San Francisco Earthquake and Fire (California : 1906)

Telegram from Theodore Roosevelt to James D. Phelan

President Roosevelt informs James D. Phelan that the Finance Committee can use the United States Mint at San Francisco as a depository for relief funds until the subtreasury opens, and thereafter can use the subtreasury until the banks open. He asks Phelan to consult Superintendent Frank Aleamon Leach of the San Francisco Mint regarding detailed arrangements. Secretary of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw will wire instructions to Leach and Assistant Treasurer Julius Jacobs. Secretary of War William H. Taft has been given authority to disperse congressional appropriations.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-24

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Kentarō Kaneko

President Roosevelt thanks Baron Kentarō Kaneko for the telegram in the wake of the San Francisco earthquake and fire. While it is not as bad as the suffering brought about by the famine in Japan it is still a calamity, and he appreciates Kaneko’s sympathy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-23

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William H. Taft

President Roosevelt plans to send a message to Congress recommending the rebuilding of public buildings in San Francisco belonging to the Post Office, Treasury, and War Departments, and asks Secretary of War Taft to prepare figures for him detailing the costs associated with repairing buildings belonging to the Department of War in San Francisco, as well as those damaged in Sacramento, San Jose, and Oakland.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-23

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William H. Taft

President Roosevelt tells Secretary of War Taft that he has read reports that the destruction of the San Francisco earthquake has fallen especially hard on the Chinese population there, and instructs him to telegraph Edward T. Devine that the Red Cross relief work in the city must be done equally for everyone, without regard to race. Roosevelt asks if it would also be worth telegraphing General Frederick Funston the same instructions.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-23

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to George B. Cortelyou

President Roosevelt plans to send a message to Congress recommending the rebuilding of public buildings in San Francisco belonging to the Post Office, Treasury, and War Departments, and asks Postmaster General Cortelyou to prepare figures for him detailing the costs associated with repairing buildings belonging to the Post Office Department in San Francisco, as well as those damaged in Sacramento, San Jose, and Oakland.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-23

Telegram from Theodore Roosevelt to Victor Howard Metcalf

President Roosevelt gives Secretary of Commerce and Labor Metcalf a list of people to meet with in San Francisco, California, once he arrives.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-22

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Charles J. Bonaparte

On the direction of President Roosevelt, William Loeb forwards Secretary of the Navy Bonaparte a telegram from California Governor George C. Pardee requesting the use of war ships to transport supplies to San Francisco to assist with disaster relief there.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-22

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Mabel Thorp Boardman

President Roosevelt suggests that, on behalf of the Red Cross Association, Mabel Thorp Boardman send an auditor to San Francisco to keep track of expenditures for disaster relief in the city. Roosevelt does not want to impede immediate relief to the city, but warns that after the emergency “there will be plenty of fools and plenty of knaves to make accusations against us, and plenty of good people who will believe them.” It would be beneficial, therefore, to have a clear accounting of what has been done, and with what resources.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-22

Telegram from Theodore Roosevelt to George C. Pardee

President Roosevelt had a difficult time at first believing the news of the disaster that struck San Francisco, California, and sends his sympathies to the people of California and San Francisco. Roosevelt asks California Governor Pardee to let him know if there is anything the national government can do to assist with the situation.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-18

Telegram from Theodore Roosevelt to George C. Pardee

President Roosevelt telegraphs California Governor Pardee that he has heard rumors of a disastrous earthquake in San Francisco, but does not know the facts of the matter. Roosevelt will provide any assistance he can if Pardee calls on him.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-18

Telegram from Theodore Roosevelt to Eugene E. Schmitz

President Roosevelt has heard rumors that a disastrous earthquake hit San Francisco, but dos not know the facts. He tells Mayor Eugene E. Schmitz of San Francisco to call upon him for any assistance that may be required.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-18

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William H. Taft

President Roosevelt sends Secretary of War Taft a telegram from California Governor George C. Pardee, along with a copy of the reply he sent. Roosevelt urges Taft to “strain every effort to get the tentage, rations, bedding and supplies asked for” for San Francisco in the wake of the earthquake and fire that took place there.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-19

Telegram from Theodore Roosevelt to David Starr Jordan

President Roosevelt was shocked to hear of the disastrous San Francisco earthquake, and tells President David Starr Jordan of Stanford University of his personal concern and sympathy for the campus in particular. He hopes things are not as bad as they are reported to be.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-19

Telegram from Theodore Roosevelt to George C. Pardee

President Roosevelt telegraphs California Governor Pardee that all available tents and rations have already been ordered to be sent to San Francisco for disaster relief. He has directed Secretary of War Taft to take up the matter of bedding and supplies, and to do everything that Pardee requests, as long as it is something they are able to do.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-19

Telegram from Theodore Roosevelt to Benjamin Ide Wheeler

President Roosevelt hopes that the University of California has not suffered as much damage as it has been reported to have suffered. He tells Benjamin Ide Wheeler that he shares “the horror and grief of the country at the disaster that has befallen California.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-19

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William H. Taft

President Roosevelt tells Secretary of War Taft of a request he received from the National Advisory Board for Fuels and Structural Materials that Captain John S. Sewell of the Army Corps of Engineers be authorized to cooperate with investigations into the effects of the recent San Francisco earthquake on building materials. Roosevelt asks Taft to make this assignment, given the importance of the subject.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-20

Telegram from Theodore Roosevelt to Owen McAleer

President Roosevelt tells Owen McAleer, Mayor of Los Angeles, that the Navy Department is already trying to use warships to the extent they are available to help with disaster relief. Roosevelt notes that warships are “singularly unfitted to transport supplies or individuals,” but that he has instructed the Navy Department “to do everything that can properly be done.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-04-19

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

Letter from Homer N. Bryant to Theodore Roosevelt

Homer N. Bryant expresses his deep admiration for Theodore Roosevelt, and would have liked to meet him while he was on the West coast. Because of Roosevelt’s busy schedule, however, Bryant simply sends him a letter introducing himself and wishing Roosevelt well.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-03-28

The address of John L. Hamilton

In an address to the American Bankers Association, John L. Hamilton comments on the growth of the organization’s annual conventions, the enlargement of the executive council, and the organization’s aid sent for the San Francisco Earthquake relief effort. Hamilton then discusses the need for bank examinations to help deter bank failures, the responsibility the press bears for sensationalizing such failures, and his opposition to federal, state, or municipal ownership of public utilities. He praises President Roosevelt and Secretary of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw for their leadership in financial matters, which has supported the country’s rapid growth. He believes new federal laws are needed to ensure this continues, and he urges members of the association to work for legislation that is in the interests of the country as a whole.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10