Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site

09/13/2026

in 1901 . . . as Vice President Theodore Roosevelt and his hiking companions were taking a break for lunch, an Adirondack trail guide caught up with them and delivered an unexpected message: President McKinley’s condition was declining rapidly and TR should return to Buffalo at once.

It had taken nearly half-a-day for that message to reach TR. According to the recollections of Ansley Wilcox, who had been asked to contact the Vice President, “The message… found him on his way down the mountain [Mt. Marcy], just below the summit.”

“He [TR] hurried back; as soon as possible got a wagon and drove out over the rough roads to the nearest railway station, in the dark of Friday night. It is safe to say that he lost no time on that drive.”

09/13/2026

in 1901 . . . After being roused from his sleep in the middle of the night and asked to get an urgent message to Vice President Theodore Roosevelt, it took Buffalo’s Ansley Wilcox nearly two hours to get in touch with TR’s staff.

Wilcox described the events as follows: “A telephone message to Albany put me, within two hours, in direct communication with Mr. [William] Loeb, the Vice-President's secretary. He informed me that the club [in the Adirondack Mountains] where Col. Roosevelt probably was at that moment, was some hours beyond the end of rail and telegraph lines, but that he was probably coming out on that day; that he (Mr. Loeb) would try to reach him quickly by a telegram, to be forwarded by special messenger, and would also go after him on a special train as early in the morning as one could start.”

Unbeknownst to Wilcox and TR’s staff, however, “It turned out that Col. Roosevelt and his family were staying a day longer in the Adirondacks than he had expected, owing in part, as I understand, to a storm which had washed out the roads and made them very bad. Being thus detained, on this Friday he had started for a tramp up Mt. Marcy with a guide….”

09/13/2026

in 1901 . . . attorney Ansley Wilcox was woken up in the middle of the night and asked to get an urgent message to Vice President Theodore Roosevelt.

TR had been a guest at the Wilcox home only a few days earlier. After getting the news that President William McKinley had been shot at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo (NY) on September 6th, TR rushed to the city and ended up staying with his long-time friend.

But, as Ansley Wilcox’s published recollections tell us: “...when, on Tuesday [Sept 10], the fourth day after the shooting, everything seemed to be going on well, and…members of the cabinet, and Dr. McBurney, who had come here from New York, felt justified in leaving, it was thought best that the Vice-President also should go away, in order to impress the public with that confidence in the outcome which everyone then felt. He went to join his family at a remote spot in the Adirondacks, the Tahawus Club, where he expected to stop only a day, and then to take them back to his home at Oyster Bay. His itinerary and addresses for reaching him, if he should be needed here, were left with me; but no one thought that he would be needed.”

The newspaper headlines from Thursday (Sept 12) had been encouraging. According to the Buffalo Morning Express, President McKinley was “Out of Danger”. The Buffalo Courier reported at length about "Another Good Day for the President".

Nonetheless, Ansley Wilcox later wrote; ”In the middle of the night between Thursday [Sept 12] and Friday [Sept 13], I was aroused by a message asking me to send instantly for the Vice President, as the President had suddenly become worse and was in great danger.”

He described the following hours as “... a vigorous effort to annihilate time and space.”

09/11/2026

09/10/2026

Last week, the was pleased & honored to host a Naturalization Ceremony during which 10 new citizens (from 8 countries) were welcomed. Like TR, each new citizen faced a long journey to reach this place and take a solemn oath to defend the U.S. Constitution.

The United States Constitution empowers Congress “[t]o establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization” (Art. I, §8, Cl. 4). The process is lengthy and, according to the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services, there are various eligibility requirements that must be met before it can even begin. Individuals submit an online application & provide supporting documents to verify their eligibility. Fingerprints & photographs are used to facilitate a criminal background check by the FBI. An in-person interview with an immigration officer includes tests in English & civics. Sometimes, applicants need to provide additional documentation; others may need to re-take one or both tests (which can be done only once). Once all requirements for naturalization have been met, an oath ceremony is scheduled. The Oath of Allegiance can be administered by an USCIS official or a judge; after taking the oath, new citizens (finally!) receive their Certificate of Naturalization.

Watching new citizens take the oath, and celebrate with family & friends is an incredibly moving experience that those of us at the TR Site never get tired of witnessing. We are genuinely grateful to play a small part in this important event.

Speaking of gratitude, thank you to everyone else who was instrumental in planning, coordinating, and conducting the ceremony, including:

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services | Buffalo Field Office
Hon. Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder Jr.
Buffalo Passport Agency | U.S. Department of State: Consular Affairs
Erie County Board of Elections
Daughters of the American Revolution | Katharine Pratt Horton Buffalo, NY Chapter
International Institute of Buffalo
Journey's End
League of Women Voters of Buffalo/Niagara, Inc.

09/09/2026

We will be on WGRZ - Channel 2, Buffalo tomorrow morning starting at 5:45am. We will be talking about our upcoming anniversary commemorations! See you bright and early!

09/09/2026

It's at the TR Site! As part of our new exhibit, we've installed a Wish Wall for . Here are just a few of the answers our visitors have already left.

ICYMI, our new exhibit -- 12 DAYS IN BUFFALO -- takes a closer at the days leading up to TR's 1901 inauguration. It includes dramatic period photos & rarely-seen artifacts. 12 DAYS will be open through early October & is included with regular admission. It can be paired with a guided tour of the historic home, or viewed as a stand-alone experience.

09/09/2026

09/09/2026

There's still time to get your tickets for next week's Exemplary Citizenship Reception to benefit the !! More info: https://www.trsite.org/events/reception/

09/08/2026

Did you know that, as president, Theodore Roosevelt tried to simplify spelling? It's a great story, even if it didn't work out quite the way TR thought it would. We have a number of items in our historic collection that relate to the simplified spelling initiative.