Hello, my name is Ryan Ventura. I'm a park Ranger for the
National Park Service at Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace
National Historic Site. Today I'm going to do a program about
the history of Theodore Roosevelt birthplace. On behalf
of Women's History Month, I am going to talk about also the
woman architect who helped build Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace.
And her name is Theodate Pope Riddle. Thank you.
Many of you have heard of
Grand Canyon National Park. Many have heard of Yellowstone National Park.
Many of you've also heard of the Statue of Liberty National Monument.
Many of you also heard of the Washington Monument.
All these national parks have an important historical story to
tell about the history of the United States
and New York City, and they also have an important story to tell
about the scientific history of the United States,
the National Park Service preserves unimpaired, the natural and
cultural resources and values in the national park system for the
enjoyment, education and inspiration of this and future
generations. This is a map of the
United States. There are 423 National Park Service units in
the United States, including Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.
This is a map of the Northeastern United States.
And New York City is a very small section of that map, but there are many
parks in this area that are important to the cultural and historical
history of the United States, as well as New York City.
This is a map of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and the Bronx,
and on it describes all the parks in Manhattan. They
include Governors Island National Monument, Castle
Clinton National Monument, Federal Hall National
Memorial, Hamilton Grange
National Monument and many others. I work at Theodore Roosevelt
Birthplace National Historic Site. The title of this program
today, on behalf of the National Park Service, is The Power of
Place: Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace Re-created.
In the early 20th century,
Theodore Roosevelt's sisters, Anna Roosevelt and Corinne
Roosevelt, asked him whether he would want his childhood home
saved. He said publicly that he did not believe in having
shrines for former presidents of the United States.
But after he passed away in January 6, 1919, a group of
women who started the Women's Roosevelt Memorial Association
decided to save and restore him home.
This is a picture of a metal plaque on Grammercy Park.
It explains the history of the park, and who built it.
In the mid 19th century, the population of New York City was growing fast.
By 1840, the population with 330,000 people.
As a result, land speculators started buying
up land in upper Manhattan,
and a very popular land speculator was Samuel B Ruggles.
He bought up land in what is today Union Square Park,
Gramercy Park, and the Flatiron district.
Over a 20 year period from 1831 until the
1850s, buildings were built on here, luxurious houses,� so the
wealthy could live. And this became their enclave; It was
the 5th Ave of the time. This is a picture, a drawing of East
20th Street where all the brownstones were built on.
Brownstone was very popular among the wealthy. In the
mid-19th century in New York. Brownstone is a type of
material that is actually pink colored in nature and it turns a
chocolate color as it ages. This is a picture of Cornelius Van�Schaack
Roosevelt on the left. On the right is a picture of Union Square
with Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt's house on the left hand side,
and the Abraham Lincoln funeral procession
walking down the street.
Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt was very wealthy.
He owned the company called "Roosevelt and Sons" which made
plate glass.
Since he was very wealthy,
he got into real estate speculation and started buying
up properties.
Out of love for his sons, he decided to buy them
brownstones for each of them when they got married. The picture
on the left is Theodore Roosevelt senior, and the picture
on the right is his brother, Robert Roosevelt. When they got
married. They got two brownstones, and they lived
right next to each other. Theodore Roosevelt senior
got his brownstone on 28 E 20th St and Robert Roosevelt
got his brownstone on 26 E 20th St and they lived here
for around 20 years and they raised their families in this
location where all the wealthy lived. The picture on the
left is a black and white picture of Little Theodore
Roosevelt whose nickname was "Teedie" and he standing next to
his tassel chair.
The photo on the right is a picture of Theodore Roosevelt
Senior's� furniture.
It's made of satinwood and rosewood and it cost $3500 at
the time. These pictures show furniture that the Roosevelt
possessed because of their wealth. The wealthy in New
York were able to afford personalize furniture of the
highest quality. As a result,
the Roosevelts, in their home, had many examples of furniture
that showed off their wealth to all the public that came into
their home. Also, at the time,
things that we take for granted
today, they had other
people do it. They may have well have had running water
into the house.
According to historical documentation, a house in Union
Square was actually sold with running water pipes.
That is because in 1842 the Croton� Aqueduct was finished
in New York, where the New York main public branch of the library
is today, and it piped water all the way down to lower
Manhattan, to all the wealthy in New York City. So it was very
possible they had running water in their brownstone too. So these �
are examples of their extreme wealth. This is a black and
white photo of the Lord and Taylor building. It's around the
late 19th, early 20th
century and this is a modern picture of it now.
This historic landmark is very important to our story. In 1872 the Roosevelts decided
to move to West 57th St,
where Central Park is
located today. And the reason why they decided to move is
because Manhattan was changing. By 1872 the population of
Manhattan Island was 1,000,000 people.
The reason why the population exploded was because immigrants
were coming in
from England, Ireland and
Germany. And so as a result, the poor started to move up-- middle
class people start to move up
the island, and commercializaton and stores started to move
up. So the wealthy, by nature of the beast, decided to move in
their own little enclave, which would be below Central
Park. Broadway became known as Ladies Mile because all the
department stores started to line up on Broadway right near
were Theodore Roosevelt's House
was. So for example, Lord and Taylor with most popular store
of the time. What you see here is 2 black and white photos of
Theodore Roosevelt's original home, and Robert Roosevelt's
original home. In the background,
as you see, many of the brownstones were torn down for
bigger buildings for commercialization to move in. The
brownstones that weren't destroyed were changed so that
they can be fitted for commercial use and uses a
stores. For example, in Theodore
Roosevelt's original home, the gothic revival windows were
taken out and bay windows were put in, so stores would have
more room for their merchandise. And extra entrances were put in,
so the buildings could have more than one commercial entity. This
is a black and white photo of a letter from one of the Roosevelt
uncles who worked
for Roosevelt and Son
and he was writing toAnna Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt's
sister, and he was writing about selling the property.
Now after 1872, when the Roosevelts moved from the
property, they still owned it for around 20-22 years.
But they thought about selling it, so one of the uncles
told Anna Roosevelt that he was able to,
he would try to sell the home for $60,000 so Anna could get a
profit off of it. Two years later, in 1896, the house was
sold. This is a black and white photo taken in 1916.
Of the new building that was built after the original
Theodore Roosevelt house was torn down.
Since this area was all commercialized, a two story
commercial building was built
instead. But things were about to change. On January 6,
1919, Theodore Roosevelt passed
away. Six days later, on January 25th, 1919, the Women's
Roosevelt Memorial Association
was started. They had two responsibilities. The first
responsibility was to rebuild Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace.
The second responsibility of this Association was to spread
the ideals of Theodore Roosevelt. This black and white
photo here shows
the women that were a part of the Womans Roosevelt Memorial
Association at Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace. And members
included men and women and membership grew from hundreds to
thousands of individuals. This photo on the left is of Theodate
Pope Riddle. Theodate Pope Riddle is an important part of this
program. She was a woman who did not know what she wanted to do at
first in life, but she decided to get into architecture.
She wasn't formally trained, she trained herself by reading about
architecture, by going on grand tours of Europe with her family
and seeing all the luxurious architecture in Europe. When she
moved to Connecticut, she started as an architect by doing
various products in Connecticut.
And then in 1919, the Executive Committee of the Women's
Roosevelt Memorial Association decided to choose her to be the
architect of Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace. What you see here on
the left is the floor plan of
Robert Roosevelt's original home, and on the right is a grid plan
of E 20th St.
with Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace property circled in
yellow. Theodate Pope Riddle had nothing to work with when it
came to restoring and rebuilding the Theodore Roosevelt
Birthplace. The original home
had no floor plans left behind.
So as a result, her in her assistants decided to go to Robert
Roosevelt's home and use that floor plan and they flipped it
when they built Theodore
Roosevelt Birthplace. The second part of our architectural plan
was to create an auditorium and a library. This is black and
white photo of the property on East 20th St after Theodore
Roosevelt's home and Uncle Robert Roosevelt's original
home was torn down. After the Women's Roosevelt
Memorial Association bought the property, they decided in
meetings that it was best to tear down the properties.
So they were so they would be able to rebuild Theodore
Roosevelt Birthplace. This allowed Theodate Pope Riddle to accomplish
her architectural goals. In October 1921, as in this
movie, black and white, construction started, and Leonard
Wood laid the Honarary Foundation for Theodore
Roosevelt Birthplace. The women Roosevelt Memorial Association
was in attendance at this ceremony. Construction lasted
two years. The black and white photos you see here are the
early construction photos.
The photo on the last was taken in October 1921 and as you see
the foundation in the first floor of of the Theodore
Roosevelt birthplace is being
built. On the right you see a
black and white photo of contractors working on Theodore Roosevelt
Birthplace. The two photos here are from 1922 and 1923 and they
show Theodore Roosevelt
Birthplace being all built up, and on the right, you're
going to see the windows or being put in. While the building
of Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace was taking place. Fundraising
was an issue for Women's Roosevelt Memorial Association. What we
see on the left here is a black and white photo of the Women's
Roosevelt Memorial Association, and on the right, you see an article
from the New York Times about the Theodore Roosevelt
Birthplace and fundraising.
Fundraising came in different
forms. Children gave money, even
pennies. There was subscription funds at members' homes.
There were picnics.
They had fundraising events on
cruise ships. And also the Women's Roosevelt Memorial Association also
had meetings. And they would invite the public to these
meetings, to hear about what was going on with fundraising,
and they were charged entry into these meetings,
And as a result, the money gained from these entries was
used to fundraise for Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace. What you
see here is an early pamphlet of the fundraising efforts with
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace that the public was able to get their
hands on and explains in detail with Theodate Pope Riddle was going
to do with the architecture of the home, and it also explains
how much the home is going to cost to build.
At the time they thought it was going to cost $250,000.
But that was incorrect. Fundraising was going to be a lot
more. What you see here is a black and white photo of another
subscription fund with Leonard Wood in it, and a portrait of Theodore
Roosevelt in the background and the Women's Roosevelt
Association behind him.
Leonard Wood was very important to Theodore Roosevelt.
They were friends, rhey were in the Rough Riders together, he
was a co-founder with Theodore Roosevelt of the Rough Riders, so he was
very important to the fund- raising efforts for the Theodore
Roosevelt Birthplace. What you see here is a bronze medal for the
Roosevelt Memorial Association. This organization was different
from the Women's Roosevelt Memorial Association. Their job
was to restore Sagamore Hill. And on this metal, it quotes, from
Theodore Roosevelt, "If I must choose between righteousness and
peace, I choose righteousness."
So based off of that quote, you could tell Theodore Roosevelt
was very important to them, too.
As a result, when fundraising issues were going on the way and
it was realized the home was going to cost a million dollars, they
decided to give $150,000 to the Women's Roosevelt Association for
their fundraising effort. The photo on the left is Anna
Roosevelt, the eldest sister of Theodore Roosevelt. The photo on the
left is of Anna Roosevelt, who is the eldest sister of Theodore
Roosevelt. The photo in the middle is of Corinne Roosevelt
who was the youngest sister. In the photo on the right
is Edith Carow Roosevelt who was Theodore Roosevelt's wife.
These women were very important to the building of Theodore Roosevelt
birthplace. They helped Theodate
Pope Riddle with their recollections of how
to build the home.
Specifically, what should go on the inside, the interior, of the
home. What you see here is a black and white photo of an
article from the Women's Roosevelt Memorial Association, and it
describes, in detail, the recollections of the sisters.
About what went in the original home: what furniture was in
the room, with furniture was in the parlor, what
furniture was in the library, Will type of furniture was in
nursery, what type of furniture was in the bedroom and also explained
Some of the quotes that Theodore Roosevelt left in his
autobiography about what he remembered the home was like. And
Theodate Pope Riddle was able to use these
recollections to build the inside of the home.
You see here two documents.
The document on the left, like a black and white, explains what
was in the parlor room of the original home. The black and
white photo on the right, the document, explains all the
furniture that has or will be added to the new Theodore
Roosevelt birthplace. Because
the women helped out Theodate Pope Riddle so much, the interior
of the home was very authentic to what the original home looked
like. What you see here is a black and white photo of a
document from Theodate Pope Riddle's architectural firm and it explains
very generally about what Theodate Pope Riddle is going to buy
for inside the home to make the home look more Victorian, and it shows
all the wallpaper that was gonna be bought and all the carpet.
None of the carpet,
none of the curtains, and the wallpaper is authenic in the home. They
all reproductions and the first reproductions were done by the
Theodate Pope Riddle's architectural firm with all their research.
They did on the victorian era. The home was completed in
October, 1923. We see in this black and white photo here is the
original home with an American flag flying, which was actually
donated by the Rough Riders.
On October 27 1923, as in this black and white video,
the dedication for the Theodore Roosevelt birthplace took place
in the afternoon.
What you see in the background here are four women playing
trumpet in Roman garb.
And there was thousands of people in the background with
300 invitations into the home up into the auditorium.
There were many people of importance at this dedication:
Calvin Coolidge, President of the
United States was at this dedication the Mayor of New York City
was at the dedication.
Leonard Wood was at the dedication, as well as members of the Women's
Roosevelt Memorial Association.
There is no sound in this film because in the early
20th century there was no sound in filming.
It was a very special time in New York City History. This
dedication was covered by many papers
in New York City.
What you see here is
members of the Women's Roosevelt Memorial Association and other
people that were going up to Theodore Roosevelt's Birthplace.
The interior rooms that visitors would have seen in 1923 haven't
changed much since then.
In this black and white photo of the entranceway into Theodore
Roosevelt Birthplace, the hallway and the staircase all look
very beautiful. On the right photo, you'll see place where
people would hang up
their coats when visitors would come to Theodore Roosevelt
Birthplace, and this is what the photo of Theodore
Roosevelt Birthplace looks like now. Nothing has really much has
changed other than the National Park Service has taken over [administration]
Theodore Roosevelt birthplace in 1962. So we administer and protect this
important shine. This is a picture of the parlor in 1923. On
the left hand side, you're going to see a Chickering piano.
It's a time period piece.
and you're going to see chairs in the background and a 19th century chandelier.
This is a modern picture of the power the Chickering piano is
still there. Some of the chairs have been moved around,
but the chandelier is still there. This is a picture of the library.
On the left hand side on the bottom, you're going to see a
photo of the tassel chair that belonged to Theodore Roosevelt.
That's his original chair. Above the fireplace on the mantle
you're going to see
two obelisks that were gifts that the Roosevelts got when they
were on the trip in Egypt in 1872. In the background you
horsehair furniture from the 19th century on the
right hand side and a globe.
This is a modern picture of it, and nothing has really changed
in this picture. Except in the middle. We have lamps on top of
the middle table. This is a picture of the dining room in 1923.
The table used to belong to Cornelius Van Schaack Roosevelt
from his 14th street home, and the chairs were donated by [Theodore's]
sisters. This is a modern picture of the dining room.
What's different about the dining room now is the table has
been lengthened. There's been more chairs added, and above the
fireplace, a mirror has been added. This is a photo of the
bedroom. All furniture in the bedroom is original to the
original home. It's a great example of their wealth.
All satinwood rosewood furniture. And a modern picture of the
bedroom. Nothing has changed in this room but one thing. That
the chairs have been moved away from the windows and
they've been moved in front of the fireplace, off screen. This
is a picture of the nursery. The nursery went through some
changes over the last 100 years. In the back is the bed
for Annie Roosevelt- Mittie Roosevelt's sister who used to
sleep in the room with the children.
You're going to see chairs in the nursery. In the modern picture,
you're going to see a medicine ball-a replica-
and replica indian clubs. Those two things were used by Teedie
when he exercised to overcome his disability. The auditorium, which
seated 300 people, this is a picture of it in 1923-
with an American flag in the background; black and
white [photo]. And this is a modern picture of the auditorium.
Specifically, this was a fundraiser event by Theodore
Roosevelt Association. It was a teddy bear fund for children.
This is another 1923 photo, and this is a modern version of
the auditorium. This is a picture of the Lion's Room in
1923. In the background what you see, is a stuffed lion. Theodore
Roosevelt, when he was a child, got into taxidermy and he never
dropped that interest. 100 years later, the lion had been
moved to the other side of the room and instead,
what has been put there is a desk that used to belong to Theodore
Roosevelt, his assistant Secretary of the Navy desk. as well in
the background are examples of taxidermy. On the other side
of the room, you're going to see the lion, and more examples
of taxidermy. The library was used by the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial
Association. In 1924, they signed in agreement with the Women's
Rosevelt Memorial Association to use space and Theodore
Roosevelt birthplace. And then use a library to store books,
manuscripts, primary, & secondary sources of Theodore Roosevelt.
This room is now our interpretation office, and also a
library. And many researchers use this area to do study on
Theodore Roosevelt. Thank you for listening on this program on
behalf of the National Park Service, about the history of
Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace. Stay tuned for more program.