Important Teddy Roosevelt Letter from White House June 1907

Presenting A Very Important Teddy Roosevelt Letter from White House June 1907.

On ‘The White House’ letterhead. Typed and personally signed and amended by President Theodore Roosevelt.

With it’s original White House envelope, stamp and postage marks.

Dated June 14th 1907.

What makes this letter so important is the author, the office and the content.

It refers to the beliefs and opinions of the then President and First Lady (Edith) towards the women’s sufferage and empowerment movement that was the ‘hot topic’ of the time.

It is addressed to Eliza Calvert Obenchain who was a well known author at the end of the 19th Century and Early 20th Century. In 1905, Teddy referred to her book “Aunt Jane of Kentucky’ in a speech and recommended that every man in America should read it to understand ‘the plight of their womenfolk’. He regularly corresponded with her and we have a number of those letters in our collection. It appears that both he and Edith became big fans of Mrs Obenchain who was also heavily involved in the Suffragist movement.

The letters also provide a fascinating and historic record of Roosevelt’s personal beliefs and feelings on female empowerment.

The Letter Reads:
The White House

Washington

Oyster Bay, N.Y.,

June 14, 1907

Personal

“Dear Mrs. Obenchain:

I gladly accept the autographed copy of “Aunt Jane” which you have been so kind to send me. But Aunt Jane is so good and so wise that she must not (amount “race (illegible)) fall into the terrible mistake of the self-indulgent, selfish, shortsighted women, cold in heart and in temper, who shirk the duties of mother-hood and then try to cover up to themselves and to others their cowardice or self-indulgence by making believe they are actuated by wise or lofty motives. *

With great regard, believe me,

Sincerely yours,

Theodore Roosevelt

*And she must not give aid and comfort to unsexed or sexless creatures by a jest which they may take for earnest !

Mrs. Eliza Calvert Obenchain,

Bowling Green, Kentucky.“

The envelope is From: The White House.

Addressed to: Mrs. Eliza Calvert Obenchain, Bowling Green, Kentucky and marked ‘Personal’.

It is stamped on the front as posted from Oyster Bay, New York Post Office on June 16 1907.

It has a red 2 Cent ‘George Washington’ Postal Stamp.

On the rear of the envelope is a stamp from Bowling Green, KY Post Office dated June 17 1907.