Your TR Source
Francis Hopkinson Smith informs Theodore Roosevelt that he has given a letter of introduction to the artist and adventurer Herbert Ward, who wants to meet Roosevelt. Smith lists Ward’s many achievements and strongly praises him. He also mentions the current conflict between the Spanish government and Pope Pius X.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910
E. H. Hawley has been working on a descriptive card catalog of African musical instruments with information on their native names, distribution, and differences in tribal use. He asks Theodore Roosevelt for information on the native Ugandan equivalents of “drums” and “horns.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-01-24
Ezra H. Fitch updates William Loeb on President Roosevelt’s supply orders from Abercrombie & Fitch. He also encloses an article from the Sun, which he claims falsely quotes him, since he “refused to talk to the Sun man” Fitch sends the article so Loeb is aware that it is false in the case it is reprinted elsewhere.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-12
President Roosevelt sits at his desk studying a “map of Africa.” Kermit Roosevelt cleans a gun beside him. President Roosevelt’s “big stick” “malefactor of great wealth” costume, “mud,” “undesirable citizen,” and “big noise” drum are hanging up on the wall. To the right of his desk are a number of books with African explorers’ names in them: David Livingstone, Henry M. Stanley, Paul Kruger, John Hanning Speke, and Richard Francis Burton.
Democratic cartoonist W. A. Rogers evidently was convinced that Republican candidate William H. Taft would win the presidency four years hence — or he displayed President Roosevelt’s confidence, as per the title of the drawing, and the preoccupation in the White House.
The author reports that President Roosevelt wrote to Abercrombie & Fitch in search of remedies for insect bites from Tunga penetrans, commonly called “jiggers.” Ezra H. Fitch is quoted, claiming that he duly provided Roosevelt with the remedy and subsequently publicized this in a circular sent to his customers. This reportedly angered Roosevelt, causing Fitch to recall the circular. The author further describes the “jigger,” which targets the toenails, and implies that Roosevelt required a pedicure as a treatment.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1909-01-10
Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Austria-Hungary Bellamy Storer informs President Roosevelt of a recent visit by King of the Belgians Léopold II. Storer discusses tensions in the Congo between the British and Belgian governments and European colonization in the Congo, referencing editorials in The Times, the Treaty of Berlin, the French explorer Pierre Savorgnon de Brazza, and rumors of Belgian atrocities in Congo, using Belgian explorer Henry M. Stanley as an exemplar.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-10-22