New York (N.Y.). Police Department

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt was concerned to hear of Hermann Speck von Sternburg’s illness and wishes he would come to the United States. He sent a report by Sergeant Petty on pistol practice with the new police revolver, although it is possible Sternburg did not receive it. Roosevelt wants to talk with Sternburg about many matters, especially Germany’s new battleships.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1897-04-28

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt informs Frank Rathgeber that he wrote to Frank Moss, his successor as Police Commissioner, about him and Minnie Gertrude Kelly. He thanks Rathgeber for taking care of the boxes. While he misses Rathgeber and Kelly, Roosevelt enjoys his new position.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1897-04-23

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt thinks Mayor Strong has solved the problem by appointing Frank Moss as Police Commissioner. He asks Strong to keep Richard J. Lewis and Peter Barlow in mind for the positions of police magistrates. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1897-04-23

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt wishes he could be a third police commissioner with Frank Moss and Avery De Lano Andrews. He warns Moss not to let Parker or Frederick Dent Grant trick him. Roosevelt hopes Moss finds Kelly and Rathgeber satisfactory and testifies of their good work and character. Moss knows the New York Police Department better than most.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1897-04-24

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt writes to Avery De Lano Andrews that he spoke to Mayor William Lafayette Strong and put in a “vigorous” word for Henry L. Sprague. Roosevelt is still embroiled in conflict with Police Commissioners Frederick Dent Grant and Andrew D. Parker.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1897-04-20

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt enjoyed hearing from Collector of Customs W. A. Fitch. He is pleased with Fitch’s commentary on his work as Police Commissioner of the New York Police Department and wants him to know that he did not let politics sway him from his purpose. Roosevelt cannot speak on the tariff and other matters, and hopes the civil service law will be observed. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1897-04-20

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt thanks Frank Rathgeber for the letter and directs him to do as suggested regarding Nasts’s picture (possibly cartoonist Thomas Nast). When Roosevelt’s successor at the New York Police Department is appointed, he will write him concerning Rathgeber and Minnie Gertrude Kelly.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1897-04-20

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roosevelt thanks Edward J. Rush for his letter. Even though he wishes he could have accomplished more, such letters make him feel satisfied with his work in New York (likely in reference to his time as Police Commissioner of New York).

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1897-04-20

William T. Hornaday is disturbed by events at home and abroad. The American Defense Society is fighting against pacifism and working hard to prevent “disloyal meetings” from taking place in New York. Hornaday is alarmed by a bill drawn up Congressman Sulzer and the Department of Agriculture, and supported by Charles Sheldon and Edward William Nelson, allowing the sale of Alaskan big game all year round.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1918-03-02

John A. Chamberlain has read that as New York City Police Commissioner, Theodore Roosevelt “endeavored to enforce all laws according to their clearly expressed intent and purpose.” He asks if this is accurate and assures that he will not quote him.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-12-09

Aloysius G. Brown appeals to Theodore Roosevelt to aid him in securing a position with the U.S. Secret Service. Brown details his attributes, work ethic and history, his physical appearance, and past work experience. In showing his good character, Brown details how he has a wife, two children, and another child on the way. Moreover, Brown details how he served in the Spanish-American War and in various capacities linked to the U.S. government since then. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-06-19

Henry L. Hawkins lays out his qualifications and requests an interview with Theodore Roosevelt concerning a position as a guard for the National City Bank of New York.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-20

George Haven Putnam asks President Roosevelt for his assistance in combating possible libel charges brought by Deputy Commissioner of Police Thomas F. McAvoy. McAvoy has “taken the first steps in a libel suit” seeking damages of fifty thousand dollars for “utterances” Putnam made in a recent political campaign. Putnam reminds Roosevelt of the “serious charges” brought against McAvoy “some years back” for accepting bribes prior to Roosevelt’s tenure as Commissioner of Police in New York City, and asks Roosevelt if he could provide information about the matter to be used in the “strictest possible confidence.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-12-01

George Haven Putnam thanks President Roosevelt for his “prompt and very friendly attention” to Putnam’s recent “troublesome personal inquiry” about conditions in the New York City police force when Roosevelt became police commissioner. Putnam has written to Avery De Lano Andrews asking for an appointment, and he will use Roosevelt’s letter as suggested. Putnam is also pleased to see Roosevelt’s commendation of the revised copyright statute that he has been working on and hopes the process will be finalized by January.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-12-06

Police Commissioner McAdoo informs President Roosevelt that his department has seized a kinetoscope series of pictures produced by Lew Dockstader that he claims caricatured Roosevelt in an offensive manner.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-05-20

Chronology of the daily life of Theodore Roosevelt from January 1892 to December 1898. Notable events include the death of Elliott Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt is appointed New York City Police Commissioner, his tenure as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, the Spanish-American War, and Roosevelt’s gubernatorial campaign.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association

Creation Date

1985

Chronology of the daily life of Theodore Roosevelt from January 1884 to December 1891. Notable events include the deaths of Alice Lee Roosevelt and Martha Bulloch Roosevelt, Roosevelt’s time on his ranch, the completion of Sagamore Hill, Roosevelt’s engagement and marriage to Edith Kermit Carow, Theodore “Ted” Roosevelt’s birth, the “Great-Dieup” of cattle in North Dakota, and the founding of the Boone and Crockett Club.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association

Creation Date

1985

Police Commissioner Roosevelt tenders his resignation to New York Mayor Strong to take effect in two days time. He thanks Strong for appointing him as President of the Board of Police Commissioners, and for the support he gave efforts to reform the police service. Roosevelt is proud of the police force that he has helped shape, and lists his accomplishments in reducing corruption, ensuring the fair enforcement of laws, and improving the force of patrolmen and officers. He regrets that not as much progress was made as he believes would have been possible under a single, unified Commissioner.

The back of the last page of the letter has a short accounting of receipts written in Roosevelt’s hand.

Collection

America

Brief report on the 2017 annual meeting and dinner of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) in New York City which describes the venues, symposium speakers, and the four TRA awards conferred at the annual dinner. Fifteen photographs accompany the text which is followed by an eleven page photo album of sixty-six color photographs of the various speakers, award winners, guests, and leadership of the TRA.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

2018

Charles O. Bishop explores the origins of the friendship between Theodore Roosevelt and Joseph Bucklin Bishop. Bishop traces the relationship to the time when Roosevelt served as a police commissioner in New York City, and Joseph Bucklin Bishop publicized Roosevelt’s work in his newspaper editorials. Bishop notes Joseph Bucklin Bishop’s disregard for Andrew D. Parker, another member of the police commission, and he highlights Bishop’s work on the Isthmian Canal Commission and Roosevelt’s request that Bishop write his biography. 

Four photographs of Joseph Bucklin Bishop supplement the text.