Your TR Source
President Roosevelt is already investigating the alleged incident with George R. Koester, and is surprised at the allegations because of Koester’s history upholding “the rights of the colored man.” He will look carefully at the facts and determine what should be done.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-11-09
President Roosevelt reviews George R. Koester’s statement of events surrounding a lynching. He suggests that Koester bolster his case “by evidence of others.” Roosevelt would then like to consult with Senator McLaurin.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-11-08
President Roosevelt requests the facts about an alleged lynching.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-10-31
J. L. Woodbridge writes to Theodore Roosevelt about an article Roosevelt recently wrote for The Outlook about lynching. Woodbridge, while stating he agrees with what Roosevelt wrote and is not an advocate of lynching, also says that the administration of criminal law is in anarchy, and that a quicker, surer, and cheaper justice for the state is provided by lynching. Woodbridge goes on to cite the vigilantes of the West who took it upon themselves to enforce the law, and that it is not a disgraced community that commits these acts, but one of high character and independence.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-12-29
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-12-07
Heald, George H. (George Henry), 1861-1934
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-12-05
Solandt, James A. (James Alexander), 1863-1934
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-12-02
Harris, Julian LaRose, 1874-1963
Robert M. Stevens lists statistics for the number of lynchings from 1885 to November 1, 1910, which are violations of rights guaranteed in Articles 5 and 14 of the Constitution. If lynching is to stop, the press needs to start a movement against it. He wonders about black orators touring Europe and asking for contributions to an anti-lynching fund. Stevens calls on Theodore Roosevelt to start a movement to banish lynchings.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-11-13
Judge Speer provides historical justification for President Roosevelt’s actions in the Brownsville affair, involving the mass dishonorable discharge of African American soldiers, citing George Washington’s similar discharge of rowdy troops. Speer also mentions the Raid on Deerfield during Queen Anne’s War and the siege of Magdeburg during the Thirty Years’ War. Speer disagrees with Senator Tillman’s assessment that Roosevelt “lynched” the discharged soldiers, as did the editorial boards of several prominent Georgia newspapers.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-01-14
Statistics on the number of executions and lynchings completed in the United States, organized by year, between 1885 and 1906.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906
Albert Bushnell Hart praises President Roosevelt’s decision to disband the three companies of African American troops after the events of Brownsville. Hart believes that in this particular case, the “usual and often genuine excuse that to reveal the name of the supposed Negro criminal is to deliver him up to lynching without examination into his guilt,” does not have a place, and that every man in the companies knew that those responsible would have been given a fair trial and protection from mob violence.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-26
John Allison encloses a letter to the editor from the Nashville Banner for President Roosevelt to read. Allison tells Roosevelt that this communication verifies what he wrote in a letter to William Loeb. Allison believes that racial traits define how African Americans act when they protect other members of their race from what Allison describes as “lawful” punishment. He says that an African American clergyman, J.A. Jones, admitted this. Allison cannot remember a time when an African American denounced or condemned the criminal acts of another African American. He says while mob violence is sometimes “winked” at by the community and (police) officers, “it is condemned by the White pulpit in the South, almost all of the newspapers of influence, and by public meetings of the White population.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-24
John Allison, Chancellor of the Davidson Chancery Court in Tennessee, notes that the African American churches and organizations protesting President Roosevelt’s dismissal of a battalion of African American soldiers have not made any resolutions condemning the soldiers that he believes are responsible for killing innocent civilians in Brownsville, Texas, nor have they expressed any sympathy for those victims or regret at the conduct of the battalion whom he believes are protecting the murderers. Allison tells President Roosevelt’s secretary, William Loeb, that this is typical behavior for African Americans, and he urges Roosevelt not to countermand his order of dismissal because it might embolden the “worst elements of their race.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-21
Andrew Jackson Montague suggests changes to President Roosevelt’s message regarding lynching and public education. Montague agrees that it would be wise to create a commission to investigate and make recommendations regarding these matters.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-30
Senator Lodge suggests to President Roosevelt that, despite the importance of regulating and controlling corporate capital, there are other, more immediate dangers in the present election, including the candidacies of the Democrats, William Randolph Hearst and John B. Moran, who are running for governorships in New York and Massachusetts, respectively. Lodge also makes a point to tell Roosevelt how much he liked his speech in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Lodge believes the Republican candidate for governor of New York, Charles Evans Hughes, is doing admirably.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-18
Booker T. Washington writes to Christopher J. Perry about Perry’s recent editorial about President Roosevelt and the Atlanta race riot. Washington defends Roosevelt’s lack of federal action in favor of local and state authorities handling the matter, which has raised public conscience and a closer relationship between the whites and the colored people that exists no where else in the South.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-05
Henry White, United States Ambassador to Italy, tells President Roosevelt that he is pleased Joseph Hodges Choate will head up the delegation to the upcoming Hague Convention of 1907. He glowingly reports on the farewell speech of Lord Curzon upon leaving his post as Viceroy of India. White notes that he will no longer need to send Roosevelt as many direct reports now that the position of Secretary of State is filled by Elihu Root. White expresses his approval of a speech Roosevelt made in Arkansas countering Governor Jeff Davis’s pro-lynching views. White ends by noting that the French ambassador is worried about the position the Germans may adopt at the upcoming Algeciras Conference.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-21
Ray Stannard Baker writes to Theodore Roosevelt about the District of Columbia homicide statistics that Roosevelt sent Baker. Baker believes that the rate of lynchings runs in proportion to the number of homicides. Baker also highlights the question of railroad monopolies.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-01-14