Description:

Theodore Roosevelt
Nairobi, Africa, ca. 1909-1910
T. Roosevelt Postcard from Africa "We will dodge that 'tsetse fly' every time we see it coming"
Postcard
An intriguing postcard likely dictated and signed secretarially by President Theodore Roosevelt during an expedition to Africa shortly after the end of his presidency. Measuring 5.5" x 3.25", Nairobi, Africa, n.d. [ca. 1909-1910]. Signed "Theodore Roosevelt" and addressed to a Miss Lone Pifer in Toledo, Ohio. Roosevelt graciously thanks Pifer for her work "The Topography of Africa", claiming her information saved the expedition from numerous pitfalls and inconveniences. The postcard has a small black and white photograph of Sorrento, Italy adhered to the top left corner. Accompanying the postcard is an additional blank postcard, "Route Map of Mr. Roosevelt's Hunting Trip", published by Arthur Capper, Topeka, 1909. Both postcards are toned throughout. There is some minor contemporary smudging to the ink of Roosevelt's letter, but it is still legible. Spots of soiling on verso to signed card. Boldly signed.

Reading in full:
"Allow me to thank you for your paper - The Topography of Africa. It has been priceless to me. It saved us from tramping across that wasteland in the north you called the Sahara; again from being tangled in the equator while crossing. We will not attempt to wade the Congo's mouth. We will dodge that 'tsetse fly' every time we see it coming. We will go around the swamps thus escaping the fever. For all of this we are grateful to you. 'Kermit' wants to be remembered to you."

Shortly after the end of his presidency on March 4, 1909, Theodore Roosevelt led an expedition to tropical Africa. The trip was funded by Andrew Carnegie and sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, with the purpose of collecting specimens for the Smithsonian's new natural history museum. The party set sail from New York City on the steamer Hamburg on March 23, 1909, with a destination of Naples, Italy, where the party boarded the Admiral to take them to Africa. The group landed in Mombasa, British East Africa (now Kenya) on April 21, 1909, and traveled to the Belgian Congo (now Democratic Republic of the Congo) before following the Nile to Khartoum in modern Sudan. The expedition collected around 11,400 animal specimens, which took Smithsonian naturalists approximately eight years to catalog. Roosevelt himself would return to the U.S. in June 1910.

Roosevelt was right to be wary of the tsetse fly, as many a hunter and explorer had found that the fly's bite could kill a horse and caused sleeping sickness in humans. While it seems he may have avoided one of nature's obstacles, Roosevelt was not spared the long-term effects of other jungle diseases. By 1918 his physical condition had begun to deteriorate, and he was eventually hospitalized for seven weeks. He never fully recovered and died in the first week of 1919.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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    Dimensions:
  • 5.5" x 3.25"
  • Artist Name:
  • Theodore Roosevelt
  • Medium:
  • Postcard

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