#54: A Living History Museum

C and A with Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders

The Oklahoma History Center hosted 'An Evening with Teddy Roosevelt'. Gib Young has portrayed President Roosevelt for the past 10 years, and on this particular evening, he took us back to 1915. He spoke of Roosevelt's efforts to create a buffalo preserve, his adventures on a great wolf hunt in Oklahoma Territory, and his victory with the Rough Riders in Cuba. Mr. Young is a great storyteller, and I was caught up in his portrayal. He is a member of the Theodore Roosevelt Association and has apparently done a lot of research. Not only did he speak for an hour in character, but he also took questions from the audience and spoke of other adventures in Africa, in the White House, and in the Grand Canyon.

One audience member asked him a question about words he had written about "one flag". Mr. Young then began what I later found out was a quote from a letter Roosevelt had written in 1919, to be read at an American Defense Society event. He died shortly after the event. His words are surprisingly current. Here we are, nearly 100 years later, and we are still struggling with the same arguments. "We have room for but one flag, the American flag ...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language ... and we have room for but one soul loyalty, and that is loyalty to the American people." He didn't sound at all like he was quoting; it seemed natural and improvisational. He was fabulous! It was a nice evening, and both of the kids said they might want to go again if another historical figure comes to speak. Bully!



A:
The living history museum was really cool!!!!! The actor, Mr. Young, was going to be acting as Theodore Roosevelt. Teddy Roosevelt was our 26th president, so it was fun to hear stories about him. He told us lots of things that Teddy Roosevelt had done, and what he liked to do. Some of the things he had done was, try to create a wildlife preserve for buffalos, go wolf hunting here in Oklahoma, he told us about the Rough Riders, and about he was that went on between them and Cuba. It was so cool!!!!! I like hearing about the time he was in Cuba. They had a great victory!!!!! It was delightful! Bully!!!!!

The Bugler posed with C

C:
I got to see a person who was acting Teddy Roosevelt, and he gave me an autograph. It says "To C, Theodore Roosevelt, July 8, 10." I asked him if teddy bears were really named after him, and he said 'yes'. He told us a story of a person [he knew] who could grab a wolf inside of his throat. He grabbed something inside and holded it until something happened.

C and a Rough Rider