New York (State)--New York--Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site

Guide to thirteen different sites associated with Theodore Roosevelt from historic homes to national parks and small towns. Many of the sites are administered by the National Park Service. The directory names each site, gives a brief description and history, and provides directions for visitors.  

Photographs of the front of the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site and of the equestrian statue of Theodore Roosevelt in front of the American Museum of Natural History, both in New York City, accompany the guide. The statue was removed in January 2022.

History of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) that highlights the role the TRA played in preserving Theodore Roosevelt’s homes in New York City and Oyster Bay, New York along with Theodore Roosevelt Island in Washington, D.C. The TRA later transferred all of these historic sites to the National Park Service. The article covers the TRA’s work with Harvard University and the Library of Congress in collecting and preserving  papers, books, and film on Roosevelt, and it covers the Association’s support of natural history grants awarded by the American Museum of Natural History. Many of the books either published or supported by the TRA are listed. The past Presidents and Directors of the TRA are listed, and aspects of the TRA’s governance and finance are noted.  

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1978

This notice provides a history of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) from its beginnings in 1919 as the Roosevelt Memorial Association. It highlights the TRA’s efforts to preserve Theodore Roosevelt’s homes, its support of the Roosevelt Collection at Harvard University, and its funding of research grants awarded by the American Museum of Natural History. It closes by describing the many publications about Roosevelt that the TRA has sponsored, including, since 1975, the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1976

This notice provides a history of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) from its beginnings in 1919 as the Roosevelt Memorial Association. It highlights the TRA’s efforts to preserve Theodore Roosevelt’s homes, its support of the Roosevelt Collection at Harvard University, the sponsorship of public speaking and essay contests, and its funding of research grants awarded by the American Museum of Natural History. It closes by describing the many publications about Roosevelt that the TRA has sponsored, including, since 1975, the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1976

Executive Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) John A. Gable provides an update on the various projects undertaken by the TRA in 1976 with an emphasis on the expansion of the Theodore Roosevelt holdings at Harvard University. He notes the establishment there of the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial, and he gives an update on the revitalization project underway in the neighborhood surrounding the Theodore Roosevelt National Historic Site in New York City. Gable promotes the reissue of Roosevelt’s biography of Gouverneur Morris, and he lists the various clubs and organizations he spoke to in his role as Executive Director of the TRA. He notes the receipt of four letters from Roosevelt to William T. Hornaday which the TRA has added to the Harvard University Roosevelt Collection.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1976

Report on the 57th annual meeting of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) on October 29, 1976 at Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, Oyster Bay, New York. The article details the events of the meeting which center around the Trustees Dinner followed by the various reports given by the officers of the TRA including the President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and Executive Director. Highlights of the reports include an update on the revitalization effort surrounding the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site in New York City, the state of the TRA’s finances, and the work of the Executive Director in answering inquiries to the TRA. Historian Frederick W. Marks addressed the guests as did representatives of the National Park Service. Dorothy Horton McGee was honored for her work as a historian of Oyster Bay, Long Island.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1977

This article describes the dedication ceremony for the “20th Street Revitalization Day” that was held in front of the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site on October 2, 1976. The article notes the music and dance performances, the invocation, and gives a brief synopsis of each of the speeches, including one by Mayor Abraham Beame of New York City that was accompanied by the yelling of striking New York City policemen. The article notes the many private organizations, including the Theodore Roosevelt Association, and the government agencies that supported the urban renewal project.

The article has two photographs: one shows Mayor Beame speaking at the ceremony and the other shows John A. Gable, Executive Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, addressing the crowd.

Architectural historian James Sanders gives a detailed report on the East 20th Street Revitalization Project which aimed to reinvigorate the neighborhood surrounding the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site in New York City. Most of the work involved cleaning and painting buildings, planting trees, and installing new signage. Sanders gives a history of the Roosevelt Birthplace, detailing the neighborhood’s decline as the area moved from residential to light industrial use. He looks at the plans to revitalize the neighborhood and credits the various individuals, private entities, government bureaus, and corporations that contributed to the project.

The article has two accompanying photographs: one shows the exterior of the Birthplace at 28 East 20th Street in New York City and the other shows Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt IV with their son on the front steps of the Birthplace.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

This notice, a regular feature of each issue of the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal, notes the role the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) played in the preservation of Theodore Roosevelt’s homes and Theodore Roosevelt Island in Washington, D.C. and its cooperation with the National Park Service. It notes the TRA’s work with Harvard University, its student contests, and its publications, including the TRA Journal.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1977

John A. Gable begins his message by noting that the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) is in a strong financial position in 1977 thanks to an increase in membership dues and contributions at a time when many organizations are struggling to stay viable. He says that the TRA frequently receives letters from children, and he quotes from one of these in which a boy sent fifty cents to the TRA asking for pictures and information about Theodore Roosevelt. Gable acknowledges the receipt of the Theodore Roosevelt Collection of Walter Merriam Pratt who was active in Roosevelt’s political campaigns, served in World War I, and was a Trustee of the TRA. The collection will be added to the holdings of the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site in New York City. Gable closes by noting the many contributions to the work of the TRA by Jessica Kraft, the first Curator of Sagamore Hill National Historic Site.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1977

Brief notice that explains the results of the 1977 Theodore Roosevelt Public Speaking Contest. It highlights the winner, Paul Caruso of Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn, New York, and lists the other finalists, judges, and administrators of the contest. 

A list of the officers of the Theodore Roosevelt Association accompanies this article.

History of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) that highlights the role the TRA played in preserving Theodore Roosevelt’s homes in New York City and Oyster Bay, New York along with Theodore Roosevelt Island in Washington, D.C. The TRA later transferred all of these historic sites to the National Park Service. The article covers the TRA’s work with Harvard University and the Library of Congress in collecting and preserving  papers, books, and film on Roosevelt, and it covers the Association’s support of natural history grants awarded by the American Museum of Natural History. The past Presidents and Directors of the TRA are listed, and aspects of the TRA’s governance and finance are noted.  

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1977

Executive Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) John A. Gable relates Theodore Roosevelt related news in his message to readers. He notes that the revitalization efforts undertaken by the TRA and other organizations in the neighborhood surrounding the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site has inspired the formation of another group to work on the area south of the Birthplace. He also reports that the Library of Congress received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to catalog the TRA Motion Picture Collection. Gable also details the work of Roosevelt impersonators on stage, television, and in school appearances. He closes by listing the various schools and historical associations to which he has spoken in his capacity as Executive Director.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1977

This article describes a visit to the White House by a delegation from the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) to present a set of the Memorial Edition of the Works of Theodore Roosevelt to President Jimmy Carter and his wife to be placed in the Roosevelt Room of the White House. The article lists the members of the delegation, provides information about the Roosevelt Room and the donated books, and describes the interaction between Ethel Roosevelt Derby and the Carter family.

A picture of John A. Gable and P. James Roosevelt of the TRA with President Carter opens the article on the front page of the issue.

John A. Gable describes in detail the life and work of Hermann Hagedorn, historian, biographer, and long-time Director of the Roosevelt Memorial Association and its successor, the Theodore Roosevelt Association. Gable covers Hagedorn’s life as a child of German immigrants in Brooklyn, New York, his education and teaching at Harvard, and his early career as a writer and poet. He notes Hagedorn’s difficulties as a German-American during World War I and the start of his friendship with Theodore Roosevelt that would define his career. Gable traces Hagedorn’s leadership of the Roosevelt Memorial Association over nearly four decades, discusses his many publications on Roosevelt, and looks at his other writings, including a number of biographies and many works of poetry.

Two photographs accompany this article. One is a formal portrait of Hagedorn and the other shows Hagedorn with President Dwight D. Eisenhower at the dedication of Sagamore Hill in June 1953.

Obituary of Anne Lyon Haight (Mrs. Sherman Post Haight) who was a leader in the Women’s Roosevelt Memorial Association, the Women’s Theodore Roosevelt Association, and the Theodore Roosevelt Association. She worked in an English hospital in World War I, flew with Charles Lindbergh, and helped run the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace in New York City.  

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1977

The fifty-sixth annual meeting of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) recently took place at the Sagamore Hill National Historic Site on October 27, 1975. The article notes some of the attendees and describes in detail the reports given by the leadership of the TRA, including those of the Executive Director, President, Vice-President and Treasurer. Topics covered in these reports include the plan to revitalize the East Twentieth Street neighborhood where the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace is located, the reissue of Roosevelt’s biography of Gouverneur Morris, the production of video cassette tapes and films documenting various aspects of Roosevelt’s life and work, and an announcement of the winner of the first TRA Essay Prize contest. Executive Director Gable notes the increase in both membership and contribution to the TRA since 1974.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1976

P. James Roosevelt and John A. Gable, President and Executive Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA), provide a detailed accounting of the TRA’s outreach and education activities for 1975. Many of these initiatives are covered in more detail in individual articles in this issue of the Journal. The longest portion of the Report covers the plan to undertake an urban renewal effort in the neighborhood of the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site on East Twentieth Street in New York City. The planting of trees, painting of buildings, use of brick pavers and other measures are hoped to revitalize the neighborhood and increase visitation to the site.

The Annual Report also features three photographs from the TRA’s Annual Meeting and Dinner as well as two views of the sculpture bust of Theodore Roosevelt created by Gleb Derujinsky, a copy of which was donated to the city of Oyster Bay, New York by the TRA in October 1975.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

The article relates the history of the “Roosevelt Motion Picture Library” compiled by the Roosevelt Memorial Association and the Women’s Roosevelt Memorial Association in the 1920s. Headed by Caroline Gentry, the organizations procured films featuring Roosevelt from individuals and film studios and from these produced fifteen silent films about various aspects of Roosevelt’s life.  Made between 1924 and 1930, the films were shown at the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace as well as at schools and libraries. The article notes the praise the films received (including from Thomas Edison), their retirement in the 1950s due to changing technology, and their revival and reproduction as video cassette tapes in the 1970s.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1976

P. James Roosevelt, President of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA), provides a detailed look at the activities of the TRA during 1974, noting the significant financial donations the TRA made to various entities such as the Theodore Roosevelt Collection at Harvard University, the Youngs Memorial Cemetery in Oyster Bay, New York where Theodore Roosevelt is buried, and the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. He highlights the hiring of John A. Gable to serve as the Executive Director of the TRA. Several of the initiatives noted here are described in some detail in brief notices in the rest of the issue. This piece also includes a listing of the leadership of the TRA.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1975