One of the principal objectives adopted by the Roosevelt Memorial Association when the organization was founded in 1919 after TR's death was the acquisition and opening to the public of Sagamore Hill as a memorial to the former president. Edith K. Roosevelt, however, said that she wished to continue living in her beloved home, and that after her death it would be left to her eldest son, Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. By 1941 Ted and his wife had built their own home, Old Orchard, on a northeast corner of the property; and Mrs. Roosevelt and her family began thinking about the future of the old house. The family then offered Sagamore Hill to the National Park Service, but were flatly turned down. Ted died during World War II, and after the war his brother Archie Roosevelt approached the Roosevelt Memorial Association, which would soon change its name to the Theodore Roosevelt Association. After Mrs. Roosevelt died in 1948, the Association purchased the property and the house and its contents from the Roosevelt estate.
After years of repair and restoration work, which included replacing the roof and putting in a new heating system, the house was ready to be opened to the public. The historic restoration of the interior of the house was directed by Bertha B. Rose, a famous figure in the historic preservation in the 20th century. That great day of the opening was June 14, 1953, and among the many who came to the house for the ceremony were President Dwight D. Eisenhower, former President Herbert Hoover, New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, and members of the Roosevelt family, including his three surviving children, Alice Longworth, Ethel Derby, and Archie Roosevelt. The President of the Association at the time was General Frank Ross McCoy, veteran of the Spanish-American War and World War I, later a noted diplomat, who had been President Theodore Roosevelt's military aide in the White House for a time. The Director of the Association was Hermann Hagedorn, poet and historian, whose book The Roosevelt Family of Sagamore Hill became a best-seller in 1954, and helped put the old house back on the map. Hagedorn also wrote the first guide book for the house. Also present for the dedication was Leonard W. Hall, former Congressman from Long Island, and in 1953 Republican national chairman, who had been crucial in overcoming local opposition to, and lining up support for, making Sagamore Hill a public site. Hall's father, Franklyn Hall, had worked at Sagamore Hill and then at the White House; and Leonard Wood Hall was a godson of TR's daughter Ethel. And Jessica Kraft was there. She had been Mrs. Roosevelt's secretary, and in 1953 she became the first Curator and head of Sagamore Hill, serving at the site until her retirement in 1974.
In 1963 the Theodore Roosevelt Association gave Sagamore Hill and Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace in New York City to the National Park Service together with an endowment for the sites of $ 500,000 (which was half of the TRA's endowment at the time). The gift also included the Old Orchard house,which the TRA had purchased after the death of Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. in 1960.
Why did the TRA give Sagamore Hill and TR Birthplace away ? The reasons were simple. The limited resources of the TRA were severely strained by running the two sites, and as the members who had joined in 1919 and the early years died, it was assumed by many that the days of the Association were numbered. But Ethel Roosevelt Derby , TR's daughter, would not let the TRA die in the 1960s, and she brought new and younger members into the organization.
In the years since 1963, the TRA, which now has over 2,000 members, has been devoted to educational and historical work, but continues to support TR Birthplace National Historic Site and Sagamore Hill National Historic Site in numerous ways. Recently, the Friends of Sagamore Hill, a Long Island chapter of the TRA, was formed specifically to help the site, particularly with fund raising. For more information about the TRA, visit the Association's handsome and interesting website at
