National Museum of Natural History (U.S.)

Collection

Charles C. Myers Collection

Creation Date

Unknown

Creator(s)

B.S. Reynolds Co.

Language

English

Postcard showing a large, neoclassical building with a dome, the National Museum of Natural History, with trees in front of it.

Comments and Context

In Charles C. Myers’s own words, The National Museum is the largest ^in area^ of all other Gov. Bldgs except the capital, it is a granite building and is 561 ft long and 365 ft wide”

Charles D. Walcott updates Theodore Roosevelt on the progress of the specimens being preserved by James L. Clark from the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition. A number of white rhinoceroses and different types of antelopes are in the process of being quoted by the taxidermist. Walcott thinks the Smithsonian will be able to publish Roosevelt’s article soon as well. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-16

President Roosevelt asks Representative Parker to notify his father-in-law, W. W. Gordon, that Roosevelt would like the information from Francis Richard Charles Guy Greville, Earl of Warwick, about the location of good hunting grounds. He additionally asks Gordon to inform Greville that he is not a game butcher. Roosevelt intends to shoot each of the big game animals as specimens for the National Museum of Natural History.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-08-25

President Roosevelt welcomes Edgar Alexander Mearns as the naturalist and medical advisor on his African Safari with “three cheers!” Roosevelt authorizes Mearns to requisition medical supplies from the Army and have them stored pending shipping to Africa, and outlines details of his travel and outfitting plans.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-08-03

In honor of President Roosevelt’s upcoming African safari, C. Bryson Taylor writes about the sights, conditions, hazards, and necessary supplies of a hunting trip in safari. Taylor details the guides, provisions, ammunition, and medicines travelers will need when embarking into the “dark and brooding heart” of Africa. Taylor also weaves in two fictional stories about previous hunting parties, which demonstrate the harshness of the expeditions.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-09

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary thanks D. P. Brannin for his letter to Roosevelt. While some of Roosevelt’s specimens from his recent Africa trip are on display at the National Museum of Natural History, the remainder have not yet been mounted due to lack of Congressional funding.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-05-08

Theodore Roosevelt sends Frederick Courteney Selous an article he wrote for The Outlook and directs him to the footnote about Alfred Russel Wallace’s statement about antelope horns. He finds Wallace and naturalists like him absurd in their writings about protective coloration and similar notions. They develop theories without having practical knowledge. Kermit Roosevelt’s hunts were successful.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-24

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary explains to O. B. Reed that all of the specimens Roosevelt obtained during his safari have been sent to the Smithsonian Institution and, therefore, he cannot comply with his request.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-20

Theodore Roosevelt wishes he could see the group of hartebeests before they leave James L. Clark’s shop but will have to wait and see them at the National Museum of Natural History. He is glad Clark is working on the white rhinoceros.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-10

Theodore Roosevelt’s secretary explains to Mrs. A. S. Buckman that all of the specimens Roosevelt obtained during his safari have been sent to the Smithsonian Institution and, therefore, he cannot comply with her request.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-02

Theodore Roosevelt writes to Edgar Huidekoper Wells of his two sons, Archibald “Archie” B. Roosevelt and Kermit Roosevelt. Archie passed two of his four subjects this year, of which Roosevelt is very pleased and may allow him to get in to Harvard University next year. Roosevelt asks if he might get the test papers for Archie’s civics test to better understand what Archie failed in. Kermit Roosevelt was granted permission to start school a few days late so he might finish hunting moose, caribou, and beaver in New Brunswick on behalf of the National Museum. Kermit wrote of his hunting experience and his essay was accepted by Scribner’s Magazine.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-10-02

Theodore Roosevelt expresses to Edmund Heller the need to quickly document big game specimens from Africa and urges him to return to Washington to finish his reports, sharing news from Frederick Selous and sending regards to friends.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-11

Theodore Roosevelt explains to Le Baron Russell Briggs, the dean of Harvard College, that his son Kermit Roosevelt has been asked by the Smithsonian to gather certain specimen of moose, caribou and beaver in New Brunswick for the National Museum. In order to fulfill this request, Kermit will need to be a few days late in reporting at Harvard, so Theodore Roosevelt asks Briggs if he can excuse his son’s absence.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-01

Theodore Roosevelt writes to Frank M. Chapman about the Popular Science article and a criticism of Roosevelt’s “Appendix E” by Thayer, in a letter to the Tribune. He also finds Chapman’s Trinidad article very interesting and disagrees on several points about the birds of Trinidad, although he concedes that Chapman’s experience and training is greater than his own. Roosevelt further discusses his arguments about the coloration, cover, behavior, and habit of birds in the United States, Africa, and Latin America. He thanks Chapman for the interest in his article, thoroughly enjoyed his visit the other day, and will take his notes on the galley sheets into advisement. He returns The Awk and Osborn’s copy of Nature. In the addendum, Roosevelt answers Thayer’s criticism in the Popular Science magazine.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-29

President Roosevelt is grateful for the assistance that Frederick Courteney Selous and Edward North Buxton are providing in planning his African safari. Roosevelt hopes to leave the United States in early April, and will stay first at the ranch of Alfred E. Pease in Nairobi, British East Africa. Other tentative plans include hunting in Uganda and along Nile tributaries. Roosevelt thinks he will arrange to make the trip on behalf of the National Museum of Natural History and hopes he will be allowed certain privileges not granted to non-scientific sportsmen.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-06-25

President Roosevelt declines Caspar Whitney’s proposal to either author or authorize an account detailing the plans for his upcoming trip to Africa, as he claims it has already received enough publicity and that it is a “scientific trip” above all else. Roosevelt also does not wish to publicize his exact whereabouts and plans prior to the trip.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1909-01-07

President Roosevelt asks Ambassador Reid if he would be able to petition Lord Robert Offley Ashburton Crewe-Milnes to write to officials in Uganda that Roosevelt would appreciate being given a guide and information that would allow him to hunt a white rhinoceros or elephant. The current unrest in India concerns Roosevelt, and asks what the feelings of British officials are towards it. Roosevelt also remarks briefly on his plans to leave immediately after William H. Taft’s inauguration as president, and comments on a controversy that arose at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, which is still fostering some resentment between the two nations. If Roosevelt can secure a third specimen of the white rhinoceros, he would be happy to send it to the British Museum.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-26

President Roosevelt is pleased that Edmund Heller has agreed to join him and his son Kermit Roosevelt on the African safari. Heller will be joining J. Alden Loring and Edgar Alexander Mearns to work as a naturalist and collect zoological samples on the trip. Roosevelt clarifies that only he and Kermit will be shooting big game, as two rifles is the limit for a good hunt. Roosevelt also discusses the itinerary for the trip and the supplies that Heller, Loring, and Mearns will need to acquire for themselves.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-24

President Roosevelt agrees with Ambassador Reid’s assessment of the interviewing being done by Edward VII, King of England. He thanks Reid for the introduction to Phillip H. Percival. After conferring with Edward North Buxton, Roosevelt has decided not to shoot in the reserves, and rescinds his request to Lord Eyre Crowe. Instead he asks only for permission regarding restricted species. The Sirdar of Egypt, F. R. Wingate, has written to Roosevelt about Sudan.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-12