Your TR Source
William Jay Schieffelin writes President Roosevelt about Willis R. Hotchkiss, a missionary in Africa, whose “adventures with lions and warring natives are thrilling to hear.” Schieffelin also suggests that Roosevelt meet with an American Quaker missionary in British East Africa who is now teaching farming.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-02-09
Theodore Roosevelt hopes Sir Alfred E. Pease has acquired a copy of his book, America and the World War. Roosevelt is disappointed in the manner in which President Woodrow Wilson and Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan have responded to the World War. Roosevelt attributes their actions in response to the German occupation of Belgium to physical fear, a desire to placate the German vote, and a “twisted flabbiness of principle.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1915-02-06
President Roosevelt thanks Kazuko Gotō for the book about about Japanese rule in Taiwan. Roosevelt enjoyed meeting her and was surprised to have learned that Bushido: the Soul of Japan had been written by a Japanese Quaker.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-07
President Roosevelt tells Isaac Sharpless, President of Haverford College, that he will read A Quaker Experiment in Government with interest, and invites Sharpless to visit him if he ever travels to Washington, D.C.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-11-01
President Roosevelt tells G. M. Philips about his Quaker ancestry, but asks Philips to keep that information private between himself and President Sharpless of Harverford College until after the election.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-10-21
President Roosevelt denies a statement that he attacked the Quakers and sends John E. Keyes a letter he wrote four years prior as proof. Roosevelt describes Quaker characteristics that he values, and says there were no better in the Civil War Army than the Quakers, though they are against fighting. Roosevelt supports the Republican Party’s right to ask for support of every friend of the country, as everyone is equal.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-10
President Roosevelt encloses in a letter to Speaker Cannon a letter he wrote to a Quaker to clarify his attitude towards Quakers. Roosevelt also addresses a recent New York Sun article that criticized his involvement with the laboring class. Roosevelt elaborates that the doors of the White House will “swing open as easily to wageworkers as to capitalists” and that he strives to represent all citizens.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-03
Benjamin K. Focht addresses the Hummel family reunion. Focht discusses German immigration to Pennsylvania, starting with a history of Germany and leading to the contributions that German-Americans have made to public life in the United States. This is a published version of a speech that Focht gave August 28, 1907.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908
President Roosevelt stands behind a “Quaker suit” with a tag that reads, “pacific speech of acceptance for campaign purposes,” and fires a revolver at the feet of the Sultan of the Turks Abdülhamid II. Sultan of Morocco Mulai Abd al-Aziz IV watches in the background with a sign that reads, “Perdicaris alive, or Raisuli dead.” In the distance, Ahmad Raysūnī watches from a cliff.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-10
President Roosevelt removes a mask depicting himself as a Quaker and bows in front of an elephant. The elephant wears an “imperialism” crown, a “postal fraud” mailbag and a “pension order” money bag on the elephant’s front two legs, and has “deficit,” “Addicks,” “extravagance,” and “subsidies” bandages. The elephant also wears a “tariff wall” and “the new diplomacy” seat, and grasps “the big stick” with its trunk, which also wears a “Littauer” glove.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-09-14
Theodore Roosevelt speaks on the nature of conscientious objectors during World War I. He says that the majority of objectors are either lazy or pro-German and gives arguments for why religious groups like the Society of Friends should participate in the war. He says that true objectors can still serve in other capacities. He calls for more representation of working men and farmers in Washington and for universal military service.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1917-09-28
Printed copy of Theodore Roosevelt’s speech in Minneapolis released to newspapers. Roosevelt speaks on the nature of conscientious objectors during World War I. He says that the majority of objectors are either lazy or pro-German and gives arguments for why religious groups like the Society of Friends should participate in the war. He says that true objectors can still serve in other capacities. He calls for more representation of working men and farmers in Washington and for universal military service.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1917-09-28