Your TR Source
President Roosevelt is pleased with the settlement of the Alaska boundary. Roosevelt encloses a newspaper article, which he would like republished, from a Democratic paper in Mississippi that supports James Kimble Vardaman for Governor.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-10-26
President Roosevelt feels that acquiring the land for an Isthmian canal cannot be done by treaty and public opinion is not prepared to accept the land’s seizure by force. Roosevelt was disappointed that the Review of Reviews displayed a positive view of James Vardaman, recently elected Governor of Mississippi, who Roosevelt considers worse than John Edward Addicks of Delaware.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-10-07
President Roosevelt calls Lyman Abbott’s attention to the “foulness and violence” of James Kimble Vardaman, the recently elected Governor of Mississippi. Roosevelt has a low opinion of Vardaman and considers him even lower than John Edward Addicks of Delaware.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-10-07
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-08-29
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
English
John W. Mathis has previously corresponded with Theodore Roosevelt, and hopes that Roosevelt has a good visit to his state of Mississippi. Mathis feels that the Mississippi Governor Edmond Favor Noel is a better governor than his predecessor, James Kimble Vardaman. He hopes that Roosevelt’s visit to Mississippi will have a positive effect on the state. While Mathis does not feel that he had any sectional hatred towards the north, Vardaman’s “whole aim is to prey upon the prejudices of the ignorant classes of the voters,” and he worries about their impact.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-03-09
John Milliken Parker warns Theodore Roosevelt not to say anything that could be misconstrued about his friend Senator LeRoy Percy of Mississippi. James Kimble Vardaman, editor of The Issue, is stirring up trouble regarding “the negro question” and trying to stoke race hatred. Roosevelt should continue to ignore Vardaman.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-02-04
J. M. Dickinson regrets Roosevelt was out of the office when he called. He sends Senator LeRoy Percy’s “manly, able” speech, primarily discussing Vardaman.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-01-05
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1910-12-31
Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919
English
Judge Speer encloses a list of United States judges who will likely be appointed by Democratic nominee William Jennings Bryan. He explains to President Roosevelt the ramifications of having Bryan potentially nominating a large number of justices to federal courts at various levels. The Bryan judges would likely jeopardize peonage laws and the Employers Liability Act, among other things. Democrat-appointed judges would shift jurisprudence to favor states’ rights over federal authority.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-10-26
Ray Stannard Baker sends President Roosevelt proofs of his July and August articles that he could not include in his previous letter. He also encloses a humorous editorial that shows that Southerners have not had a favorable interpretation of his article like Roosevelt suggested.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-09
Ray Stannard Baker responds to President Roosevelt’s letter and clarifies that he is not standing by Senator Benjamin R. Tillman or others like him. Rather, as a journalist, Baker is “seeing and reporting the facts on which other men act.” Baker believes that Roosevelt asserted socialistic thought in his letter, and states that people have been moving toward socialism because, like Roosevelt, they have been emphasizing personal goodness and have found that it does not always lead to the betterment of man. Baker tells Roosevelt that he has articles coming out soon which will clarify his views on race and society. As Roosevelt suggested in his letter, he would like to meet with Roosevelt to discuss his views in depth.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1908-06-08
Representative Williams asks President Roosevelt to act on behalf of Wiliams’ constituent Carl H. Shaifer who is officially part of the Government Printing Office but has been primarily doing work for the Department of the Navy. Williams fears that Shaifer’s membership with the Democratic Party and support of Roosevelt’s political enemies puts his future as a government employee in danger, particularly as his superiors in the Printing Office are not personally familiar with him.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1907-11-22
William L. Pryor encloses a newspaper clipping regarding Senator H. D. Money and assures that the people of Mississippi do not share their views. Pryor offers to publish any statement made by President Roosevelt in response.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1905-11-11
Edgar S. Wilson encloses a clipping where “the vulgarian,” most likely referring to James Kimble Vardaman, “enters a denial.” Wilson stresses that this paper must not be lost. He believes that President Roosevelt may already have a copy of the paper where “the same party editorially blackguarded” President McKinley.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-08-03
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.
Theodore Roosevelt Association Journal
2020
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.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1911-04
U.S. Marshal Edgar S. Wilson protests to President Roosevelt on the possible appointment of Captain T. G. Dabney to the Mississippi River Commission. Wilson also reports that he has identified a possible case of peonage and will pursue it aggressively.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-03-04
Booker T. Washington encloses a copy of a speech concerning education and the Negro, which is being delivered at a meeting concerning Hampton University, a university with a predominately black student body.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1904-02-10
As previously agreed, Lyman Abbott requests letters of introduction for his son, Ernest Hamlin Abbott, who will be investigating conditions in the South. Abbott will be in Lake Mohonk next week pressing for two reforms, the transfer of the Indian Bureau to the War Department and placing all public schools under the Bureau of Education. He believes these reforms will remove the issues from partisan politics. Next week, Abbott is beginning a lecture series on preaching at Yale University. He encloses clippings on James Kimble Vardaman and wishes more could be done to oppose Vardaman’s election.
Library of Congress Manuscript Division
1903-10-12