South Africa | - Theodore Roosevelt Center

Summary of letter from Earl Grey

Earl Grey writes about affairs in South Africa. He believes that Cape Colony Boers are “plotting to restore their race ascendancy.” Grey would like President Roosevelt to agree to an audience with Dr. Parkin, who will be consulting with American educational authorities regarding Rhodes scholarships. He would also like the Department of Agriculture to extend facilities to Mr. Odlum, who will be visiting the United States for the American Mission in Rhodesia.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-12-24

Letter from Andrew Carnegie to Theodore Roosevelt

Andrew Carnegie is disturbed by the British treatment of the defeated Afrikaners and believes that the Afrikaners (or Dutch as he calls them) will one day once again rule in South Africa. Carnegie compares the situation to American occupation of the Philippines.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-06-13

Letter from John A. Hassell to Theodore Roosevelt

John A. Hassell, who fought with the Boers during the Second Boer War, is an American citizen with possessions in South Africa. Hassell fears British animosity if he returns to South Africa to retrieve his possessions and would appreciate a letter from President Roosevelt to the extent that Hassell is pursuing legitimate business.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-06-06

Telegram from Richard Harding Davis to Theodore Roosevelt

“Just learn objection to myself personal on account of Boer articles. Please do nothing.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-06-06

Letter from Edward Reeve Merritt to Theodore Roosevelt

According to the peace terms of the Second Boer War, General Wilhelm Snyman can only return to South Africa as a prisoner, and Edward Reeve Merritt believes the United Kingdom should take this opportunity to offer amnesty, similar to what occurred in the United States after the American Civil War.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-06-03

Letter from Edward Reeve Merritt to Theodore Roosevelt

Edward Reeve Merritt forwards a check for $350 which he received from Franklin Delano Roosevelt for the “sufferers in South Africa” and asks that the State Department use the money where it will be of “best advantage.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-06-02

Letter from Franklin Delano Roosevelt to Edward Reeve Merritt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt encloses a check for $336.50 which was collected at Harvard for the Boer Relief Fund.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1902-05-26

Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edward North Buxton

Theodore Roosevelt sends Edward North Buxton a note of introduction on behalf of Buxton’s daughter to the superintendent of Yellowstone National Park. Roosevelt discusses Queen Victoria’s Coronation and a Congressman’s wedding he and Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt attended at the Old Friends Meeting House, Stuyvesant Square, New York. Roosevelt is content to be “out of active life,” maintaining the home, pursuing leisure activities, and working on the Outlook. Roosevelt writes that eldest son, Ted Roosevelt, is happily married and Roosevelt expects to be a grandfather within the month. Roosevelt wishes to see Alfred and Lady Pease as well as Frederick and Mrs. Selous.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-07-24

Letter from John V. L. Pruyn to Theodore Roosevelt

Reverend Herman Van Brockhuizen from Pretoria will be speaking at President Roosevelt’s church on November 24. Van Brockhuizen would like to meet President Roosevelt and discuss his experiences in South Africa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1901-11-22

Letter from Frederick Courteney Selous to Theodore Roosevelt

Frederick Courteney Selous endeavors to answer some of Governor Roosevelt’s question about the South African War. Selous lived for many years in South Africa and had a lot of contact with Boer hunters and frontiersmen. He provides a comprehensive history of the “Transvaal Boers” and factors which led to their current conflict with the British.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1900-03-04

Letter from Montagu White to Frederick Courteney Selous

Montagu White is glad that Frederick Courteney Selous is answering Governor Roosevelt’s questions about “the South African difficulty.” White believes that American public opinion is growing in favor of the Boers, and that those who wish to preserve the special friendship with Great Britain should push for peace in order to prevent anti-British feeling. White thinks that if the Boers lose their independence, Britain will lose South Africa.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1900-03-06

Invoice from Rowland Ward Limited to Theodore Roosevelt

Rowan Ward provides an invoice for several books Assistant Secretary of the Navy Theodore Roosevelt ordered, including Three Years’ Hunting and Trapping in America and the Great North-west by J. Turner-Turner, Travels in the Interior of South Africa, Comprising Fifteen Years’ Hunting and Trading by James Chapman, Sport on the Pamirs and Turkistan Steppes by Charles Sperling Cumberland, and A Naturalist in the Transvaal by William Lucas Distant.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1898-02-18