Yesterday was my final day at the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace National Historic Site. It closes for renovation later this week. I was there a full eighteen months and can say that I have a deeper and more appreciative knowledge of American and international history than I did a year and a half ago. Much of this was due to the openness and generosity of the TRB rangers, especially Michael Amato and Daniel Prebutt.

Mike and Danny were always so welcoming to me. They allowed me be involved in many aspects of the site’s operations, not just giving tours but writing articles for the Facebook and website pages and helping in my own small way on other projects. An example was writing signage for the update of the Lower Museum Gallery. One of my favorite memories was commiserating behind the information desk after a tour and discussing the ins-and outs of the interpreter’s craft. Tailoring a talk to meet the expectations and interest level of the audience is so crucial. It was always exhilarating to see the swinging doors open and say hello to whoever was walking in. And they came across the country and around the world. Theodore Roosevelt is just that strong.

Just because I am no longer at the TRB doesn’t mean I am not continuing with the Roosevelts. The extended family is too much of a historian’s dream to do that. The Roosevelt Sr. book is moving along; I am also working on some things about Ted. The latter fits in well with the Great War Centennial. There is a lot of Roosevelt history at Governors Island that I will be focusing on this summer. These are just a few things.

I will miss the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace. Still, I leave with the good feeling of having learned and accomplished a great deal. I also have the memories of working with such talented and dedicated professionals as Mike and Dan. And for this I will always be grateful.

One thing I often talk about in my talks at Governors Island is the way Americans used to name their offspring. It comes up when we’re standing in front of the Commanding Officers House and discussing Winfield Scott Hancock. Hancock was of course named after Old Fuss and Feathers himself, Winfield Scott. Hancock’s own father was Benjamin Franklin Hancock. I wouldn’t put too fine a point on it, but naming one’s children after famous Americans was a way for people to identify with the fledgling nation in the early years of the Republic. Horror writer H.P. Lovecraft’s father was Winfield Scott Lovecraft. Then there is Benjamin Franklin Butler, John Quincy Adams Ward. There is no shortage of examples.

This was a phenomenon that lasted into the twentieth century but seems to have fizzled out around the time of the Great War. I have no way of knowing for sure, but it doesn’t seem anyone was naming their kids after John Pershing or other military figures from that conflict. I suppose by 1918 people were too jaded and the culture just moved on. There was a bit of an uptick during the Depression and WW2 when many named their kids after Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

The reason I bring this up is because of this image I stumbled upon the other day. The caption explains it all. With a little digging I learned that a William H. Signet in Pennsylvania named his twentieth child Theodore Roosevelt Signet. In appreciation the president sent Mr. Signet a letter of thanks in 1903. The image above was taken on November 10, 1923, just three weeks after Roosevelt House opened. What I find striking is the width of the age gap within the group. The Theodore Roosevelts you see here ranged from ten months to twenty-five years old.

I was at the NYPL Central Library going through old issues of the Roosevelt House Bulletin this afternoon. They are fascinating glimpses into a New York City and an America that no longer exist. There are also tidbits large and small that shed light on the Birthplace. Often I take what I learn in my digging and work it into posts for the Park Service’s social media platforms. Those linked to the TRB Facebook page will see something in the coming weeks about Gene Tunney visiting the Birthplace in 1940. Just remember that you heard about it here first.

My favorite era in the history of the house is the 1920s. For one thing Anna (Bamie) and Corinne were both still alive and leaving their mark on the historic site. It was quite a scramble to raise the funds and to build the house and museum. I am increasingly aware of just how tough the task was. I came across a touching blurb today from one of the 1919 issues of the Roosevelt House Bulletin. (As you can see in the image above, it was later renamed The Roosevelt Quarterly.) The RMA received a contribution of $1 from a private in the 31st Infantry, American Expeditionary Force. What was so incredible is that the 31st was stationed in Siberia at the time. The Siberian Intervention lasted from 1918-22 after the collapse of the Czarist Empire, the Russian surrender at Brest-Litovsk, and the onset of the Russian Civil War. The Americans and other Allies were there to protect the stores of weapons given to the czar and to prevent those weapons from getting into the hands of the participants in the internal struggle now taking place within Russia. From halfway around the world this young doughboy’s dollar made it all the way to New York City and to the headquarters of the Roosevelt Memorial Association.