Race relations

President Roosevelt carries a Republican elephant on his shoulders as he walks across a tightrope at “Niagara of Disapproval.” There are many words on the tightrope: “uncertainty,” “Panama,” “Wood promotion scandal,” “race question,” and “Post Office scandal.” Caption: The elephant—This strenuous business may be picturesque, but here’s where I get a transfer punched for the overboard route.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-12-20

Arthur P. Gorman attempts to have one foot on the “Dem. nomination” donkey and the other on the “democracy” donkey as he attempts to juggle several balls and knives: “shrewdness,” “canal opposition,” “leadership,” “Negro question,” “popularity,” and “influence.” Caption: Signor Gormani in his astounding act of trying to bring two mules together going in opposite directions whilst performing a dangerous piece of juggling.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-12

A paint-splattered Maryland Senator Arthur P. Gorman walks towards the White House to begin painting it with paint from a can labeled the “Negro question.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-11

President Roosevelt climbs up a “white patience” tree to reach for the Southern African American delegate vote. He holds “federal patronage,” African American social equality, and the “National Republican Convention vote.” The tree is bent dangerously over “obscurity” water, and Ohio Senator Marcus Alonzo Hanna watches from below.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-11-20

Postmaster General Henry C. Payne and President Roosevelt ride on a Republican elephant that pulls a woman out of a Delaware Post Office by its trunk. On its leg is a “postal scandal” covering and Delaware Senator J. Frank Allee points at the woman. As Roosevelt sits on the elephant, he holds several papers, including “canal treaty” and “Alaskan boundary.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-09-09

A woman holding a “Mother Jones” sign and a “labor problem” pitchfork rides a Republican elephant that rings the doorbell at President Roosevelt’s gate at Sagamore Hill. A sign reads, “Sagamore Hill: Positively no admission, except by invitation. T. R.” There are various signs attached to the elephant: “Ohio sandstone ring,” “postal scandal,” “Littauer glove scandal,” and “custom house frauds.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-07-29

Secretary of War William H. Taft grabs “Mingo Saunders 25 yrs good service” by the shoulder and brings him toward President Roosevelt who uses “the square deal” shoe to kick an African American into a “door of hope” river as he says, “Midnight assassins.” The other men of the U.S. Army’s 1st Battalion, 25th Infantry stand watching.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-09-26

William Jennings Bryan sweats as he looks at three checkers and points at the one labeled African American vote. Two others are labeled “Brownsville Texas Affair” and “Solid South.” President Roosevelt and William H. Taft look on. Taft says, “It’s your move Mr. Bryan!” On the wall of the house is a sign: “What is home without a Papa?”

Comments and Context

The first newspaper in Chicago that was owned by Blacks and catered to a Black readership was the Chicago Conservator, founded in 1878. Among its other distinctions was a strange animosity toward Booker T. Washington, otherwise distinguished for his national standing; and the editorship of reformer and writer Ida B. Wells. The paper received support, encouragement, and business favors from Herman Kohlsaat, publisher of the city’s largest newspaper, The Inter-Ocean.

The Conservator was radical and published twice a month; its extreme advocacies led to disagreements with Washington, although of its several publishers, attorney Ferdinand Lee Barnett was a Republican despite his opposition to Washington; and he retired from the paper to pursue political aspirations. Ida Wells became so associated with the Conservator that she bought Barnett’s interest in the newspaper. They later married.

Alton B. Parker sleeps in a bed and awakes from a nightmare of a hydra-headed monster: “militarism,” “violation of the Constitution,” “the race issue,” “the spirit of war,” and “imperialism.” A “voter” brings Parker an “election verdict” pill.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-10-25

President Roosevelt, dressed in his Rough Rider uniform and brandishing a cavalry saber, attempts to defend the “Republican hennery” from a number of chickens labeled “race equality,” “strikes,” and “trusts.” A “postal frauds” chicken attempts to skirt around Roosevelt, while an “imperialism” chicken has already snuck past Roosevelt and is entering the coop.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-09

President Roosevelt expresses his horror at the growth of lynching in the United States and commends Governor Durbin for his recent action against lynching.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1903-08-06

Oswald Garrison Villard discusses President Roosevelt’s recent Lincoln Day speech in which he “pleaded vigorously and earnestly for that fair play for the colored man which is so essential to the welfare of both whites and blacks.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-02-14

President Roosevelt’s recent Lincoln Day Speech was primarily devoted to the race problem. The author reports that while notable in many respects, disappointingly, the speech did not mention Roosevelt’s policy respecting southern representation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-02-15

This newspaper article discusses President Roosevelt’s visit to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri and expresses appreciation for the Roosevelt’s aid to the exposition. The writer also mentions the increased positive feelings toward the president, particularly mentioning Roosevelt’s decision to not to seek an additional term. The article also discusses the “race problem,” which Roosevelt is trying to address. If Roosevelt intends to follow through on not seeking an additional term, the writer believes the president will retire with the “keenest regret in the hearts of an appreciative people.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-26

This newspaper article mentions information from another newspaper about an African American farmer who was able to pay his rent and $1,900 he owed and still have money in the bank. The article in the Montgomery Advertiser suggests all that African Americans want is “exactly the same chance to earn an honest living and to enjoy the fruits of their labor.” The writer believes African Americans will stay in Alabama if white people “go at it the right way.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-14

This Outlook article discusses New York Senator Thomas Collier Platt’s bill to remove representation in Congress for states in the South that are believed to be denying suffrage to African Americans. The author of the article suggests that African Americans in the South have been denied suffrage not due to race but due to property or intelligence tests and believes the bill is an unnecessary punishment of the South. In fact, the author suggests the bill will make race relations worse and “will serve the ends of politicians who thrive on prejudice.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-17

In this article, Thomas G. Bush of Alabama discusses his thoughts on President Roosevelt, economic progress in the South, and race relations. Bush notes Roosevelt has appointed Republicans and Democrats for postmaster positions in the South and that the president is not in favor of social equality to African Americans. Additionally, Bush mentions Roosevelt’s hope that business development will grow in the South by the end of his term so that it will be an “equal sharer in the prosperity of the whole country.” Finally, Roosevelt believes the Panama Canal will help open up trading between the South and Asian countries.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-23

The City Council of Richmond, Virginia, issues an ordinance mandating that citizens of different races cannot live on the same street, and setting out penalties for anyone violating the ordinance.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-03-14

Creator(s)

Richmond (Va.). City Council

President Roosevelt details the state of lynching against African Americans in the current era. He suggests solutions to the problem of African American criminals, including increased education for young people. He ends by saying, “It is important that the condition of the Negro in New York, in Philadelphia, in Springfield and Chicago shall be studied exactly as he is studied in the South.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-02

In this editorial for the Nashville Banner, J. A. Jones comments on the recent dismissal of African American soldiers due to the Brownsville affair. He lists some of the good things President Roosevelt has done for the African American community but critiques him for not speaking out about lynching and race riots. Jones suggests that Texas handles its own affairs and Roosevelt stay out of it.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-11-23