Poverty

Letter from E.W. Williamson to Theodore Roosevelt

E. W. Williamson expresses to Theodore Roosevelt that he is in urgent financial need and respectfully requests $40 to cover pressing obligations. He explains that he has secured a job starting on the 15th of the month and promises to repay the amount. Williamson recalls assisting Roosevelt during military service and hopes Roosevelt will remember his past support.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-09-09

Creator(s)

Williamson, E. W.

Poverty and success

According to the essay, beginning life in poverty can be the catalyst to create a “full and rounded life, the only real kind of success.” Life must have a certain amount of material goods, but after those are attained it is the elements of the soul that matter the most. People who are rich also live a life of distraction. In contrast, poverty can give people the opportunity to pay closer attention to the world around them.

Collection

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

Creation Date

Unknown

Creator(s)

Unknown

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Walter A. Black

Theodore Roosevelt confirms to Walter A. Black that when he is fighting for the poor man, the work is in the interests of the rich man, as well, because “this country will not permanently be a good place for any man to live in unless it is a good place for all men to live in.” The policies he is advocating must be adopted, in order for democracy to flourish.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-06-03

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Jacob H. Hollander

Theodore Roosevelt thanks Professor Hollander for the book and states it should be easy to eliminate poverty.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1914-11-07

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to John A. Graham

Theodore Roosevelt comments on his belief in the need for social insurance and pensions to avoid poverty for Americans in old age. Roosevelt also states that there must be some kind of pension for widows left with children, as well as some kind of support for deserted wives and children.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1912-12-11

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Corinne Roosevelt Robinson

President Roosevelt thanks Corinne Robinson and her husband Douglas Robinson for bringing the chair from Venice. He was feeling bad about the depression and the poor, but the New York contingent awakened a healthy desire in him to “take the tuck out of them.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-12-25

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Albert Bushnell Hart

President Roosevelt thanks Albert Bushnell Hart for his letter and commends his planned study of poor white and black country districts in the South.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-02-26

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to the United States Civil Service Commission

President Roosevelt would like to have Ludwick C. Young restored to his position of clerk. Census director S. N. D. North vouches for him. Mrs. Young also does sewing for Edith Roosevelt. Even in the midst of poverty, the Young family tries to help others.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-05

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Letter from Jules Dzianott to Theodore Roosevelt

Jules Dzianott was exiled to Russia after the Polish Revolution of 1863 and cannot return to his country or family. He asks Theodore Roosevelt for material help. Dzianott is reading Roosevelt’s African Game Trails.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-11-14

Creator(s)

Dzianott, Jules

Letter from Emma M. Stimson to Theodore Roosevelt

Emma M. Stimson attaches a poem and writes to Theodore Roosevelt, a stranger, about her family’s personal troubles and poverty, as well as her family’s reluctance to give up their house which has become difficult to manage. Stimson had attempted to reach out for assistance, including writing to Andrew Carnegie’s “Hero Fund” to see if her “invalid” father could receive some form of pension, but they were denied outright. Currently her family is receiving aid from a local support group, but while Stimson appreciates the kindness, she is anxious about not having a permanent solution if the aid suddenly stops. Finally, Stimson gives Roosevelt a list of references for who could validate her story, and asks if there is anything he could do for her family.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-08-31

Creator(s)

Stimson, Emma M., 1865-1943

Letter from L. J. Wright to Theodore Roosevelt

L. J. Wright is glad to have seen Theodore Roosevelt again and shares the “many strange things” that have occurred since she last saw him in Springfield, Illinois. She hopes that Roosevelt will be able to help her sons better positions and wages. She informs Roosevelt that she and her family feel that “every thing goes wrong since you are no longer at the head of the nation.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-06

Creator(s)

Wright, L. J.

Letter from Coralie Morantin to Theodore Roosevelt

Coralie Morantin asks Theodore Roosevelt for help. Her husband, Jules Morantin, is in the hospital, and she is caring for three young children. She has no money, is about to be evicted, and her husband is unlikely to recover.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-03-23

Creator(s)

Morantin, Coralie, 1873-

Letter from Nora Elizabeth Scanlon to Theodore Roosevelt

Nora Elizabeth Scanlon’s family is impoverished, and she heard that Theodore Roosevelt is sympathetic to Irish Catholics. She asks Roosevelt to have Postmaster General Frank H. Hitchcock reinstate her husband, Jeremiah Scanlon, to his position as a mail carrier. She also wrote to King George V since she only moved to the United States because her wealthy father was killed during the agitation in Ireland.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-01

Creator(s)

Scanlon, Nora Elizabeth, 1876-1938

Letter from J. Corry Baker to Theodore Roosevelt

J. Corry Baker urges Theodore Roosevelt to return to the presidency of the United States in 1912, “for the sake of the poor.” Baker notes that many of his neighbors are disappointed in President William H. Taft.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1910-01-06

Creator(s)

Baker, J. Corry (Joseph Corry), 1877-1942

Letter from John J. Cronin to Theodore Roosevelt

John J. Cronin writes in response to President Roosevelt’s criticism of his article in the Review of Reviews, especially Roosevelt’s assertion that he has a depraved moral character. He discusses the size of American families, especially poor families. Cronin argues that children are behind in school because of physical defects like epilepsy and that the “better class” should observe this and “preserve their stock.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-05-02

Creator(s)

Cronin, John J. (John Joseph), 1867-1925

Letter from Laura d’Oremieulx Roosevelt to William Loeb

Laura d’Oremieulx Roosevelt writes to Secretary of the President Loeb on behalf of Marie Sidonie Thieriot, the widow of her late cousin Jacob H. Thieriot, in the hope that she may speak with President Theodore Roosevelt about the matter. Thieriot is in delicate health and almost penniless, and Roosevelt would like to do what she can to help her.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-10

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Laura d'Oremieulx

Letter from George von Lengerke Meyer to Theodore Roosevelt

Ambassador Meyer updates Theodore Roosevelt on the socioeconomic conditions in Russia. Meyer discusses the problems of working with the Russian government.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-07-11

Creator(s)

Meyer, George von Lengerke, 1858-1918

Letter from Edward C. Stokes to Theodore Roosevelt

Edward C. Stokes writes to President Roosevelt in response to a letter from Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt regarding the welfare of children in New Jersey.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-09-21

Creator(s)

Stokes, Edward C. (Edward Casper), 1860-1942

Caring for the state’s wards

The article discusses how Minnesota’s public school in Owatonna houses and provides for children from poverty-stricken families or those lacking sufficient support. While it is a necessary institution, it is frequently overcrowded and has a waiting list. Cyrus Townsend Brady recently commented on the benefits of the state providing pensions for widows with dependents instead of removing their children to an institution. Such a program would not cost more than the school’s current expenditures. Additionally, forming a state commission to investigate poverty would aid the initiative.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04-09

Creator(s)

Unknown

Pass at least one

The Minnesota State Legislature is currently considering four bills which charitable organizations of the state heartily support. Because it is already late in the legislative session, however, the article acknowledges that some bills may have to be dropped because of time, and urges at a minimum the passage of the bill forming a state commission to investigate causes of poverty and sickness. The article continues by explaining some of the particulars of the bill, and the benefits of such a commission.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-03-28

Creator(s)

Unknown