Swimming

President Roosevelt sends Edward McKay a photograph of him in the Rough Riders, and says he will always think of him as “one of Uncle Sam’s little boys,” and remembers him playing with Roosevelt’s son, Quentin. Roosevelt tells McKay about all the sports and activities his sons Quentin and Archie are involved in, and describes a camping trip where two bold young foxes visited the party.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-30

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

President Roosevelt writes to his son Kermit, who is visiting Medora, North Dakota. Roosevelt asks after people he knows there, then updates Kermit on the family activities that summer at Oyster Bay.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1906-08-18

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt and his friends set off large numbers of fireworks over the Fourth of July and they all have some burns. Corinne Roosevelt had an asthma attack but has recovered. Roosevelt is now permitted to stay in the water as long as he likes but he was almost drowned the other day after being caught under water. He is studying English, French, German, and Latin. (Date on original letter appears to be July 7, though this transcription bears the date July 9, 1872.)

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1872-07-09

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Theodore Roosevelt describes conditions on-board ship as hot and crowded. He says they let the men swim that day, but the activity was cut short by one man’s close encounter with a shark.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1898-06-10

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

The Republican elephant, wearing a hat labeled “G.O.P.” and “High Protective Tariff” and a swimsuit labeled “Tariff-Protected Trusts,” wades offshore toward huge waves labeled “Public Patience.” President Theodore Roosevelt is standing closer to shore with one hand on a “Reciprocity Life Line” and the other hand raised, as he calls out a warning about going too far. The U.S. Capitol is visible in the background. Caption: Roosevelt–Don’t go beyond your depth!

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1903-09-02

Theodore Roosevelt writes to his sister Anna describing his time with the Osborns hunting and fishing. He and his brother Elliott swam across the bay and rowed to Laurelton.

Collection

Harvard College Library

Creation Date

1876-08-06

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

A man labeled “Republican Party” picks up the clothing of a man labeled “Democratic Party” who is swimming in the “Democratic Issue Pond” which is labeled “Socialism, Bryanism, Populism, Free Silver, Anti-Expansion, [and] Jeffersonian Simplicity.” At the upper right is a scene twenty years earlier, in which a man labeled “Democrat” picks up the clothing of a “Republican” swimming in the “Republican Corruption Water.”

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1902-11-19

At center, a man looks out a garret window, daydreaming or musing on the life of the farmer. Vignettes around him offer humorous views of summer activities, including courtship, neighborly visiting, and swimming.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1902-07-16

Creator(s)

Ehrhart, S. D. (Samuel D.), approximately 1862-1937

Several scenes of wit and humor in life are depicted, including children swimming and being rebuked for playing baseball on the Sabbath, women doing plein air painting, men yachting, and young women discussing courtship. At bottom right, “American progression of three years (Next!)” shows a repair shop moving forward with the times, from wagon repair to bicycle repair and then to automobile repair.

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1901-09-11

Creator(s)

Ehrhart, S. D. (Samuel D.), approximately 1862-1937

At center, two masked men recklessly drive an automobile down a country road, frightening every man, woman, and beast, and chasing them out of the roadway. Other vignettes depict scenes of summer activities, including swimming at the beach, hunting, fishing, excursion boating, and courting.

comments and context

Collection

Library of Congress Prints and Photographs

Creation Date

1901-08-14

Quentin Roosevelt writes Theodore Roosevelt regarding a bathing trip with his friends and includes a sketch of them bathing in a river or lake.

Collection

Sagamore Hill National Historic Site

Creation Date

1905-12-06

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Quentin, 1897-1918

Theodore Roosevelt takes a “sour satisfaction” in the failure of James Garfield’s “house-climbing feat,” because he likes to know that his friends are getting old also. Roosevelt also describes hiking, boating, picnicking, and camping with his family and friends.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-07-13

Creator(s)

Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919

Gifford Pinchot advises Theodore Roosevelt that “the man who wore gloves while swimming” may be able to help “allay executive opposition.” The man referred to by Pinchot may be Ambassador Jusserand who famously wore gloves while swimming across the Potomac River with Roosevelt and Pinchot.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1910-1919

Creator(s)

Pinchot, Gifford, 1865-1946

Anna Roosevelt Cowles writes her brother, President Roosevelt, regarding the selection of a Connecticut Supreme Court Justice. She thinks that either Walter Chadwick Noyes or John J. Beach would be a good choice, although she has heard more about the latter. She also communicates that she is enjoying the summer weather and that her family is doing well in Farmington, Connecticut.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-07-01

Creator(s)

Cowles, Anna Roosevelt, 1855-1931

James R. Sheffield invites President Roosevelt and First Lady Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt to stay with his family at their camp in the Adirondack Mountains. He explains the amenities, accommodations, and activities of the area. He believes that Secretary of War William H. Taft could easily visit so Taft and Roosevelt could privately discuss “Panama, Cuba, spelling reform or Harvard’s chances in England or any other equally important question.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-31

Creator(s)

Sheffield, James R. (James Rockwell), 1864-1938

Chronology of the daily life of Theodore Roosevelt from January 1871 to December 1878. Notable events include the Roosevelt family’s trip to Europe and Egypt, Roosevelt’s entrance to Harvard, the death of Theodore “Thee” Roosevelt, Roosevelt’s trip to Maine, and Roosevelt meeting Alice Hathaway Lee.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association

Creation Date

1985

Creator(s)

Moore, Robert J. (Robert John), 1956-; Theodore Roosevelt Association

Chronology of the daily life of Theodore Roosevelt from October 1858 to December 1870. Notable events include the Roosevelt family’s involvement in the American Civil War, Theodore Roosevelt meeting John Hay as a child, and the Roosevelt family’s first European trip.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association

Creation Date

1985

Creator(s)

Moore, Robert J. (Robert John), 1956-; Theodore Roosevelt Association

Collection

Charles C. Myers Collection

Creation Date

1908

Creator(s)

Unknown

Language

English

Period

(1905, March-1909, February) U.S. President – 2nd Term

Alton B. Parker swims in a “sea of politics” as he heads toward the White House. A diving board—”the bench”—is directly behind him.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-07

Creator(s)

Berryman, Clifford Kennedy, 1869-1949

Image of a teddy bear in the path of an oncoming ocean wave, with a caption below reading “A dip in the surf.”

Collection

Fritz R. Gordner Collection

Creation Date

1907

Creator(s)

Unknown