Roosevelt, friend of the birds.

Abstract

A narrative of TR's role in bird preservation which includes factual footage taken on his visit under the auspices of the National Audubon Society to bird sanctuary islands off the coast of Louisiana, June 1915. Mating habits and domestic life of snowy egrets and their plunder by hunters are dramatized. Scenes of egrets' nest and the hunt, kill, and plucking of birds serve as the prologue to depiction of TR as bird preservationist. Views of TR and John M. Parker, leader of the Louisiana Progressive party, aboard the Audubon Society's boat, the Royal Tern; views of TR standing in marshes, with what is perhaps the Louisiana Conservation Commission yacht in background. Herbert K. Job, photographer for the expedition and noted ornithologist, appears on the beach with his camera; TR examines eggs and talks with other members of the expedition: a man who is probably J. Hippolyte Coquille, a local photographer; M. L. Alexander in light pants, president of the Louisiana Conservation Commission; John Parker, with his back to camera; and game warden William Sprinkle. Additional scenes of TR exploring island and observing birds along beach and views of a variety of shore birds including royal terns, black skimmers, laughing gulls, brown pelicans, blue herons, and egrets.Copyright: Roosevelt Memorial Association; 1Feb28; MP5938.Appearing: President Theodore Roosevelt, John M. Parker, Herbert K. Job, J. Hippolyte Coquille, M.L. Alexander, William Sprinkle.Photographer, Herbert K. Job.Copyright catalog lists author as Caroline Gentry.Duration: 4:41 minutes.Photographed in June, 1915, in Breton Island Reservation and Audubon bird sanctuaries off the coast of Louisiana.Film composed of footage taken in 1915 by Herbert K. Job on a National Audubon Society expedition with TR and undated dramatic footage of plight of the snowy egret.Interior titles suggest location of TR sequences to be Pelican Island in the Indian River, a bird sanctuary off the eastern coast of Florida which TR had established by unnumbered Executive order in March 1903 (not 1904 as RMA title states). Pelican Island marked the beginning of the national wildlife refuge system. Research indicates film locations are the Breton Island Reservation and Audubon bird sanctuaries off the coast of Louisiana; areas visited by TR included the Chandeleur Islands, Grand Isle, Breton Island, Bird Island, Last Island, Battledore Island, and Barataria Bay. Breton Island Reservation was established by Executive Order 369-A on Nov. 11, 1905. Exact location of sequences is undetermined.Roosevelt Memorial Association inventory number RMA 325-07. DLCSources used: The Times-picayune, New Orleans. June 7,1915, p. 2; June 8,1915, p. 16; June 10,1915, p. 10; June 12, 1915, p. 1; Jun 13, 1915 (real estate sec.), p. 7; Harvard University Library's Theodore Roosevelt Collection; Roosevelt Memorial Association (Roosevelt, friend of the birds script); Roosevelt Memorial Association annual report, 1924. p. 10; Scribner's magazine. v. 59, no. 3, 1916, p. 261-280; Audubon magazine. v. 17, no. 5, 1915 p. 410-412; Louisiana history. v. 12, no. 1, 1971, p. 5-19; Gabrielson, Ira N. Wildlife refuges. 1943, p. 10-11, p. 70-71; New York City Historical Records survey, Presidential executive orders. v. 1, 1944, p. 38; Harper's magazine. v. 119, 1909, p. 290-299; U.S. Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. Designating Pelican Island Wilderness Area,1969; The Theodore Roosevelt Association...catalog, p. 78-79.Collection transferred to LC from National Park Service in 1967. Previous owner: Roosevelt Memorial Association.The Theodore Roosevelt Association film collection : a catalog / prepared by Wendy White-Henson and Veronica M. Gillespie. Library of Congress, 1986