Your TR Source
Photograph of musicians from the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation’s Medora Musical at the Painted Canyon visitor center dedication in the South Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.
Theodore Roosevelt National Park
1978-08
National Park Service; Herr, William M. (William Martin), 1937-
Jim Fuglie lavishes Rolf Sletten’s Medora: Boom, Bust, and Resurrection with praise in his brief review. Fuglie lists some of the familiar Badlands characters who make appearances, and he focuses on the efforts of North Dakota businessman Harold Lyle Schafer to bring Medora, North Dakota, back to life as a tourist destination. The book’s front cover illustration, two photographs of Theodore Roosevelt’s Maltese Cross cabin, two photographs of landmark buildings in Medora rebuilt by Schafer, and a letter from Roosevelt to his first wife Alice Lee Roosevelt enhance the essay.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
2013
Obituary for Harold Lyle Shafer who resurrected the town of Medora, North Dakota, and transformed it into the number one tourist attraction in North Dakota. The obituary traces Shafer’s hard scrabble childhood, his family’s frequent moves, and his relentless hard work, and it follows the rise and success of his Gold Seal Company, the vehicle he used to transform Medora. The obituary highlights his generosity, and it notes many of the awards he received in his lifetime, including those from the state of North Dakota and the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA).
In addition to a photograph of Shafer and his wife Sheila Shafer, two text boxes supplement the obituary: one notes that this issue of the journal is dedicated to Shafer while the other promotes the TRA’s website.
The “News and Notes” section highlights the expansion of the Theodore Roosevelt Association’s (TRA) Public Speaking Contests and Police Awards to Long Island, New York, and it provides notices of the deaths of three TRA members who served on the association’s Board of Trustees. The section also notes an upcoming PBS documentary on Theodore Roosevelt, considers the operation of Sagamore Hill in the face of budget cuts, and includes a recollection of Roosevelt by Frank Ross McCoy, a former President of the TRA.
Four photographs, two from the ceremonies marking the TRA Police Award for New York City, supplement the text.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1994-1995
A collection of Theodore Roosevelt’s speeches in North Dakota and two novels, a Western and an account of the Spanish American War in Cuba, comprise the works under scrutiny in the “Book Reviews” section. John A. Gable praises James F. Vivian’s The Romance of My Life: Theodore Roosevelt’s Speeches in North Dakota because it brings to life speeches which had not previously been published and because it demonstrates Roosevelt’s “long and affectionate relationship with the state and people of North Dakota.” Elizabeth E. Roosevelt likes Brian Garfield’s Western “Manifest Destiny” which portrays the people and events of Roosevelt’s time in Dakota from 1884 to 1886, with the Marquis de Mores playing the role of the villain. Perry D. Floyd also likes Remember Santiago, which he calls “fictional oral history,” despite the fact that Roosevelt and his Rough Riders are largely absent from the story.
Gable concludes the section with an essay, “TR in Fiction,” in which he argues that the revival of interest in Roosevelt has led to his appearance in many novels and may lead to readers searching out more nonfiction titles about him. But Gable also warns that there is a danger that the fictional portrayals will lead to a distorted picture of Roosevelt in the public mind.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1989
The “Book Reviews” section examines two books in detail while providing short notices of five others under the heading “New Books of Interest.” Matthew J. Glover reviews Selwa Roosevelt’s chronicle of her seven year stint as Chief of Protocol for the United States during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. New books given brief notices include a study of President Theodore Roosevelt’s diplomacy in the Caribbean basin and an examination of Roosevelt as a speaker. The section also notes the publication of a paperback version of Sylvia Jukes Morris’s biography of Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt and a paperback of Theodore Roosevelt’s Outdoor Pastimes of an American Hunter. The section praises James F. Vivian’s collection of Theodore Roosevelt’s speeches in North Dakota and closes with a review of William Davison Johnston’s history of the Oyster Bay, New York, Presbyterian Church.
Photographs of Selwa Roosevelt and Richard H. Collin appear in the section as does a text box noting that this issue of the Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal is “dedicated to the memory of Archibald B. Roosevelt, Junior,” husband of Selwa Roosevelt.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1990
Variety marks this edition of the “News and Notes” section, beginning with the celebration of the 90th anniversary of Theodore Roosevelt’s inauguration at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site in Buffalo, New York, and the establishment of a Theodore Roosevelt Police Award for western New York. “News and Notes” also details the rededication of a monument to Roosevelt in Montana by Edith Roosevelt Derby Williams and provides a lengthy obituary for Cornelius V.S. Roosevelt, son of Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt. A Roosevelt family reunion, bringing together the Oyster Bay and Hyde Park, New York, branches is also covered along with an appeal from Stephen V. Walker for music composed in honor of Theodore Roosevelt’s children.
“News and Notes” also features a text box “About the Theodore Roosevelt Association” that highlights the purpose, work, and history of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA). A photograph of the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, an illustration of both sides of the TRA medallion, and Howard Chandler Christy’s painting of the Battle of Las Guasimas in Cuba illustrate the section.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1991
This edition of “News and Notes” features an obituary of Jessica Van Ausdall Kraft who served as the personal secretary to Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt, Curator of Sagamore Hill National Historic Site, and in various roles with the Theodore Roosevelt Association. The section also explains the decision of Harold and Sheila Schafer of Medora, North Dakota, to found the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation to run the various motels and shops in the tourist town formerly run by Harold Schafer’s Gold Seal Company. “News and Notes” closes with an announcement about a new musical, “Teddy and Alice,” which depicts the life of President Theodore Roosevelt and his daughter Alice Roosevelt Longworth in the White House.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
1987