Vardaman, James Kimble, 1861-1930

John B. Ashbaugh examines Theodore Roosevelt’s complicated views on race and charts his history with various ethnic and racial groups, including Native Americans, African-Americans, and Jews. Ashbaugh highlights the influence of Roosevelt’s southern born and raised mother and her brothers, both of whom served the Confederacy during the Civil War. Ashbaugh stresses that Roosevelt’s views evolved over time, and he demonstrates how Roosevelt believed in and promoted the Progressive views of his time such as the assimilation of Native Americans, but that he also respected many aspects of Native culture and had enduring friendships with individual Native Americans. Ashbaugh presents Roosevelt’s views on Jews and immigration, and he details many aspects of Roosevelt’s feelings toward and relationship with African-Americans, including his condemnation of lynching, his White House dinner with Booker T. Washington, and the Brownsville incident.

Five photographs and two illustrations appear in the text.

Collection

Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal

Stephen E. Ambrose and Douglas Brinkley tell the story of the most famous bear hunt in American history: Theodore Roosevelt’s unsuccessful hunt for black bear in Mississippi that gave birth to the teddy bear toy. Ambrose and Brinkley provide political context for the trip to Mississippi, list the members of the hunting party, and describe the hunt of November 15, 1902. The article also describes Clifford Berryman’s cartoon depiction of the hunt which led to the creation of the teddy bear. 

A photograph of Brinkley and his wife, and three photographs of members of the Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) distributing teddy bears at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, accompany the article. A text box with the vision statement of the TRA appears at the end of the article. 

A special edition of the Jemison Magazine discussing various aspects of Corey, Alabama, a “model city” expressly planned for employees of the new industrial factories of the area. It features an article on Theodore Roosevelt’s visit and speech on March 10, 1911.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-04

Newspaper article quoting Senator Money on his objection to quarantines. Money also takes issue with President Roosevelt for calling Confederate soldiers anarchists, and for the president’s support of African Americans, concluding that Roosevelt, “hates the South and Southern people.”

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-09

Postmaster General Henry C. Payne’s public admission that he declined to name a post office after Mississippi Governor James Kimble Vardaman in view of Vardaman’s statements about President Roosevelt’s mother, may provoke anger from those who support the governor. It is to be hoped that they will let the issue drop.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-03

This article discusses why Postmaster General Payne did not name a post office after Governor Vardaman. Payne says that Vardaman published an editorial which is “highly insulting to the President and his mother.” The article also includes a reply from Vardaman.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-02

This report explains that Postmaster General Payne did not name a post office after James Kimble Vardaman because Vardaman published an article which contained indecent statements about President Roosevelt’s mother. The report includes a statement from Payne, an excerpt of the offending passage, an affidavit affirming that the language in the article is identical with that quoted by the Crits Club, and Vardaman’s reply when questioned about Payne’s assertion.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-02

President Roosevelt, as a southern plantation owner, rides on a donkey, holding an umbrella, a jug of “Corn Lickker” behind him. William Loeb walks behind, holding the donkey’s tail. In the background, perched on a tree, is a bird labeled “Vardaman.” Caption: “Way down South in the land of cotton.”

Comments and Context

In the middle of October 1905, President Roosevelt undertook a tour of Southern states. He clearly hoped to ameliorate White southern opposition to his presidency, feelings that largely emanated from his White House invitation to Booker T. Washington in his first days as president.

The tour, and Roosevelt’s desire to mend fences, were not all cosmetic. He frequently professed a pride in his Southern heritage — his mother Martha (“Mittie”) was a Southern belle from a plantation at Roswell, Georgia, reportedly the model for Tara in Gone With the Wind, and he was proud of his two uncles, important figures in the Confederate Navy, who had emigrated to England after the war.

President Roosevelt tells Sir George Otto Trevelyan of his happiness regarding the recent 1904 presidential election, and remarks that he is glad people decided to support the positive message of the Republican Party, rather than the negativity of the Democratic Party. The president attributes his victory to the clear-cut message in his speeches and addresses as well as those canvassing for him. Roosevelt discusses the differences between the American president and other political leaders and believes the American president is more like the British prime minister than the French president. he additionally reflects on his intention not to run for a third term. Even without the convention of only two terms, the president believes it would be better for Secretary of War William H. Taft or Elihu Root to succeed him; they are similar in policy, but would have fresh thoughts and ways. Roosevelt concludes by discussing his recent reading. He praises a section from one of Abraham Lincoln’s speeches after his reelection and equates certain American political leaders to characters in Charles Dickens’s works.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-24

Theodore Roosevelt assures John Milliken Parker that he holds Mississippi Senator LeRoy Percy in high regard and will not mention him by name or office in any way that could be misconstrued as negative. James Kimble Vardaman is stirring up trouble in The Issue, and Roosevelt feels contempt for him. He asks Parker to assure Percy of his support.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1911-02-07

President Roosevelt writes Richard Watson Gilder a lengthy refutation of an article in the Evening Post in which William Garrott Brown misconstrues his actions in the Republican Party. Namely, Brown accuses Roosevelt of neglecting Republicans in the South and of doing a poor job of making nominations to local offices and positions. Roosevelt asserts that where the Republican party is not strong in the South, he has had to appoint Democrats who were quality men, rather than incapable men who are Republicans. Where he believes the party has a chance to compete with Democrats, he does all he can to support it. Roosevelt also writes that he did not use his influence on officers to get William H. Taft the nomination, but rather Taft was nominated because Roosevelt’s policies were popular, and Taft is the man who will continue those policies. Roosevelt believes that Brown is either ignorant or willfully ignorant of a number of facts.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-11-16

President Roosevelt clarifies William H. Taft’s opinion on the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, and on the appointment of African Americans, for Lawrence F. Abbott. Namely, that Taft shares Roosevelt’s sentiments, as well as those of The Outlook, on Mississippi Governor James Kimble Vardaman and Representative John Sharp Williams. Roosevelt offers a list of the principle African American appointments he has made while in office, and encourages Abbott to contact Booker T. Washington for further statement on the character of the appointees.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-10-06

President Roosevelt takes issue with Ray Stannard Baker’s recent article in American Magazine. He states that Senators Benjamin R. Tillman and Jeff Davis, and Mississippi Governor James Kimble Vardaman do not represent championship of the Many over the Few on principle, but rather are motivated by self-interest. Roosevelt states that the conflict of race runs deeper than other divisions. He asserts that he is “a democrat of the democrats” and fights equally against the privileged and the mob.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1908-06-03

President Roosevelt tell his son Ted about his recent trip down the Mississippi River, and gives him details about both a bear and a deer he shot. Roosevelt also mentions his reception on the trip down, particularly in Mississippi. Roosevelt is also concerned about his son’s health and wonders if he will be able to play with Harvard’s first string of football.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1907-10-22

President Roosevelt responds to a letter from his friend John Milliken Parker. Roosevelt remarks on Parker’s “hysterical tone” suggesting that “increase of rape” and the “relations of the races” has anything to do with Roosevelt’s friendship with Booker T. Washington. Roosevelt does not believe he needs to speak to the press as Parker suggests and gives many examples when he expounded his beliefs on the matter of race relations. 

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-10-03

President Roosevelt likes William H. Fleming’s response to Judge Alexander L. Miller’s attack on Fleming’s recent speech on race. Roosevelt was surprised that Fleming received criticism from Miller, noting that he would have expected it only from men like Governor James Kimble Vardaman of Mississippi. Roosevelt has received letters from Judges Horace H. Lurton and Thomas Goode Jones, who both strongly support Fleming’s position.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1906-08-11

President Roosevelt tells William L. Pryor that Governor James Kimble Vardaman and Senator H. D. Money have willfully been misleading in recounting statements he made about lynching. He encloses for Pryor copies of his speeches and letters to prove his actual statements on the matter. Roosevelt says he always makes a point of denouncing the alleged crime that proceeded a lynching in speeches on the subject.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1905-11-13

President Roosevelt fundamentally agrees with Henry S. Pritchett and James Ford Rhodes about the Southern question. Although Roosevelt believes it is unwise and impractical to repeal the Fifteenth Amendment now, he does agree it should not have been passed in the first place. The president can also agree with Pritchett and Rhodes that Congress should not press for active enforcement of the Fifteenth Amendment; however, it cannot go too far with Mississippi Senator John Sharp Williams having more power than Speaker of the House Joseph Gurney Cannon. Roosevelt believes Southern states cannot enforce the laws themselves because they are trying to readopt slavery through peonage. Additionally, Southerners demand the exclusion of African Americans from offices, although Southerners have approved of Roosevelt’s choices for offices in the South on the whole even though the president has appointed some African Americans. Roosevelt insists he has tried Pritchett’s course of action, but it has not worked because the South has not met him even halfway. The president believes cooperation depends on Southerners, and the difficulty will vanish when they “quit lying.” Finally, Roosevelt says he has not observed outside criticism of the South and asks Pritchett how Congress needs to respond since it has not controlled the South. Roosevelt concludes by asking for one specific thing he is doing wrong, as he wants to learn.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-12-14

President Roosevelt substantially agrees with Judge Allison’s views but cannot stop discussions Allison dislikes in Congress. Roosevelt believes Mississippi Governor James Kimble Vardaman, Mississippi Senator John Sharp Williams, Tennessee Senator Edward Ward Carmack, and newspapers are stirring up a dangerous sentiment in the North, which are due to their utterances, not Roosevelt’s policy.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-11-17

President Roosevelt thanks Dr. Abbott for making clear his point of view. As is often the case when people share a common end while differing over the means, their differences seem to be in terminology more than substance. Roosevelt agrees with Abbott’s policy and is responding to revelations of peonage in Mississippi, working through a district attorney and marshal who are “decent democrats.” Roosevelt has no idea how the election results will turn out, and though he believes he and his principles will triumph, he would not be ungrateful to the American public if he were to lose.

Collection

Library of Congress Manuscript Division

Creation Date

1904-08-08