Parker, John Milliken, 1863-1939

Stephen E. Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley tell the story of the most famous bear hunt in American history: Theodore Roosevelt’s unsuccessful hunt for black bear in Mississippi that gave birth to the teddy bear toy. Ambrose and Brinkley provide political context for the trip to Mississippi, list the members of the hunting party, and describe the hunt of November 15, 1902. The article also describes Clifford Berryman’s cartoon depiction of the hunt which led to the creation of the teddy bear. 

 

A photograph of Brinkley and his wife, and three photographs of members of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) distributing teddy bears at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, accompany the article. A text box with the vision statement of the TRA appears at the end of the article. 

This edition of the “News and Notes” section features a report on an exhibition entitled Theodore at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum. The report lists the various entities that donated materials to the exhibition, quotes from the catalog introduction written by John A. Gable of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA), and notes some of the other exhibitions hosted by the Johnson Library. Readers are also reminded that two documentary films about Roosevelt, My Father the President and The Indomitable Teddy Roosevelt, are available for sale. The report provides more information about each film as well as contact information to enable purchases.

“News and Notes” also highlights the lectures and appearances of Gable and TRA President William Davison Johnston at various schools, notes the passing of Jean Schermerhorn Roosevelt, and praises the work of Nicholas LaBella, the Superintendent of Youngs Memorial Cemetery in Oyster Bay, New York. This issue of the Journal is dedicated to LaBella. The section closes with a reminder that there are still aspects of Roosevelt’s life that need study, and it declares that the TRA is open to helping those who wish to pursue this work.

Two photographs are found in the section: one of Roosevelt standing in the back of an open car and another of LaBella. A detail of the Roosevelt photograph appears on the front cover of this issue.

Gary M. Lavergne provides an introduction to a document written by John Millicent Parker of Louisiana who lobbied President Woodrow Wilson to allow General Leonard Wood and Theodore Roosevelt to form a division for service in World War I. Lavergne edited Parker’s recollection and John A. Gable provides an introduction to the article. Parker discusses his relationships with Wilson and Roosevelt and details his May 1917 White House meeting with Wilson. Parker notes the points he raised with Wilson arguing for a command for both Wood and Roosevelt, and he also details Wilson’s rebuttal and his refusal to allow the formation of a division by the two most famous veterans of the Spanish-American War.

A photograph of Parker and Roosevelt onboard a boat in 1915 accompanies the article.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Joe F. Decker provides a comprehensive bibliography of the various accounts of Theodore Roosevelt’s attempt to form a volunteer division during World War I. Decker begins with Roosevelt’s own first account in 1917 and concludes with John Milton Cooper’s version in The Warrior and the Priest of 1983. Decker examines books, book chapters, and articles on the subject, and finds that the story still has not been “dealt with satisfactorily.” Decker points out the biases and the shortcomings of some of the authors, and notes that many of the accounts strongly favor either Roosevelt or his antagonist President Woodrow Wilson.

A full page-photograph of Roosevelt and General Leonard Wood accompanies the article. A photograph of Harrison Engle and Sidney D. Kirkpatrick who directed documentary films on Roosevelt is featured, along with three photographs of Roosevelt from newsreel footage used in the film The Indomitable Teddy Roosevelt.

A listing of the officers of the Theodore Roosevelt Association as well as the members of its executive, finance, and Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace committees is on page two of the article.

In this edition of the “Book Reviews” section, Paul Russell Cutright and Philip J. Roosevelt provide separate but equally laudatory reviews of American Bears, a collection of writings about bears and bear hunting by Theodore Roosevelt edited by Paul Schullery. Kenneth D. Crews finds that Roosevelt plays a minor, but important, role in Carlton Jackson’s The Dreadful Month about the awful death toll in American coal mines in December 1907. John A. Gable examines Paul D. Casdorph’s Republicans, Negroes, and Progressives in the South, 1912-1916 and compares some its findings to his own work on the Progressive Party.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Creation Date

1983

The author “congratulates” John Milliken Parker’s “Boss-ship” during the successful Good Government League convention and his triumph in Judge Luther Egbert Hall’s nomination. In truth, Parker’s actions are an “inexcusable breach of faith,” and the League’s convention was an “insidious attack on the integrity of the party.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-28

The author recounts “fighting Democrat of New Orleans” John M. Parker’s comments during the League Orleans meeting. He assures the audience that the League will give “the most honest and the squarest election” by listening to the people, not the political machine. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-28

Text of a speech delivered by John Milliken Parker on the financial importance of the cotton industry.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-12-02