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Taxidermist William W. Hart updates President Roosevelt on the wolf rug. Hart can either replace the broken teeth in the current skull or replace the skull itself with another which he has on hand.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-07-09
William W. Hart has received President Roosevelt’s letters and has the skulls from inside the heads of Roosevelt’s bear rugs.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-06-27
The William W. Hart taxidermy company writes to William Loeb about a bear rug, which has been cleaned. The canvas lining did not need to be replaced. A note on the back of the letter asks whether a letter should be written regarding a beaver robe.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-05
William W. Hart tells President Roosevelt that the remounting job is complete and the heads have been re-hung at Sagamore Hill. Hart has enclosed bills for the work and discusses some of the details of the taxidermy labor and mentions other work that could be done. Hart looks forward to receiving more “fresh specimens” from Roosevelt to showcase his art.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-05
Edward North Buxton informs President Roosevelt that he is giving some of his best hunting trophies to the Norwich Museum where he feels they will be “finely housed.” One of the items to be donated is a white goat’s head that Roosevelt shot, so Buxton wanted Roosevelt to know of the donation. Buxton wishes the Roosevelts a very happy Christmas and a New Year filled with success in accomplishing the President’s “high ideals.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-12-16
Taxidermist William W. Hart informs Secretary Rudolph Forster that he will send to Oyster Bay this week and proceed with the work at once. Hart thanks Forster for the favor.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-08
William W. Hart encloses a detailed report of work necessary to preserve President Roosevelt’s hunting trophies at Sagamore Hill.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-10-03
William W. Hart confirms with Secretary Latta that he is sending three bear skins to be taxidermied for Oyster Bay. Hart recommends that the heads be checked by an expert familiar with destructive moths that make “priceless trophies” into a “source of continual annoyance.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-09-27
C. G. Gunther’s Sons thinks the skins to which President Roosevelt refers were not cured correctly. They advise Roosevelt to return them to the party who mounted them.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-08-02
William T. Hornaday is highly pleased by the presentation copy of President Roosevelt’s latest book. For treatment of Roosevelt’s trophy heads Hornaday recommends John Murgatroyd, who does most of Hornaday’s taxidermy work. Hornaday sends a picture of a cougar and describes the wound on a deer he killed in Montana.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-15
Alexander Lambert encloses a letter from W. A. Brodie concerning the delivery of moose heads and describes his recent hunting trips.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-05
W. A. Brodie describes his recent hunting trips and taxidermy orders.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-02
W. A. Brodie describes his recent hunting trips and taxidermy orders.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-10-20
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.
Theodore Roosevelt Association
1985
Susan Sarna recounts the formation of a young Theodore Roosevelt as a naturalist, highlighting his enjoyment of books by Mayne Reid, his first gun, and the revelation he experienced when he was fitted for eyeglasses. Sarna notes Roosevelt’s taxidermy work and his overseas trip of 1872-1873 which gave him field experience in preparing bird skins. Photographs of Roosevelt’s first gun, examples of Reid’s books, two birds mounted by Roosevelt, and an excerpt from a bird guide accompany the text.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
2019
Robert Wexelblatt finds the title of Margaret P. Griffin’s The Amazing Bird Collection of Young Mr. Roosevelt “a little misleading” because the book explores more than Theodore Roosevelt’s penchant for studying, shooting, and mounting bird specimens. Wexelblatt quotes extensively from Griffin’s work to demonstrate that the book covers other aspects of Roosevelt’s life as a boy and teenager. Wexelblatt also touches on the audience the book aims for and the experience as a teacher that Griffin brought to her project.
Two photographs of Roosevelt, examples of his bird taxidermy and sketching, and the cover illustration of the book appear in the review.
Paul Russell Cutright examines the donation of Theodore Roosevelt’s bird collection to the Smithsonian Institution and the American Museum of Natural History. Cutright focuses on the donation to the Smithsonian since it was very large, 622 bird skins, and he details how the collection was cataloged, where and to whom individual specimens were dispersed, and he highlights some of the more notable specimens like the Snowy owl.
Pictures of Theodore Roosevelt and his father and a copy of two pages of the accession records of the Smithsonian accompany the article. The cover of this issue features a picture of the Snowy owl shot, prepared, and donated to the American Museum of Natural History by Roosevelt.
A listing of the officers of the Theodore Roosevelt Association along with the members of its executive, finance, and Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace committees is on the second page of the article.
Photograph showing zoologist Edmund Hellers and two Africans skinning and preparing an animal hide in a tent.
Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
1910-04-04
Photographs of taxidermic mounts of four types of takins.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-07-31
Charles D. Walcott updates Theodore Roosevelt on the progress of the specimens being preserved by James L. Clark from the Smithsonian-Roosevelt African Expedition. A number of white rhinoceroses and different types of antelopes are in the process of being quoted by the taxidermist. Walcott thinks the Smithsonian will be able to publish Roosevelt’s article soon as well.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-06-16