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A list of birds from Oyster Bay, New York, including descriptions and handwritten notes, written by Theodore Roosevelt.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1879-03
Catalog of birds observed primarily around the Saint Regis Lakes in the Adirondack Mountains between 1874 and 1877.
Sagamore Hill National Historic Site
1877-10
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919; Minot, H. D. (Henry Davis), 1859-1890
Theodore Roosevelt introduces Richard Achilles Ballinger to C. William Beebe, curator of ornithology at the New York Zoological Park. Roosevelt praises Beebe’s work in collecting American birds and supports his request to collect migratory birds near lighthouses for the park’s collection. He urges Ballinger to grant permission and facilitate communication with the appropriate bureau.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-09-08
Robert Wexelblatt finds the title of Margaret P. Griffin’s The Amazing Bird Collection of Young Mr. Roosevelt “a little misleading” because the book explores more than Theodore Roosevelt’s penchant for studying, shooting, and mounting bird specimens. Wexelblatt quotes extensively from Griffin’s work to demonstrate that the book covers other aspects of Roosevelt’s life as a boy and teenager. Wexelblatt also touches on the audience the book aims for and the experience as a teacher that Griffin brought to her project.
Two photographs of Roosevelt, examples of his bird taxidermy and sketching, and the cover illustration of the book appear in the review.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
2015
In “The Sighting at Pine Knot, Virginia,” Alton A. Lindsay explores the question of whether Theodore Roosevelt was the last person to report a credible sighting of the extinct passenger pigeon near his presidential retreat, Pine Knot in Virginia, in 1907. Lindsay provides a history of Pine Knot and also looks at the making of Roosevelt as a naturalist going back to his childhood. He notes some of the defining experiences in Roosevelt’s life that made him a naturalist and conservationist, such as his time in the Dakota Badlands. Like other scholars he pushes back against the idea that Roosevelt was merely a man of action and asserts that he “was a man of intellect.”
He details Roosevelt’s sighting of a small flock of passenger pigeons in May 1907, and argues that Roosevelt’s history and experience as a naturalist and ornithologist lend credibility to his claims to have seen the birds.
A photograph of President Roosevelt and another showing the Pine Knot cabin from the side and rear accompany the article.
The article, published in The Outlook in July of 1910, describes Theodore Roosevelt’s interest in birds, and in particular, his birdwatching while visiting England.
1910-07-23
Theodore Roosevelt’s notes about his observations of the flora and fauna of New York, New Jersey, and Vermont. A hand-drawn map and sketches of birds are included.
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site
1872, 1874-1875