Your TR Source
John L. Francis tells Theodore Roosevelt that he does not think either President William H. Taft or Robert M. La Follette will win the presidential election and Roosevelt is the only man who can. Roosevelt has support of Republicans and Democrats throughout the west. Fracis hopes Roosevelt will allow his friends to put him name forward for nomination.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-12-21
Elizabeth Allison Petheram asks Vice President Roosevelt for an autograph and photograph of him. She is very fond of McKinley and looks forward to seeing him and Roosevelt if they come to Texas.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-03-25
Dr. John Allen Gable, Executive Director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association, offers an address at Richland College giving an overview of the five phases he sees in the historiography of Theodore Roosevelt. Moving from the early hero-worship of Roosevelt in the years after his death, Gable sees historical opinion vary between critical perspectives of Roosevelt and more favorable representations, frequently moving in conjunction with the issues of the era the author is writing in. The most contemporary era, Gable believes, is a revival of Roosevelt’s reputation and scholarship. Further developments in the field of Roosevelt studies, Gable believes, will come from a stronger holistic understanding of the various facets of Roosevelt’s personality. Throughout his address Gable relies on a number of instances from Roosevelt’s life to illustrate his points, including the Venezuela Crisis, the Storer Controversy, and the 1912 Assassination Attempt.
For more information on some of the episodes in Theodore Roosevelt’s life that Dr. Gable mentions, see the Theodore Roosevelt Center’s encyclopedia articles on the Dear Maria Controversy, the Venezuela Debt Crisis and Roosevelt Corollary, or some of the multiple blog posts and articles about the political campaign of 1912, John Flammang Schrank and his attempt to assassinate Theodore Roosevelt.
Frank S. Roberts has been appointed district judge of the twenty-second judicial district of Texas. Roberts is a native Texan who joined Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders and then attended law school in Indiana. He returned to Texas to practice law and was quickly elected country attorney. Roberts has impressively risen from janitor to lawyer to district judge in seven years.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-12-04
In a letter to the editor, Edward P. Moses states that the Senate Committee of Education will hear Senator John Houk’s bill providing for the collection, transcription, publication, and distribution of materials relating to Tennessee history on the following Monday. He discusses how many books on history were possible because of manuscript collections.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04-23
The William M. Rice Institute recently held ceremonies for the laying of the cornerstone of its administration building. The institute promises to be a valuable and unique contribution to Texas’s educational life. Texas is blessed with a staggering amount of natural resources, and the state will have to work to keep its “intellectual and spiritual life […] at even pace at least with the growth of our industrial life, lest we accumulate great wealth and learn no other use for it than to pander to the passions that debase.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03-05
The Houston Chronicle comments on a pair of Texas-related items. The first of these, the involvement of Senator Joseph W. Bailey in keeping Senator William Lorimer in the Senate, notes Lorimer’s political alliance with Bailey in opposition to Canadian reciprocity, and mentions the political corruption and bribery Lorimer has been accused of which led to his election. The second looks at the creation of the Rice Institute, which was created using funds provided for in the will of William Marsh Rice. While construction of the institution is taking a long time, it is being built for the future, and will be a great place of learning.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03-02
Standing in the “White House,” the “Lone Star State” shows President Roosevelt a paper that reads, “Resolved by the Daughters of the Confederacy of Texas—that we approve of the action of the president relative to Panama as a recognition by him of the divine right of secession.” There is a bust of Abraham Lincoln in the background.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-12
President Roosevelt sits at his desk and holds a book entitled “Big Game in Africa Shown to Be Extinct” in one hand and “Petition from [T]exas. Spare African Animals. Signed–School Children. Petition from New England. Have mercy on African animals. Signed–School Children” in his other. His rifle–“my pet”–is on his desk as well as “Nature Stories.” On the ground is an open book: “Political Game in America: Dead and Dying.” Kermit Roosevelt says to his father, “Dad, they’re mollycoddles.” President Roosevelt replies, “Oh! No! This needs investigation.”
As Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency drew to a close. he was not less busy as some Chief Executives who managed to “transition,” but rather more occupied than usual, which famously was hectic and strenuous at normal times. He was involved in a messy dispute with Congress, he hurriedly made appointments, proclamations, and executive orders while he had those powers, he prepared to meet the returning Great White Fleet from its circumnavigational tour, he did what he could to implement the initiatives that grew from the National Governors Conference he convened (on conservation matters), and so forth.
President Roosevelt holds his gun and walks away from the White House toward “Texas.” A stork and an eagle wish him off, saying, “Have a good time.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-04-03
President Roosevelt holds an “itinerary” and a gun as he walks toward the “happy hunting grounds.” The itinerary says, “Monday: leave Washington; Tuesday: speech at Louisville, stop at St. Louis; Wednesday: stop in Indian Territory, speech at Sherman, Texas, and at Dallas; Thursday: at Waco and Austin, arrive at Antonio; Friday: Rough Riders reunion at San Antonio; Saturday: speech at Ft. Worth, leave Ft. Worth for several weeks’ hunting in Texas and Colorado.”
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-04-04
Excerpts from an Interstate Commerce Commission publication listing the powers of railroad commissions in various U.S. states.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-02-19
In this editorial for the Nashville Banner, J. A. Jones comments on the recent dismissal of African American soldiers due to the Brownsville affair. He lists some of the good things President Roosevelt has done for the African American community but critiques him for not speaking out about lynching and race riots. Jones suggests that Texas handles its own affairs and Roosevelt stay out of it.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1906-11-23
The weather has been fair recently but previous “sharp weather” killed many cattle and “everybody is blue as a whetstone.” At least the losses should stop the big herds from Texas. Medora, Dakota Territory, is “very dead.” A. T. Packard lost everything in a fire and moved back east. The saloon also burnt down and Joseph A. Ferris’s store had a close call. Howard Eaton is glad that William Wingate Sewall is well and he wishes he could join Sewall for some “hunting, fishing, eating apples and drinking cider.”
State Historical Society of North Dakota
1887-02-26
Margaret Sanger writes about her nationwide speaking engagement tour about birth control and family planning. Sanger discusses events and responses in various cities. She indicates that in St. Louis more people came to hear her speak than had come when Theodore Roosevelt and William H. Taft spoke in the city. Sanger accounts various arrests related to obscenity laws and the distribution of birth control pamphlets.
The Margaret Sanger Papers Project
1916-08-09
Booker T. Washington introduces Robert Lloyd Smith of Texas.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901-10-07
Theodore Roosevelt asks Judge Burns if W. Sloan Simpson can occasionally consult with Burns on Texas politics.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1916-04-15
John Grant protests his removal as United States Marshal and portrays President Roosevelt as a tyrant and demagogue.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1902-05-14
President Roosevelt is on a hunt in Oklahoma after being received well in Texas. He is still very worried about William Sheffield Cowles, Jr., who continues to struggle with his health. Roosevelt wishes he could help Sheffield or Anna Roosevelt Cowles.
1905-04-09
Baylor University will be debating the University of Texas over the Homestead and Exemptions Laws which are often abused in Texas. The unknown author asks Vice President Roosevelt for his opinion on these laws and to compare them to homestead laws in his own state.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1901