April 26-30, 1917
The last week of April, 1917 found Kate Shippen Roosevelt at events all-over town and even commenting on those happening in Washington, D.C. Her first stop was to hear Billy Lundy speak. She was impressed and said he was “intensely interesting.” With the country just having entered World War One, I am sure Mr. Lundy was able to give some insight into the ravages of war.
Billy Lundy
In 1917, Billy Lundy was among the last of the living Civil War soldiers. He joined the Confederate Army when he was just sixteen years-old, in 1864, just before the war ended and lived to be one-hundred and nine, passing away in 1957. Coming from the state of Alabama, his enlistment was voluntary and quite possibly his talk was about this type of patriotism, something that was on the minds of many young men in America in 1917. According to Kate Roosevelt’s diary, there was a draft in place in the United States. She wrote, “America’s manhood will be mobilized for war against Germany. The Senate and House have passed a bill to raise a war army by selective conscription. The bill would permit Cousin Theodore Roosevelt (colonel and ex-president) to recruit a volunteer force for service in France. A similar proposal had been rejected by the House of Representatives.”
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
Theodore Roosevelt’s daughter, Alice Roosevelt Longworth, otherwise known as the “Other Washington Monument,” who was never shy about adding her “two cents,” wrote in her autobiography, The Crowded Hours, “For many months Father had been perfecting his plan to raise a division. He had been in communication with men all over the country who wished to serve with him. The day after we broke relations with Germany in February, he had offered the services of this division for the government. As the weeks passed and we did not declare war, he became more and more exasperated. On the ninth day of April, 1917, Father came to Washington to stay with me in order to see President Wilson and personally request permission to raise and take abroad his division. We felt that a personal interview could not hurt and that there was some faint chance that it might help. I drove father to the White House and he felt the interview went well and assured the president that there were no hard feelings. He told Wilson, “Mr. President, all that has gone before is as dust on a windy street.” To be permitted to raise and serve was indeed his heart’s desire. But the division was not to be. Though the Congress authorized it, it was not enough to put it over. The President and the Secretary of War decided against it. Conscription was passed. It was a bittersweet blow for father.”
France’s General Joffre
Kate Roosevelt’s entry for April 25, 1917 mentioned what was happening in Washington, D.C. and echoed what Alice Roosevelt was thinking. The Crowded Hours confirmed it, “One of the leading diversions of Washington that spring was the arrival and entertainment of the missions sent by the Allies. The first to get here was the British, headed by Mr. Balfour. His group was lodged at the MacVeagh House on Sixteenth Street. Mr. Bakhmeteff, the Russian Ambassador, occupied a house nearly opposite, where we went to see him arrive. It was a perfect April afternoon. American and Allied flags waved from the houses along the way, the town turned-out, it was a gala day. Preceded by a troop of cavalry, Mr. Balfour, drove past, lifting his hat and bowing, with amiability and charm, like a good politician, and then began a series of entertainments for the visitors.
The Gerber’s Food Baby
A couple of days later, the French arrived headed by Generals Joffre and Viviani, to stay with Mr. Harry White. Joffre, warrior though he was, had the engaging quality of a huge pink and white, blue-eyed Mellen’s Food Baby.” I suppose that was the forerunner to today’s “Gerber Baby,” and I couldn’t help but think that the Roosevelts never were ones to mince words, even during war-time. Perhaps Alice was disappointed that the old colonel of Rough Rider fame was denied another day in the sun. She once said of her father, Theodore Roosevelt, “He wanted to be the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral.”
Victor Herbert
The very next day, Kate steered clear of politics and war-talk, but still couldn’t help a heartfelt commentary and a true-to-form comment, “Went to see the play the Century Girl. It certainly was elaborately-staged trash.” A musical revue produced by Florenz Ziegfeld with music composed by Irving Berlin and Victor Herbert, this vaudeville-like venue was most likely not Kate’s cup of tea. The show closed on April 28, 1917, two days after her somewhat snooty review was written.
Sharon Hazard’s Dowager’s Diary appears on Thursday.
Photo One:
Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders
Library of Congress
Photo Two:
William (Billy) Lundy, Oldest Civil War Soldier (1848-1957)
Florida Memory
Photo Three:
Alice Roosevelt Longworth
wiki
Photo Four:
France’s General Joffre
wiki
Photo Five:
The Gerber’s Food Baby
public domain
Photo Six:
Victor Herbert, Musical Composer
public domain
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