An Insider’s View of the TR Site
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What do you plan to do right when you retire? For Theodore Roosevelt, his answer was to take a trip to Africa. TR left the White House on March 4th, 1909 and just a few mere weeks later, on March 23rd, he was on his way to British East Africa. TR's trip to Africa was not a simple vacation, but a year-long expedition sponsored by the Smithsonian In...
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At the start of the twentieth century, the world had changed rapidly with the development of new technology and the growth in power of industrialized nations. This placed an increasing importance on international relations, and this month's artifact demonstrates the significance of world leaders - and their daughters - in such affairs. Alice...
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Sometimes I wonder how many visitors notice that the clock on the mantle in the Site’s restored library is set to 3:30. This isn’t by chance. It turns out that 3:30 p.m. is when Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office on September 14th, 1901 and that the clock is the original to the house. It is also March’s Artifact of the Mon...
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This month’s Artifact of the Month conveys the vision that First Lady Edith Kermit Carrow Roosevelt often portrayed to the world. In this stereoview, Mrs. Roosevelt is seated at a desk, depicted as well-dressed, calm, poised - in other words, a perfect First Lady. But there was more to Edith Roosevelt than just a pretty picture. When she ente...
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We think of Theodore Roosevelt as many things – president, soldier, hunter, trust buster, author – but one thing that is sometimes overlooked is TR as a Gold Star father. This devastating title came as a result of the death of Quentin Roosevelt, TR’s youngest son, during World War I. From the declaration of war in Europe in 1914,...
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Looking at the photos of the majestic buildings on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition, it’s hard to imagine that less than two years earlier, the area was just farmland on the outskirts of the city. And, by 1902, almost all of the buildings would be gone! Without physical remnants, these images are what remain to tell the story of the...
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In September 1901, the vast majority of Americans got their news through daily newspapers, which reported everything from extremely local news to stories from around the world. On September 5, the story of the day was President McKinley’s arrival in Buffalo and his visit to the Pan-American Exposition. It is easy to see the excitement in the ...
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Historical research is often compared to detective work. It consists primarily of locating small details and then trying to piece them together into a cohesive story. However, unlike detective work, in historical research you don’t usually have access to first-hand accounts since the characters have long since died. Personally, I know that I ...
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Following the assassination of President William McKinley, the nation looked for ways to express its grief regarding the sudden death of the immensely popular president. These ranged from letters written to McKinley’s grief-stricken wife, to flowers laid in the Temple of Music where the President was shot, to purchasing a wide variety of memo...
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Theodore Roosevelt famously enjoyed leading family and friends – not to mention an unsuspecting diplomat or two – on point-to-point hikes. His philosophy on these outings can be summarized as: “Over, under, or through, but never around.” In 1964, as concern grew that the home where Theodore Roosesvelt first took the presiden...
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Most of the world saw Buffalo’s 1901 Pan-American Exposition through the lens of Buffalo resident C.D. Arnold's camera. Arnold was born in Canada in 1844 and became famous for his photographs of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. He was then awarded the contract to take the photographs of the Pan-Am that would be used on all official publicati...
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As part of the Site’s 50th anniversary celebration, the Artifact-of-the-Month is an object that was in the house when Theodore Roosevelt took the oath of office in 1901, but then took a slightly circuitous route back to the Site. The object that I’m referring to is one of the bookcases in the library -- to be more precise, the one in th...
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It can be helpful at times to step back and look at how many of the basic features of life, and in this case politics, have changed over America’s history. During the turn of the last century, it was well within the bounds of cultural and legal acceptance to exhibit the president’s face on all manner of things. The advertisement card, O...
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Before any big event, there are always last minute details - finalizing the menu, putting out extra chairs, some light cleaning, etc. But what happens when a key piece of your event has been lost in the mail? That’s the position that the Site was in when, less than a week before its opening on September 14th, 1971, a large box of custom-made ...
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The city of Buffalo began its exponential expansion after the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825. Seventy-six years later, in 1901, Buffalo hosted the Pan-American Exposition, which highlighted the glory of both Buffalo and electricity. August’s Artifact-of-the-Month is a sepia tone postcard with images of the homes of John Milburn and Ansl...
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The Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site is operated by the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site Foundation, a registered non-profit organization, through a cooperative agreement with the National Park Service.
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