Museums

Letter from Samuel L. Parrish to Thomas Collier Platt

Samuel L. Parrish writes to Senator Platt about his application for a diplomatic post. Parrish would prefer Athens, as he has studied Greek art and has founded a museum in Southampton. He has sent a book he wrote on Greek art to Platt. Parrish recently spoke with Elihu Root about his application, and Root advised him to write to the president and to the senators.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-12

Creator(s)

Parrish, Samuel L. (Samuel Longstreth), 1849-1932

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Kermit Roosevelt

Theodore Roosevelt writes his son Kermit about receiving the letters describing Kermit’s accident and Roosevelt reminds Kermit to date his letters. He talks about what he will do on his trip to South America.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1913-09-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Frank Harper, ex-President Roosevelt’s secretary, tells of South American trip

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary Frank Harper describes their journey through South America along with George Kruck Cherrie and Leo E. Miller, representatives of the American Museum of Natural History. It details specimens collected for donation to various museums. Photograph of Anthony Fiala, Cherrie, Father J. A. Zahm, Theodore Roosevelt, Kermit Roosevelt, Harper, and Miller is included.

Collection

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

Creation Date

1914-04-05

Creator(s)

Unknown

The joyous ides of March

At center, President Roosevelt shows Uncle Sam and Columbia a large plant with flowers showing the members of his cabinet. The surrounding vignettes show a springtime dance of putti, Alton B. Parker shoveling snow at his home in Esopus, an art gallery, Irishmen marching in the rain on Saint Patrick’s Day, a woman cleaning house by sweeping a dust cloud of policemen out the door, and Roosevelt grafting a branch labeled “Indian School Mission,” with blossom of an unidentified bishop of the Catholic Bureau of Indian Missions, onto the “Interior Dept. Tree.”

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1905-03-15

Creator(s)

Ehrhart, S. D. (Samuel D.), approximately 1862-1937

Productive scientific scholarship

Speech given at the opening of the New York state museum at Albany on December 29, 1916, addressing the role of the museum in scientific discovery and reporting.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1916-12-29

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to W. C. H. Grimmer

Theodore Roosevelt writes to New Brunswick Surveyor-General W. C. H. Grimmer to petition that his son, Kermit Roosevelt, be granted a permit to collect specimens of moose, caribou, and beaver for the United States National Museum. Kermit was asked to take on this task by the National Museum because of his work collecting specimens in East Africa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-19

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt to C. P. Wilcomb

Theodore Roosevelt delivered his hunting trophies to the Smithsonian. His secretary suggests contacting them to secure a bird or mammal trophy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-01-04

Creator(s)

Secretary of Theodore Roosevelt

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Fairfield Osborn

Theodore Roosevelt tells Henry Fairfield Osborn, President of the American Museum of Natural History, that he hopes he and Henry Fairfield Osborn can get Ham Fish into the museum. Roosevelt also encloses a letter of Fish’s. In the future, Roosevelt will take Osborn up on his invitation to get lunch and let Osborn show him the American Museum of Natural History.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1915-03-01

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Phillips

Theodore Roosevelt is delighted to hear about the maps and the specimens for the American Museum of Natural History, and wants to thank Judge Phillips for all he has done.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1914-10-02

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to George A. Dorsey

Theodore Roosevelt thanks George A. Dorsey for the editorials he had written. Roosevelt also states that he enjoyed his afternoon at the Field Museum and for Dorsey to thank his collogues as well. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-12-18

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Anna Roosevelt Cowles

President Roosevelt tells his sister, Anna Roosevelt Cowles, that he thinks that Henry Cabot Lodge did very well at the Republican National Convention, and that he is pleased with the result. Roosevelt is already looking forward to his safari in Africa, and says that he does not want it to just be a vacation, but hopes to be able to contribute scientific specimens to museums.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-06-22

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Horace Adolphus Taylor

President Roosevelt would like for Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Taylor’s solicitor, or Attorney General Philander C. Knox, to look up the specific point made by Senator Lodge. Roosevelt explains that the intention of Congress was that “works of art for museums should be admitted absolutely free, and that there was no intention of doing anything so ludicrous as charging for the frame while admitting the picture free.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-21

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Kuno Francke

President Roosevelt supports the Germanic Museum as a movement that will bring two nations closer together.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-03-31

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Henry Fairfield Osborn to Theodore Roosevelt

Henry Fairfield Osborn, president of the American Museum of Natural History, reminds Theodore Roosevelt of his desire to display a portrait of his father and founder of the museum, Theodore Roosevelt, at the institution. He asks if there is a portrait that the museum could copy for this purpose. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-12-06

Creator(s)

Osborn, Henry Fairfield, 1857-1935

Letter from Frank M. Chapman to Theodore Roosevelt

Frank M. Chapman shares his congratulations with Theodore Roosevelt over Kermit Roosevelt’s successful expedition. Chapman also invites Roosevelt to visit the museum and have lunch with him whenever it is convenient for him.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-05

Creator(s)

Chapman, Frank M. (Frank Michler), 1864-1945

Letter from Clarence L. Brock to Theodore Roosevelt

Clarence L. Brock, director and secretary of the Houston Museum and Scientific Society, asks for Theodore Roosevelt’s help in publicizing the mission of the society and the benefits of such a museum. They have a number of valuable collections, but have been having trouble raising funds for the construction of a building to house them. A word from Roosevelt, Brock believes, would help garner attention and support for their mission.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-03-11

Creator(s)

Brock, Clarence L. (Clarence Lockwood), 1880-1940

Letter from Edmund Heller to Theodore Roosevelt

Edmund Heller discusses Paul James Rainey and his offer to collect specimens in British East Africa for the Smithsonian. Museum officials urge Heller to accompany Painey, but he feels responsible for completing the work on Roosevelt’s collection. He asks Roosevelt’s opinion on the matter.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-01-31

Creator(s)

Heller, Edmund, 1875-1939

Letter from Charles Fletcher Lummis to Theodore Roosevelt

Charles Fletcher Lummis reminds Roosevelt of his promise to visit his home while in Los Angeles, California. He discusses his donations to the Southwest Museum.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-01-27

Creator(s)

Lummis, Charles Fletcher, 1859-1928

Letter from Edgar Alexander Mearns to Theodore Roosevelt

Edgar Alexander Mearns will receive the full pay and allowances of a Major, instead of a Lieutenant Colonel. Mearns has also “industriously gathered” Natural History materials his whole life and given the items to museums.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-06

Creator(s)

Mearns, Edgar Alexander, 1856-1916

Letter from Whitelaw Reid to Theodore Roosevelt

Whitelaw Reid has heard that white rhinoceros have become extremely rare, and that President Roosevelt may have trouble finding one on his safari. Reid is pleased to send the rifle from Edward North Buxton to President Roosevelt for testing, but did not think that he could send clothes to Roosevelt in the same pouch under the current State Department rules. London is currently getting a few inches of snow, which Reid says “seems to block transportation here as much as a real [blizzard] with us.” He is concerned by the news of the recent natural disaster in Sicily.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-12-30

Creator(s)

Reid, Whitelaw, 1837-1912