Theodore Roosevelt's New York © 2001 Philip Ernest Schoenberg, Ph.D. The Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace at 28 East 20th Street is the reconstructed boyhood home of the colorful 26th president. It displays everything from the toys with which the young Teddy played to campaign buttons and emblems of the e trademark "Rough Rider" hat that Roosevelt wore in the Spanish-American War. One exhibit features his explorations and interests the other covers his political career. The Roosevelt home, a typical New York brownstone, was located on what was a quiet, tree-lined street in New York's most fashionable district. Theodore's grandfather Cornelius purchased both brownstones number 28 and number 26 next door as wedding gifts to two of his sons, Theodore, Sr. and Robert. Theodore and his bride Martha Bulloch moved into number 28 in 1854. The family lived there until the fall of 1872 when Theodore, Jr. was fourteen. They then set about on a year's tour of Europe. On their return, they went directly from the ship to their new house at 6 West 57th Street. Eventually, the former Roosevelt home was taken over for business purposes. In 1916 it was completely demolished to make way for a two-story commercial building. After TR's death in 1919 prominent citizens decided to purchase the site, raze the commercial building and reconstructed Roosevelt's boyhood home as a memorial. They also built museum galleries and other facilities on the adjoining lot where Robert Roosevelt home once stood. The reconstructed Birthplace was opened to the public in 1923. In 1963 the Theodore Roosevelt Association donated the site to the National Park Service. Born in New York City on October 27, 1858, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. (Known as "Teedie" as a child), was the second of four children born to Theodore Roosevelt, Sr. and Martha Bulloch. Teedie's mother came from a prominent Georgia family. His father was descended from Dutch settlers who had come to the New World in the 1640's and made their fortune in the importing business in New York. Roosevelt Street near the Brooklyn bridge is named for this early Roosevelt ancestor. The family's wealth enabled his father to pursue many philanthropic interests, including the founding of New York's American Museum of Natural History, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Children's Aid society, which helped ease the harsh life of New York City's homeless children. Due to his illnesses, Teedie was not able to attend public school . Yet the constant attention of his parents and the companionship of his younger brother, Elliott, his older sister, Anna, and his younger sister, Corinne, kept Teedie from feeling isolated. First taught by his mother and by tutors, he developed a great love of reading and learning. At age seven, while on an errand to a local market, he spied a dead seal, which had been discovered in the nearby harbor. Eventually, he obtained the seal's skull, and with the help of his two cousins, he started the Roosevelt Museum of Natural History, the beginning of a lifelong interest in nature and conservation. Teedie idolized his father , who once told him, "You have the mind but you have not the body, and without the help of the body, the mind cannot go as far as it should. You must make your body." Determined to help himself and taking advantage of a gym installed in the Roosevelt home, Teedie set about building up his physique. Bradlee's is on the site of Cornelius Van Schack Roosevelt, the grandfather of the president, just south of Union Square. Theodore Roosevelt's earliest memory was seeing the funeral procession of Abraham Lincoln from his grandfather's home. During the Civil War, Father went to various union camps to sign up the Union troops to have payroll deductions send most of the money home instead of spending it on women, drinking and gambling at the front. Meanwhile young Teedie would be helping momma and her sister, originally from Georgia, prepare medical supplies to be smuggled southward. Whenever he felt mischievous, he would yell loud for the union. 6 West 57th Street is now the heart of the New York City's commercial district, the most expensive real estate in the city. Back in the late 1870's and early 1880's, it was the upper class neighborhood. The Vanderbilts and the Rockefellers kept up with them. Recently, a townhouse owned by former Governor Nelson Rockefeller was sold for over $10,000,000. It was famous that Rockefeller died happy without his second wife Happy being present in the heat of a rather passionate moment. In time of the adolescent TR, Fifth Avenue was lined with the mansion of millionaires. Home-schooled Teddy was tutored for entrance to Harvard College. Teddy's father, mother, and first wife died in the home. TR used his inheritance to buy a farm that he transformed into his suburban home, Sagamore Hill, in Oyster Bay, Long Island. The estate was a working farm in his lifetime. He loved to go foxhunting. Just as he had a wonderful childhood in the city, his children remember the wonderful childhood they had in Oyster Bay. Theodore Roosevelt's widow lived there until her death and it then became the present memorial in his memory. New York State has erected a memorial to its governor at the American Museum of Natural History. A huge statue of Theodore Roosevelt on horseback, flanked by Indian, stands guard in front of the Central Park West entrance. Inside is Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall that commemorates his lifetime of many achievements. Many of the museum's New York State and African bird and animal specimens were donated by Theodore Roosevelt. Philip Schoenberg, PhD, is professor of American Government and History at the College of Aeronautics, a consultant to the PBS program on The American President, and an expert on the presidents. He has his own website on the presidents, www.presidentialexpert.com. (888) 377-4455 drphil1@aol.com He also gives walking tours on the presidents. ©1998-2005 Presidentialexpert