JNL Roundtree to Woodrow Wilson

Title

JNL Roundtree to Woodrow Wilson

Creator

Roundtree, JNL

Identifier

CS43

Date

1914 November 13

Description

Roundtree writes the President to assure him that "the country don't approve of Mr. Trotters' insult to you."

Source

Library of Congress
Wilson Papers, Series 4, 152A Reel 231, Manuscript Division

Publisher

Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum

Subject

Trotter, William Monroe, 1872-1934
African-Americans--segregation

Contributor

Althea Cupo
Maria Matlock

Language

English

Provenance

Digital copy acquired from federal archives by previous WWPL Archivist, Heidi Hackford.

Text

425 Schiller Ave.,
Trenton, NJ

Hon. Woodrow Wilson,
President of the United States,
Washington, D. C.

My dear Mr. President:-

I address you this letter to assure you that the more thoughtful colored people of this State and the country don’t approve of Mr. Trotters' insult to you on yesterday. The good colored people of the country are too fairminded, decent, patriotic to set their approval for a moment upon the conduct of Mr. Trotter, who seems to be famous for this kind of a thing.

There are thousands of my race who believe that you are fairminded toward the negro race and that you stand ready to do what you can for their elevation to a higher ideal of citizenship.

I have expressed this time and again to members of my race who have called upon me to get my views concerning you and the probable course that you would pursue toward them in your present administration. In addition to this, I have advised a number of colored gentlemen to talk with me before seeking conferences with you in order to prevent just such an odium which was heaped upon the race yesterday by men of Mr. Trotters' type. You are the nation's President and any insult offered to you is offered to the nation, it matters not how just and important a question may be or what party may be in power, the Nation will not set its approval upon any insult offered to its President by one of its citizens or by a foreign individual.

I know your good will and wishes for my race to work out its destiny along certain lines have not been marred by the attitude of Mr. Trotter in preventing you from doing your duty toward us as you see it.

Very respectfully,
J.N.L. Roundtree

Original Format

Letter

To

Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924

Files

http://resources.presidentwilson.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/CS43.pdf

Citation

Roundtree, JNL, “JNL Roundtree to Woodrow Wilson,” 1914 November 13, CS43, Race and Segregation Collection, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.