, President Roosevelt praises the citizenship of American Jews, and recounts a number of their greatest contributions to the United States to Jacob H. Schiff.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-16
President Roosevelt writes to Joseph Gurney Cannon, Chairman of the Notification Committee, to formally accept his nomination as the Republican presidential candidate and to approve the platform adopted by the Republican National Convention. In the letter, Roosevelt provides a comprehensive defense of his foreign and domestic policies and outlines what he believes are the major differences between the Republican and Democratic parties in the upcoming election. Roosevelt discusses, among other topics, his position on international relations, antitrust legislation, tariffs, the gold standard, pensions for Civil War veterans, the military, civil service, commerce, agriculture, taxation, and self-government in the Philippines.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-12
Grace E. McConnell suggests to Frank Harper that if Theodore Roosevelt does not want to make a specific statement on the topic, he could possibly write a letter offering the general opinion that there is a “duty of helping the long oppressed Jews or Armenians.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03-07
Elihu Root recommends sending an ambassador with a dispatch to St. Petersburg, Russia, in response to a massacre of Jewish people. Root states the communication must be kept confidential in order to avoid increasing the anti-Jewish sentiment in Russia.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-23
Isaac Seligman reports on a productive conference with Sergei Vitte, wherein they discussed the mistreatment of Jews in Russia. The conference demanded immediate freedom from persecution for Russian Jews, and Vitte will discuss this with the government assembly.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-08-17
The United Hebrew Congregations, through Louis Friedman, have sent telegrams to President Roosevelt and members of his cabinet urging them to sever economic and diplomatic connections with Russia because of the recent massacre of Jews there. Judge Mayer E. Sulzberger has appointed a committee of fifteen delegates to serve as the core of a representative Jewish committee.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-06-22
Nathan Bijur tells President Roosevelt that he and Lee K. Frankel attended a meeting at the Metropolitan Temple whether the question of whether Russian Jews should be excluded from emigration to the United States was being debated. Bijur was excited and impressed that no one at the meeting was willing to argue in favor of exclusion. He believes that this confirms his theory that Jews need not apply to the government to specifically allow for the inclusion of persecuted Jews, because the average American is not in favor of keeping them out.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-12-05
Oscar S. Straus shares reports of rumors concerning the massacre of Jews in Odessa, Russia, and the tolerance of the Russian government for publications inciting the massacre. Straus trusts that President Roosevelt will invoke “humanitarian diplomacy” concerning the matter.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-03-31
Jacob H. Schiff believes that the Kishinev petition, written after the recent massacre of Jewish citizens in Russia, was a mistake and that the proposed conference between Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States is unjust. There is no “Jewish problem” for the United States and Russia must find a solution from within. Schiff wants the American ambassador to Russia to represent “true American spirit.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-08-06
After investigating the situation of Russian Jews, Arnold White suggests a conference between Russia, Great Britain, and the United States to discuss Russia’s “Jewish question.” White’s proposed solution is that Russia will provide territory and the western powers will provide the necessary capital for expanded Jewish settlements.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-07-28
Arnold White reviews the “deplorable” condition of Russian Jews and claims that a “racial dislike” is behind the conflict between Jews and Russian peasants. The conflict is only held in check by the Russian government.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-07-27
Edward E. Norton suggests that George H. Lyman advocate for the inclusion of Godfrey Morse at a meeting with President Roosevelt. The meeting will discuss the B’nai B’rith petition to Emperor Nicholas II regarding the Kishinev Massacre.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-07-09
Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary has sent a copy of an extract from one of Roosevelt’s speeches referring to the Kishinev Massacre of Russian Jews so that Oscar K. Davis may provide answers for “such questions as this one.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1912-03-26