Race relations

Letter from Charles William Anderson to William Loeb

Charles William Anderson expresses his disapproval of William L. Wilson as a potential postmaster of New York. One of his objections is that Wilson placed African Americans William H. Butler and Major R. Poole in positions in the New York legislature, despite how they “had used the vilest epithets in referring to President Roosevelt, because of the Brownsville incident.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-08

Letter from Paul Paquin to Theodore Roosevelt

Paul Paquin is inspired by President Roosevelt’s “courageous application of justice” in the incident with the African American soldiers stationed near Brownsville, Texas. Paquin suggests that the country needs a thorough and unbiased investigation of the “negro problem.” He believes that education has failed to instill a “fixed moral sense” in African Americans, and he is concerned by their drop in productivity over the past forty years. Paquin has hope that African Americans can be made into “useful” citizens.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-03

Directive from the United States Senate to Victor Howard Metcalf

The United States Senate directs the Secretary of Commerce and Labor, Victor Howard Metcalf, to provide copies of all documents related to his investigation of Japanese students attending public schools in San Francisco.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-05

Letter from Victor Howard Metcalf to Charles W. Fairbanks

Secretary of Commerce and Labor Metcalf responds to a resolution requiring his department to furnish the Senate with all documents related to his investigation of Japanese students attending public schools in San Francisco. Metcalf states that the investigation was undertaken under the authority and as the representative of President Roosevelt and not in his capacity as Secretary of Commerce and Labor. The documents, therefore, are now under the custody and control of Roosevelt, to whom Metcalf has forwarded a copy of this letter.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-12-06

Letter from Robert Bingham to Theodore Roosevelt

Robert Bingham thanks President Roosevelt for disbanding the battalion of the 25th Infantry, better known as the Buffalo Soldiers. Bingham encloses a document that discusses the “black race problem,” and points to the need for holding African Americans responsible for their crimes. Although Roosevelt discharged 167 soldiers for dishonorable conduct against white police officers in what was known as the Brownsville Affair, later evidence shows the men were not guilty.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-23

The President and those who threaten him

This article in The Sun criticizes President Roosevelt’s involvement in the Brownsville Affair and speculates on the political aftermath when Roosevelt returns to the United States.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-23

Letter from Charles William Anderson to William Loeb

Charles William Anderson tells William Loeb that it is rumored that Gilchrist Stewart, traveling with some of the soldiers discharged as a result of the Brownsville affair, intends to make a speech to President Roosevelt and give copies of it to White House reporters. Anderson thinks that Stewart, who is working for the Constitution League, will pass a copy to the papers as a “star-play for himself, and his employers.” Anderson also reports that a white lawyer, Joe Smith, has connections to the Boston Tablet and to Stewart’s employer John E. Milholland, who had told Mrs. Mary Church Terrell to call on Roosevelt “before any of the colored delegations reached him, and in that way forestall everybody in the favor of the Constitution League.” Anderson also notes that Reverend William H. Brooks is in the city and also works for the league.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-30

Letter from John Allison to William Loeb

John Allison, Chancellor of the Davidson Chancery Court in Tennessee, notes that the African American churches and organizations protesting President Roosevelt’s dismissal of a battalion of African American soldiers have not made any resolutions condemning the soldiers that he believes are responsible for killing innocent civilians in Brownsville, Texas, nor have they expressed any sympathy for those victims or regret at the conduct of the battalion whom he believes are protecting the murderers. Allison tells President Roosevelt’s secretary, William Loeb, that this is typical behavior for African Americans, and he urges Roosevelt not to countermand his order of dismissal because it might embolden the “worst elements of their race.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-21

Paltering with mutinous troops

In spite of Secretary of War Taft’s intention to suspend President Roosevelt’s order dismissing the twenty-fifth infantry because of the Brownsville affair, Roosevelt has again declared that the soldiers must be dishonorably discharged. Significant political pressure is being brought to bear against Roosevelt’s action, because if any of several states have a close election, the loss of the African-American vote could cost them the election. However, the author of the article indicts the soldiers of the twenty-fifth infantry for their actions in Brownsville, and says that they are unfit to serve in the military.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-28

Former member of twenty-fifth says President acted hastily

Charles V. Richey, a former member of the twenty-fifth infantry, writes what he thinks about President Roosevelt’s orders in the Brownsville affair. He believes Roosevelt acted too quickly, but that he cannot rescind his order without discrediting himself. Richey suggests that in order to apprehend the guilty people, a reward should be offered for information leading to their discovery, and the reinstatement guaranteed of everyone found not guilty. He urges people to be patient with Roosevelt and give him a chance to act after Congress makes their recommendations.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-27

An open letter to Secretary of War

In this open letter to Secretary of War Taft, General Nettleton defends President Roosevelt’s actions in discharging the soldiers in Brownsville “without honor.” Nettleton, commenting from Brownsville, alleges that there has been well attested evidence for the guilt of the African American troops, and that their actions constitute a conspiracy against the town. He opines that even if not every solider participated in the action, their unwillingness to identify who did has made every soldier culpable. Dismissal from the army is not punishment enough for their actions.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-29

Lynching

President Roosevelt is considering appointing a committee to study the “entire problem of race in this country.” Roosevelt is concerned with making sure the men who are appointed to this committee are men of high moral character who reflect a diversity in regions and characteristics, and he asserts that they must also be transparent and act in good faith while on this committee. Roosevelt wants the condition of African Americans in northern locales to be studied exactly as they are in the South.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-30

Letter from Clark Howell to Theodore Roosevelt

Clark Howell thinks President Roosevelt is on the “right line” in his response to the race question. Howell believes that if Congress acts on the suggestion “a decidedly forward step” will be taken on “harmonious relations between the races.” Howell further states that the “situation in the South” is “menacing” and if Roosevelt can settle the problem, it will be “the greatest work accomplished by any president since the Civil War.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-31

Letter from William H. Fleming to Theodore Roosevelt

William H. Fleming approves of President Roosevelt’s treatment of the “race problem,” and he thinks the appointment of a commission to investigate facts and make recommendations about racial tensions would be useful. Fleming says some political factions will oppose the commission because they “do not wish to have the light turned on.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-02

Excerpt from the President’s annual message to Congress

President Roosevelt examines various social premises in American society that are inherently unequal for African Americans. Roosevelt calls on white Americans to seek out the good in neighbors, regardless of race, and with the goal of improving life and prosperity for all Americans. Roosevelt believes that skin color detrimentally impacts the black population’s ability to live free without the threat of violence, achieve a good education, and acquire a good paying job. The mob mentality that adversely targets African Americans must be rooted out. In relation to capital and labor, Roosevelt again criticizes the mob mentality that excites violent class hatred against the wealthy. It is not in America’s interest to elect anyone whose platform is built on “violence and hypocrisy.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-30

Mr. Fleming reaffirms statement of Mr. Smith’s advocacy of fraud

This Augusta Chronicle article written by William H. Fleming details Fleming’s opinions of a recent race riot as well as the suppression of African American voters in Alabama and Georgia.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-09

Letter from William H. Taft to Theodore Roosevelt

Secretary of War Taft would like President Roosevelt to read over his comments on the Brownsville affair and the discharge of African American soldiers from the 25th Infantry Regiment. In a postscript, Taft writes that he read the comments of Gilchrist Stewart on behalf of the discharged soldiers; he wonders if Stewart’s claims about the white townspeople killing the barkeeper, wounding the chief of police, and attacking women and children, before passing the blame onto the African American soldiers, are in fact possible.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906

A state commission to study the race problem

The writer suggests the creation of a state commission to study the race problem and propose concrete solutions. The questions the committee ought to investigate include the following: 1. Does crime increase or decrease with education among the negroes? … 13. Does a complete separation of the races improve or aggravate the relations existing between them? … 24. Does the example of Hayti show that the negro cannot be left alone?

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-24

Letter from Booker T. Washington to Christopher J. Perry

Booker T. Washington writes to Christopher J. Perry about Perry’s recent editorial about President Roosevelt and the Atlanta race riot. Washington defends Roosevelt’s lack of federal action in favor of local and state authorities handling the matter, which has raised public conscience and a closer relationship between the whites and the colored people that exists no where else in the South.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-05

Letter from William R. Willcox to William Loeb

New York City Postmaster William R. Willcox writes William Loeb regarding the incident of a person of color, postal clerk A. D. Guerrant, being fired for insubordination. Willcox disagrees with the letter Congressman Herbert Parsons sent to President Theodore Roosevelt alleging that Guerrant had been the victim of racial discrimination. Willcox outlines the case, defends the decisions of the other department managers, and denies strongly the accusation that the New York Post Office discriminates or makes hiring or promotion decisions based on anything but merit.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-09-05