The Theodore Roosevelt Association (TRA) is a historical and cultural organization dedicated to honoring the life and work of

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

(1858–1919), the 26th

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

. The group is based in

Oyster Bay, New York The Town of Oyster Bay is the easternmost of the three towns which make up Nassau County, New York, United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is the only town in Nassau County to extend from the North Shore to the South Shor ...

, where Roosevelt spent summers in his youth and would relocate in his adulthood.

History

The organization was founded in 1919 by friends and supporters of the president originally as the Permanent Memorial National Committee. Soon renamed the Roosevelt Memorial Association (RMA), it was chartered under

Title 36 of the United States Code The United States Code is the official compilation of the Federal laws of a general and permanent nature that are currently in force. Title 36 cover, "Patriotic and National Observances, Ceremonies, and Organizations." Parts Subtitle I: Patrio ...

in 1920. In parallel with the RMA was an organization for women, The Women's Theodore Roosevelt Association, that had been founded in 1919 by an act of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

. The organizations merged in 1956 under the current name. The two ancestor organizations that eventually combined to form the modern TRA established four public sites: the reconstructed

Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site is a recreated brownstone at 28 East 20th Street, between Broadway and Park Avenue South, in the Flatiron District of Manhattan, New York City. It is a replica of the birthplace and childhood ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, dedicated in 1923 and donated to the National Park Service in 1963; Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Park in Oyster Bay, Long Island, New York, dedicated in 1928 and given to the people of Oyster Bay;

Theodore Roosevelt Island Theodore Roosevelt Island is an island and national memorial located in the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. During the Civil War, it was used as a training camp for the United States Colored Troops. The island was given to the federal governm ...

in the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augu ...

in Washington, D.C., given to the federal government in 1932; and

Sagamore Hill Sagamore Hill was the home of the 26th president of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt, from 1885 until his death in 1919. It is located in Cove Neck, New York, near Oyster Bay on the North Shore of Long Island,Bleyer, Bill.When LI place n ...

, Roosevelt's Oyster Bay home, which opened to the public in 1953 and, together with nearby ''Old Orchard'', home to Theodore Roosevelt Jr., was donated to the National Park Service in 1963. Along with the 1963 gifts of the Birthplace and Sagamore Hill properties, the TRA donated an endowment to help support both sites. The TRA currently owns Theodore Roosevelt's simple cabin, " Pine Knot", near

Charlottesville, Virginia Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen C ...

, which is managed by the Edith and Theodore Roosevelt Pine Knot Foundation.

Theodore Roosevelt Collection

One of the two TRA ancestor organizations, the Roosevelt Memorial Association (RMA), collected manuscripts, diaries, correspondence and other items relating to Roosevelt's personal and professional life. In 1923, the RMA opened a research library at the Birthplace in New York City and continued to build its archive. During 1943, the organization presented the entire collection of materials to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

, Roosevelt's alma mater. Today the Theodore Roosevelt Collection is housed in Harvard's

Houghton Library Houghton Library, on the south side of Harvard Yard adjacent to Widener Library, is Harvard University's primary repository for rare books and manuscripts. It is part of the Harvard College Library, the library system of Harvard's Faculty of ...

. The collection continues to be a major resource for the study of the life and times of the 26th

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal gove ...

. The only larger Theodore Roosevelt Collection is that at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

, which includes Roosevelt's Presidential Papers, donated personally by Roosevelt.

Theodore Roosevelt Film Collection

The compilation of the film collection was originally embarked upon by the RMA in January 1919. Later, during 1924, the RMA formally established the Roosevelt Motion Picture Library housed at the Birthplace. The TRA donated the Roosevelt Motion Picture Library to the Library of Congress in 1962.

Leadership of the TRA

Led in the years 1919–1957 by Secretary and Director Hermann Hagedorn (1882–1964), the Association engaged in a wide spectrum of programs and activities to preserve Roosevelt's memory. Dr.

John Allen Gable John Allen Gable (1943 – February 2005) was executive director of the Theodore Roosevelt Association from 1974 to his death in 2005. He was widely considered the world's leading authority on Theodore Roosevelt. Biography Born in Massachusetts ...

served as executive director from 1974 until his sudden death in early 2005.

Activities

In recent years, the organization's endeavors included creation and maintenance of About Theodore Roosevelt, the TRA web site at http://www.theodoreroosevelt.org, which has been criticized by scholars as hagiographic and hard to navigate. The organization also conducts the Theodore Roosevelt^R Police Awards (given in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, and

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and th ...

to police officers who have overcome handicaps), and the Theodore Roosevelt Teddy Bear program, which each year gives

teddy bear A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy b ...

s to hospitalized children in

and Nashville during the December Holiday season. The TRA also publishes a quarterly journal, conducts occasional historical and educational conferences, and sponsors public speaking contests for high school students in New York.

Annual Dinner/Meetings

Annual meetings of the Theodore Roosevelt Association - held near TR's October 27 birthday - occur generally in places that are somehow associated with TR, such as Boston/Cambridge, where he attended college and met his first wife; New York/Oyster Bay, where he lived most of his life; Norfolk, around the USS ''Theodore Roosevelt''; Washington, where he worked as Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Vice President and President; Atlanta, where his mother grew up; and even the Netherlands, where the Roosevelts originated. The annual dinner frequently includes the awarding of the Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal. Annual meetings often include lectures on TR, visits to Roosevelt-related sites, and silent auctions and bartering/selling of TR collectibles by collector members of the association.

Members of the TRA board

TR's great-grandson

Tweed Roosevelt Tweed is a rough, woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture, resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or herringbone structure. Colour effects in the yarn may be obtained ...

serves as the organization's president as of 2010. He is joined on the board and in the association by members from a wide variety of walks of life, and numerous members of the Roosevelt family, including great-grandson Mark Ames, great-granddaughter Susan Roosevelt Weld, great-great-grandson Simon Roosevelt, great-grandson Theodore Roosevelt IV, and several cousins. Other members include but are not limited to those in finance, the judicial/legal arenas, the military, and teaching.

Membership

Interests of the membership are as varied as were Theodore Roosevelt's own interests. Members include

Rough Rider The Rough Riders was a nickname given to the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish–American War and the only one to see combat. The United States Army was small, understaffed, and diso ...

fans, political memorabilia collectors, and Theodore Roosevelt impersonators. Some members join simply because they enjoy

Teddy bears A teddy bear is a stuffed toy in the form of a bear. Developed apparently simultaneously by toymakers Morris Michtom in the U.S. and Richard Steiff under his aunt Margarete Steiff's company in Germany in the early 20th century, the teddy bear ...

. Membership in the Association includes a subscription to the quarterly ''TRA Journal'', and invitations to association functions. Members also receive free admission to Sagamore Hill in Oyster Bay and the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace in Manhattan, upon presentation of their membership cards.

Notes

External links

Theodore Roosevelt Association Official SiteLibrary of Congress - Theodore Roosevelt on Film
{{authority control 1919 establishments in New York (state) Theodore Roosevelt Historical societies of the United States Patriotic and national organizations chartered by the United States Congress Organizations based in New York (state)