visiting teddy roosevelt's birthplace

 this morning we went on a fun field trip practically right in the neighborhood! we walked to 20th street between park avenue south and broadway to the childhood home of theodore roosevelt, our 26th president (in the white house from 1901-1909).

teddy was born in 1858 and the area was very residential and quiet with brownstone houses lining the streets. chanda would like me to write that everyone in teddy's family had a nickname. his grandfather was known as "cvs" since his full name was cornelius van schaack (no relation to the pharmacy, though he was one of the founders of chemical bank, now known as chase bank). his mother was "mittie", his aunt was "barnie", and teddy was known as "teedie." being wealthy, theodore's family thought it was very important to give back to society and thus were often doing public service so that as a young child theodore would help his father serve meals in shelters.  he also changed his major in college from science to history and government. he did this after his father died as he thought that a career in public service would be the best way to honor his father's memory. his father was very influential in his life and theodore later wrote that "he was the greatest man i ever knew." theodore roosevelt senior was known for his philanthropy, having helped found the new york children's aid society, the metropolitan museum of art, the american museum of natural history and the new york children's orthopaedic hospital. he would have been proud to know that his son was the first of three presidents to have received the nobel peace prize while in office. our favorite story is how he would scoop up a young theodore into his arms when theodore would suffer from asthma attacks in the middle of the night and ride with him in the carriage through the city hoping to get air back into his lungs.

here's the plaque outside the house. we can't believe we never realized it was here. the house is part of the national park service, and is free to all visitors.

 our tour guide, alice, was a wonderful storyteller and a fount of information. here she is pointing out a painting of george washington's inauguration that hung in the family's parlor room.

 teddy's mother was from a wealthy southern family and secretly sent care packages south during the war. it really brought home to us how families and friends were torn apart and having to fight each other.

 this is the family library. the sliding door to the right that separated the library from the dining room, had glass panels depicting roses. "field of roses" is the meaning of roosevelt, and the family was in the plate glass business (they were one of the leading companies who supplied glass after the chicago fire of 1871).

this is the children's room. the window to the right went out to a outdoor porch on which teddy would exercise as he suffered from asthma and was frail as a child (though you wouldn't know it to look at him). his father felt it was important for him to get lots of fresh air and run and jump and even juggle pins. the porch looked over an exotic garden that ran the length of the block and was kept up by another wealthy family who lived across the way. teddy's grandparents also lived around the corner overlooking union square, and his cousins lived right next door. they were a close and caring family.

 the museum had his eyeglass case that took a bullet in 1912 when he was campaigning in milwaukee.

his speech was also in his pocket, folded over several times. the bullet lodged in his chest and was never taken out. he went on to give his speech impromptu before allowing himself to see a doctor. i guess he wasn't bleeding that bad! (though, supposedly he was hospitalized for a week after that).

this is the bear that he allowed to be called "teddy" after himself. the story goes . . that he was supposed to be photographed hunting and killing a bear out west. someone had tied the bear up for him to kill, but of course he wouldn't shoot a bear in that manner and ordered it to be released. he was then lauded as a bear lover and a toy manufacturer took advantage of the story to sell stuffed "teddy" bears. it's funny how the name stuck.

we had coffee and tea and fresh bread with jam at the new maison kayser that has opened just a block away. we had a lot of fun talking about the tour and everything we now know about teddy roosevelt. we look forward to visiting his estate out on long island in a few weeks. i saw it many years ago as a child, and remember it being a beautiful and fun place to visit.