On Tuesday, May 12, 1903, President Theodore
Roosevelt paid an official visit to San Francisco. Cameraman H.J. Miles captured the president's arrival parade on film, and later released the footage as The President's Carriage. Two days after the Market Street procession, Roosevelt was filmed again as he dedicated Dewey Monument in the city's Union Square. The monument, which is still in place, commemorates the victory of Admiral George Dewey and the American fleet over Spanish forces at Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War. It is also a tribute to the sailors of the U.S. Navy.
Called actualities, short documentaries like these of Roosevelt appeared in nickelodeons throughout America alongside novelties such as policemen and firemen in action, buildings under construction, and new inventions at work. The themes and conventions of these short films were borrowed from nineteenth century commercial photography. Early audiences, while amazed by the moving images, were very familiar with the subject matter. What is perhaps most interesting about these two actualities of Roosevelt is the view they offer of the city which was devastated by a massive earthquake and fire just three years after the president's 1903 visit.
- Great Earthquake and Fire: San Francisco, 1897-1916 offers 26 films of San Francisco before and after the 1906 disaster. To see the range of films available, browse the collection's subject list. Also, don't miss the description of turn-of-the-century America and the selected bibliography on early motion pictures.
- Theodore Roosevelt: His Life and Times on Film features 104 films which record events in Roosevelt's life from the Spanish-American War in 1898 to his death in 1919; 8 of these films have previously appeared in other American Memory presentations. The majority of films (87) are from the Theodore Roosevelt Association Collection. Besides containing scenes of Roosevelt, these films include views of world figures, politicians, monarchs, and friends and family members of Roosevelt who influenced his life and the era in which he lived. See the essay T. R. on Film: The Theodore Roosevelt Association Collection at the Library of Congress by Veronica M. Gillespie for insight into this photogenic president's history in front of the motion picture camera.
- Another film collection, The Spanish-American War in Motion Pictures, includes footage of Roosevelt's Rough Riders. This volunteer cavalry unit, which included the flamboyant Theodore Roosevelt himself, is best known for their role on San Juan Hill in the Battle of Santiago. Search the collection on Roosevelt to find more clips of the future president taken during the first U.S. war in which the motion picture camera played a role.
- Learn more about the history of filmmaking. See Edison Motion Pictures, a section of the collection Inventing Entertainment: the Edison Companies. See also the Today in History features on Thomas Edison and cameraman Billy Bitzer.
- For more on Teddy Roosevelt, search the Today in History Archive on Theodore Roosevelt.
