Your TR Source
President Roosevelt agrees with District Attorney Rose that the matter should have been taken up a long time ago. It was not taken up because of the fear that it would cause hostility among African Americans.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-05-30
President Roosevelt takes issue with Ray Stannard Baker’s recent article in American Magazine. He states that Senators Benjamin R. Tillman and Jeff Davis, and Mississippi Governor James Kimble Vardaman do not represent championship of the Many over the Few on principle, but rather are motivated by self-interest. Roosevelt states that the conflict of race runs deeper than other divisions. He asserts that he is “a democrat of the democrats” and fights equally against the privileged and the mob.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-03
President Roosevelt regrets that Pearl Wight will not be able to send any “colored men” from Louisiana to the upcoming Republican National Convention, although one is going as an alternate from New York State. The attacks against Roosevelt for his actions regarding the Brownsville affair make him want to be careful to do right by “the decent colored man.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-18
President Roosevelt recounts for Viscount Lee how pleasant it was to sit for his portrait by Fülöp László. László allowed him to have guests to speak to while he sat, and Anna Cabot Mills Davis Lodge was a common guest. Roosevelt thanks Lee for his work with William Lyon Mackenzie King, and notes that although the issue of Japanese immigration is not acute yet, it could be soon. He also discusses the success of the Great White Fleet’s tour and target practice.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-04-08
President Roosevelt tells Edwin Walter Sims that he is anxious to appoint Samuel L. Williams and asks if it can be arranged. Williams is an African-American who Roosevelt says deserves positive recognition.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-20
President Roosevelt informs Rear Admiral Sperry that he is to command the Great White Fleet on its return trip. This will require a great deal of responsibility as it involves visiting Australia and Japan and passing through the Suez Canal. Roosevelt exhorts Sperry to be careful during the time he is in East Asian waters, as he does not want there to be any “suspicion of insolence or rudeness on our part.” Outside of maintaining the safety of the ships, Roosevelt would much rather the fleet be insulted than to be seen as giving insult, although he is sure the Japanese will also be taking care to avoid giving any sort of slight.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-21
President Roosevelt likes Florida Governor Broward’s letter. He is glad that the current Supreme Court will back up Broward, and has sent their correspondence to The Outlook to be published to call attention to the action of the court. Roosevelt believes that the only way to help people of color in the South is for the right-thinking white people in the South to make change, and that outsiders can only do good by backing up those sorts of actions.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-06
President Roosevelt has heard of the good work that Richard D. Stinson has been doing in the African-American community, and sends his good wishes. Morris Brown College, with which Stinson is working, was founded by the African Methodist Church, and Roosevelt assures Stinson that in addition to the support of the church, he has “the confidence and aid of the best people in the South.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-06
President Roosevelt asks Arthur Hamilton Lee to thank Arthur James Balfour for the book that he sent. Roosevelt has recently received a letter from Sir Wilfred Laurier, which he thinks expressed the attitude that Canada, Australia, and the United States should take towards Japan. Just as Japan does not wish to be inundated by English-speakers, Roosevelt believes English speaking countries are within their rights to protect themselves from an influx of immigrants from Asia.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-03-07
President Roosevelt sends Marcus Braun a check for $100 to assist the families of the miners who were injured in the Monongah mine disaster, and says it must be divided without regard to the nationality of the effected.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-31
President Roosevelt would like to have Cecil Spring Rice visit him, but advises him to not leave a run in diplomatic service unless necessary. Roosevelt has fundamentally the same philosophy as Spring Rice, and hopes to avoid a race conflict such as Spring Rice worries about in the Pacific. Australia’s population is growing slowly, which worries Roosevelt, but the United States and Canadian populations are growing quickly enough that Roosevelt does not fear the threat of Asian dominance in North America. He does worry, however, about ongoing racial tensions and the weakening of the United States’ navy, which could threaten peace. While European civilization has spread over the globe in the past, it is impossible to say what will happen in the future. Domestically, Roosevelt is having a difficult time with the panic and the resulting depression and stagnation. Roosevelt believes that while the movement against corruption will ultimately succeed, even while those who lead it may seem to fail at present. He sends a copy of his message so Spring Rice might read his thoughts on the army and navy. Roosevelt feels it is abhorrent that many in Spring Rice’s country, and his own, have internalized an idea of peace in which good men should not make war, and in which advancement means a weakening of the fighting spirit.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-12-21
President Roosevelt discusses his thoughts regarding tensions with Japan with German Ambassador Sternburg, and supposes that racial differences between Europeans and Japanese makes understanding between the two races difficult. In response to a report from Sternburg that Japanese immigrants in Mexico could attack the United States from there should conflict arise, Roosevelt says this action would do nothing but anger the United States. Roosevelt does not understand why Japanese immigrants want to come to America and become naturalized citizens, yet retain their Japanese identity. Roosevelt pledges to treat the immigrants with justice and to protect them if need be, while at the same time keeping the American fleet ready to sail at a moment’s notice. He does not believe there will be war, but will try to “prevent it from being disastrous” if it does. Roosevelt worries because the Japanese have formidable military power, and Americans suffer from a luxurious, modern life that makes them frivolous. Roosevelt is troubled by men who talk about peace but are really cowards. Roosevelt says his foreign policy is simple: to show other nations justice, courtesy, and considerations, and to receive the same in return.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-16
President Roosevelt discusses several topics with Secretary of State Root. Roosevelt had intended to appoint William Penn Duvall to Quartermaster General, but Secretary of War William H. Taft strongly recommended James Buchanan Aleshire instead. Roosevelt has called upon Attorney General Charles J. Bonaparte to investigate the difficulties of Japanese immigrants in San Francisco. Roosevelt has been hearing “howls” over an agreement with Germany. Roosevelt feels Andrew Carnegie’s New York peace conference has weakened the United States’ chances at the International Peace Conference at the Hague, and so has not been following developments there.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-02
President Roosevelt outlines his thoughts regarding relations with “decent colored men” in the wake of the Brownsville Affair. Roosevelt asks Senator Hemenway for his views about different strategies to perhaps restore some of the men involved in the case, or use a new “battalion of negroes” to repair relations.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-17
President Roosevelt writes to Lyman Abbott encouraging him to publish a speech by LeRoy Percy, a Southern Democratic lawyer who operated sharecropping plantations in Mississippi. Roosevelt believes that Percy’s speech demonstrates the path that the nation must take to promote racial harmony in the South.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-23
President Roosevelt encloses a letter from Charles G. Kinzel for Representative Williams. Kinzel explains that Joseph M. Hickman, a railway postal clerk, confessed to having opened a registered letter and taken from it the sum of $8.00, intending to blame it on another clerk, Harris, who was an African American. Hickman’s confession may have been made under duress. Roosevelt does not believe this is a case in which it would be appropriate for him to extend executive clemency.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-05-15
President Roosevelt thanks Albert Bushnell Hart for his letter and commends his planned study of poor white and black country districts in the South.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-02-26
President Roosevelt has “been amazed and indignant at the attitude of the negroes and of shortsighted white sentimentalists as to my action” concerning the Brownsville Affair. He defends his actions to Silas McBee.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-27
President Roosevelt says the order to investigate will not be changed under any circumstances even though the soldiers guilty of misconduct are African American and not white. He says those trying to appeal to him are ignorant of the charges against the soldiers. Roosevelt feels indifferent about any political attacks the soldiers may be trying to make against him. He asserts that the race of the soldiers does not impact his decision to investigate the matter at all.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-07
President Roosevelt thanks Governor of Virginia Montague for his suggestions. Roosevelt has decided to include a sentence speaking on industrial schools’ benefits to both white and Black students. He has also decided to leave out a proposition for a commission and has privately contacted New Jersey Representative Benjamin F. Howell. Roosevelt wants a Southern congressman to introduce the measure as to remove suspicion of Roosevelt’s motives.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-05