American Passage

by Vincent J. Cannato

  119 While men like Stewart: Letter from Terence V. Powderly to A. J. You, May 16, 1900, Letterbox 73; Letter from Terence V. Powderly to President William McKinley, undated, Box 156, TVP.

  119 Powderly wanted: Letter from Terence V. Powderly to T. F. Lee, June 19, 1900, Letterboook 73, Box 152, TVP.

  119 Some of Powderly’s friends: See File 51841-97, INS. Fitzharris possesses one of history’s all-time great nicknames, which apparently derived from the time he killed a goat he kept in his backyard and skinned it to make some money. James Joyce, no doubt taken by the unusual nickname, immortalized Fitzharris in his novel Ulysses.

  119 A Powderly ally: Letter from A. J. You to Terence V. Powderly, May 24, 1900, Box 137, TVP.

  120 In what was probably: Letter from Terence V. Powderly to Hon. William McKinley, undated, Series 2, TVP.

  120 In mid-December 1900: NYW, December 18, 1900; Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly Newspaper, January 5, 1901.

  121 The centerpiece of the: Pitkin, Keepers of the Gate, 33; Architectural Record, December 1902.

  121 Ellis Island now consisted: NYT, December 3, 1900.

  122 Ensconced in Washington: Letter to T. V. Powderly, September 20, 1900, TVP. For examples of intercepted McSweeney letters, see Box 125, Series 2, TVP.

  122 When not bogged down: Letter from Terence V. Powderly to Hon. William McKinley, undated, Series 2, TVP.

  123 By the summer of 1901: Letter from Roman Dobler to T. V. Powderly, August 16, 1901, TVP.

  CHAPTER SEVEN: CLEANING HOUSE

  127 It was not a name: Eric Rauchway, Murdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt’s America (New York: Hill and Wang, 2003), 60.

  128 Theodore Roosevelt had: President Theodore Roosevelt, “First Annual Message to Congress,” December 3, 1901.

  128 The bullets that: Theodore Roosevelt, “True Americanism,” Forum, April 1894.

  128 In the previous decade: Theodore Roosevelt, An Autobiography (New York: Scribner’s, 1913), 357; Robert Watchorn, The Autobiography of Robert Watchorn (Oklahoma City, OK: Robert Watchorn Charities, 1959), 145.

  128 Roosevelt was no newcomer: Edmund Morris, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (New York: Ballantine Books, 1979), 376; Letters from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Cabot Lodge, January 27, 1897, March 19, 1897, in Henry Cabot Lodge and Charles F. Redmond, eds., Selections from the Correspondence of Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge, 1884–1918, vol. 1 (New York: Da Capo Press, 1971).

  129 Roosevelt worried about: Theodore Roosevelt, “The Immigration Problem,” Harvard Monthly, December 1888.

  129 The relationship between: Roosevelt, “True Americanism.”

  130 A young inspector: Watchorn, Autobiography, 145–147.

  130 William McKinley: Hans Vought, The Bully Pulpit and the Melting Pot: American Presidents and the Immigrant, 1897–1933 (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2004), 22–23; Daniel J. Tichenor, Dividing Lines: The Politics of Immigration Control in America (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002), 73–75.

  131 Even with a new: Letter from T. V. Powderly to Thomas Fitchie, October 4, 1901, Letter from Acting Secretary O. L. Spaulding to Thomas Fitchie, October 9, 1901, Box 123, TVP.

  132 Edward McSweeney had more reasons: Letter from Edward McSweeney to Theodore Roosevelt, March 26, 1902, Series 1, TR.

  132 Roosevelt’s views: Tichenor, Dividing Lines, 122; Barbara Miller Solomon, Ancestors and Immigrants: A Changing New England Tradition (New York: Wiley, 1956), 196; Vought, Bully Pulpit, 33.

  132 Yet immigrant defenders: Roosevelt, An Autobiography, 186–187; Tichenor, Dividing Lines, 33. On Roosevelt’s family background, see Morris, Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, 36–37.

  133 Whatever may have been: Elting E. Morison, ed., The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt, vol. 3 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1951), 170–171.

  133 Powderly left the meeting: Letter from T. V. Powderly to John Parsons, October 25, 1904, Box 139, TVP.

  133 Even with the charges: Letter from Terence V. Powderly to President William McKinley, undated, TVP; “Reports of the Industrial Commission on Immigration,” vol. 15, 1901, 72, 170; Letter from Nicholas Butler to Theodore Roosevelt, October 12, 1901, NMB.

  134 “Nicholas Miraculous” Butler: Letter from Nicholas Murray Butler to Theodore Roosevelt, October 7, 1901, NMB.

  134 Jacob Riis: Letter from Jacob Riis to TR, March 17, 1902, Series 1, TR. 134 What Roosevelt really: Morison, ed., Letters, vol. 3, 221, 250.

  134 Finally, in the spring: NYT, March 24, 1902.

  135 Powderly demanded: Letter from Terence V. Powderly to Robert Watchorn, March 22, 1902, Letterbook 79, Box 153, TVP.

  135 The sheer number of: Powderly, 381–382.

  136 The son of a New London: Robert Williams’s grandson John was kidnapped by Indians in the infamous Deerfield Indian raid of 1704 and held for two years. John Williams’s book about his experiences inspired James Fenimore Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans. Other direct descendants of Robert Williams include Louisa May Alcott, the Wright Brothers, Ephraim Williams, founder of Williams College, General George B. McClellan, and Eli Whitney.

  137 At lunch, he sat Williams: Letter from Edward Van Ingen to Theodore Roosevelt, March 27, 1902, Series 1, Reel 25, TR.

  137 Roosevelt always had: John Morton Blum, The Republican Roosevelt (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1954), 12–13.

  137 Roosevelt felt: Roosevelt, 57–63.

  138 Williams informed Roosevelt: Letter from William Williams to Theodore Roosevelt, August 8, 1902, Series 1, TR.

  138 The cases of Murray and Braun: Letter from James Sheffield to William Williams, April 29, 1915, Williams Papers, WW-NYPL.

  139 Murray replaced McSweeney: Letter from Terence V. Powderly to Robert Watchorn, March 22, 1902, Letterbook 79, Box 153, TVP.

  140 Williams let nothing: “Annual Report of the Commissioner-General of Immigration,” 1902, 56.

  140 Others also felt: Letter from William Williams to Senator Thomas Platt, May 26, 1902, WW-NYPL.

  140 Nor would the abusive: Letter from William Williams to N. J. Sparkling, May 26, 1903; Letter from Williams to John Bell, gateman at Ellis Island, November 3, 1903, WW-NYPL.

  141 To protect immigrants: Letter from Herbert Parsons to William Williams, April 3, 1902, WW-NYPL; “Annual Report of the Commissioner-General of Immigration,” 1902, 56.

  142 New bids were put out: Letter from William Williams to Theodore Roosevelt, June 24, 1902, WW-NYPL.

  142 Williams even tackled: NYT, July 12, 1903.

  143 In addition to: Letter from William Williams to Theodore Roosevelt, September 17, 1902, Series 1, TR.

  143 Roosevelt then ordered: Letter from William Williams to Theodore Roosevelt, February 4, 1903, Series 1, TR.

  144 Because of an electoral: BG, June 27, 1903.

  144 The case took on: Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Elihu Root, October 3, 1903; Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Curtis Guild, Junior, October 20, 1903, Morison, ed., Letters, vol. 610–611, 633–634.

  144 The case remained: NYT, December 10, 1903.

  144 Though McSweeney tried: Letter from William Williams to Theodore Roosevelt, February 4, 1903, Series 1, TR; BG, June 15, 1904; BH, July 11, September 18, 1903.

  145 As McSweeney was: Francis E. Leupp, The Man Roosevelt (New York: Appleton, 1904), 136.

  145 Shortly after his dismissal: Watchorn, Autobiography, 92.

  145 These were difficult: Letter from Terence V. Powderly to Robert Watchorn, July 4, 1902, Letterbook 79, Box 153; Terence V. Powderly to T. L. Lee, July 7, 1902, Letterbook 80, Box 153, TVP.

  146 Powderly’s depression: Letter from Robert Watchorn to George R. Cullen, May 18, 1903, TVP.

  146 But Roosevelt had not: Letter from Robert Watchorn to Terence V. Powderly, September 5, 1903, Box 128, TVP; Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Philander Chase Knox, August 1, 1903, Morison, ed., Letters, vol. 3, 538–539.

  146 Nothing came of: Letter from Terence V. Powderly to John N. Parsons
, October 25, 1904, TVP.

  146 On October 23: NYT, October 24, 1903; March 14, 1904.

  147 Goldman called: Candace Falk, ed., Emma Goldman: A Documentary History of the American Years, vol. 2: Making Speech Free, 1902–1909 (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005), 121–123.

  147 Writing from his: John Turner, “The Protest of an Anarchist,” Independent, December 24, 1903.

  148 Turner certainly had: U.S. Ex Rel. Turner v. Williams, U.S. 279 (1904). For more on the Turner case, see Daniel Kanstroom, Deportation Nation: Outsiders in American History (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007), 136–138 and David Cole, Enemy Aliens: Double Standards and Constitutional Freedoms in the War on Terrorism (New York: New Press, 2003), 108–109.

  CHAPTER EIGHT: FIGHTING BACK

  150 Williams’s appointment: Letter from William Williams to Prescott F. Hall, December 27, 1902, File 999, IRL.

  150 Immigrants were on notice: Letter from William Williams to Bolognesi, Hartfield & Co., June 10, 1902, WW-NYPL.

  150 Williams believed that: “United States Immigration Laws with Annotations for Guidance of Immigrant Inspectors at the Ellis Island Station,” November 1902, TVP; Letter from William Williams to Theodore Roosevelt, November 25, 1902, WW-NYPL.

  151 Compare Williams’s 1902 edict: Reports of the Industrial Commission on Immigration, 1901 (New York: Arno Press, 1970, reprint), 81.

  151 In his first Annual Message: President Theodore Roosevelt, “First Annual Message to Congress,” December 3, 1901.

  151 Roosevelt warned Williams: Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Williams, January 21, 1903, Series 2, TR; Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to William Williams, January 23, 1903, in Elting E. Morison, ed., The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt, vol. 3 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1951), 411–412.

  152 Williams at first responded: Letter from William Williams to Theodore Roosevelt, January 24, 1903, Series 1, TR.

  152 Williams then shot back : Letter from William Williams to Theodore Roosevelt, January 29, 1903, WW-NYPL.

  152 Williams continued: Letter from William Williams to Theodore Roosevelt, February 8, 1903, Series 1, TR.

  152 A man like William Williams: NYT, May 24, 1903.

  153 Williams ended his: Edited version of Williams’s Annual Report for 1903 with Roosevelt’s edits is found in the WW-NYPL.

  153 Over 857,000 immigrants: Kate Holladay Claghorn, “Immigration in Its Relation to Pauperism,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, July 1904.

  154 In a 1906 book sympathetic: Edward A. Steiner, On the Trail of the Immigrant (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1906), 75.

  154 Not everyone agreed: Wallace Irwin, “Ellis Island’s Problems,” New York Globe and Commercial Advertiser, June 14, 1904.

  154 It was a sentiment: “Annual Report of the Commissioner-General of Immigration,” 1903, 70.

  154 It was a cold: “Annual Report of the Commissioner-General of Immigration,” 1904, 106.

  155 To his supporters: Letter from Prescott Hall to William Williams, December 24, 1902, WW-NYPL.

  156 Even the American Hebrew: Quoted in Williams Memo, “Comments on Certain Articles Which Appeared in the ‘Staats Zeitung’ Between December 1902 and October 1903,” undated, WW-NYPL; AH, January 30, 1903. 156 Despite the support: “Hell on Earth,” New Yorker Staats-Zeitung, September 4, 1903. A translated copy appears in the William Williams Papers at the New York Public Library. Williams, who was fluent in German, either translated the articles himself or had them translated.

  156 Williams may have: Letter from Frank Sargent to William Williams, April 14, 1903, WW-NYPL; Letter from Robert Watchorn to Terence V. Powderly, September 5, 1903, Box 128, TVP.

  157 Roosevelt’s trip began: The following account of Roosevelt’s visit is taken from NYT, September 17, 1903, and BG, September 17, 1903.

  157 After a quick lunch: For a slightly different version of the story, see Henry Pratt Fairchild, Immigration: A World Movement and Its American Significance (New York: Macmillan, 1913), 188.

  158 Little escaped: Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Victor Howard Metcalf, February 22, 1906, in Morison, ed., Letters, vol. 5, 162–163; Morgen Journal, July 10, 1912. For more on trachoma, see Howard Markel, “ ‘The Eyes Have It’: Trachoma, the Perception of Disease, the United States Public Health Service, and the American Jewish Immigration Experience, 1897–1924,” Bulletin of the History of Medicine 74 (2000). 158 Among those invited: Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ralph Trautman, November 28, 1903, in Morison, ed., Letters, vol. 3, 659–660. In addition to von Briesen, the commission included former district attorney Eugene Philbin; Thomas Hynes, New York commissioner of corrections; Ralph Trautman, Treasurer, New York Palisades Interstate Park Commission; and Lee Frankel, of the United Hebrew Charities.

  159 The Von Briesen Commission: See File 52727-2, INS.

  160 Roosevelt was happy: Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Ralph Trautman, November 28, 1903, in Morison, ed., Letters, vol. 3, 659–660.

  161 The final report: Letter from Eugene A. Philbin to Theodore Roosevelt, December 1, 1903, Series 1; Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Eugene Philbin, December 2, 1903; Letter from Arthur von Briesen to Theodore Roosevelt, December 4, 1903, TR.

  162 Though Roosevelt said: Hans Vought, The Bully Pulpit and the Melting Pot: American Presidents and the Immigrant, 1897–1933 (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2004), 42–43; Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Henry Cabot Lodge, May 23, 1904 in Henry Cabot Lodge and Charles F. Redmond, eds., Selections from the Correspondence of Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge, 1884–1918, vol. 2 (New York: Da Capo Press, 1971).

  162 Roosevelt’s campaign manager: Letter from George B. Cortelyou to William Williams, September 24, 1904, WW-NYPL; Letter from William Williams to Theodore Roosevelt, October 15, 1904, Series 1, TR.

  163 Apparently, Williams’s problems: Letter from Robert Watchorn to Terence V. Powderly, December 21, 1904, TVP.

  163 In December 1904: Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Gifford Pinchot, January 19, 1905, Series 2, TR; Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Northrop Stranahan, December 24, 1904, in Morison, ed., Letters, vol. 3, 1077–1078.

  164 Some immigration defenders: AH, January 20, 1905.

  CHAPTER NINE: THE ROOSEVELT STRADDLE

  165 Leaning over the second-story: H. G. Wells, The Future in America (New York: Arno Press, 1974, orig. pub. 1906), 140.

  165 Wells had cemented: Robert Watchorn, The Autobiography of Robert Watchorn (Oklahoma City, OK: Robert Watchorn Charities, 1959), 127–128.

  166 Once there, Watchorn ended up: In her 1925 autobiography, famed union organizer Mother Jones wrote: “I remember John Siney, a miner. Holloran, a miner. James, a miner. Robert Watchorn, the first and most able secretary that the miners of this country ever had. These men gave their lives that others might live. They died in want.” Though she was correct about Watchorn’s position, he was still very much alive at the time of the publication of Mother Jones’s 1925 memoir. In fact, by the time the autobiography was published, not only was Watchorn alive, he had become a millionaire oilman. Mary Field Parton, ed., The Autobiography of Mother Jones (Chicago: Charles H. Kerr, 1925), 240.

  167 On the issue of Joe Murray: Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Gifford Pinchot, January 19, 1905, Series 2; Letter from Robert Watchorn to Theodore Roosevelt, January 21, 1905, Series 1, TR; Letter from Robert Watchorn to Oscar Straus, May 4, 1907, Box 6, OS.

  167 Roosevelt was adept: President Theodore Roosevelt, “Fifth Annual Message to Congress,” December 5, 1905.

  168 It was a fine statement: President Theodore Roosevelt, “Fifth Annual Message to Congress,” December 5, 1905.

  168 If Roosevelt wanted: Henry James, The American Scene, republished in Henry James, Collected Travel Writings: Great Britain and America (New York: Library of America, 1993) 425–426.

  168 With each passing week: NYT, April 17, 1906.

  169 If Americans thou
ght: Philip Cowen, Memories of an American Jew (New York: International Press, 1932), 185–186; NYT, January 7, 1907.

  169 Robert Watchorn, who oversaw: NYT, March 11, 1906.

  169 Watchorn told a Jewish audience: NYT, November 19, 1906; Sheldon Morris Neuringer, American Jewry and United States Immigration Policy, 1881–1953 (New York: Arno Press, 1980), 60.

  169 College professor Edward Steiner: Edward A. Steiner, On the Trail of the Immigrant (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1906), 91–92.

  170 Watchorn had a chance: Robert Watchorn, “The Gateway of the Nation,” Outlook, December 28, 1907.

  171 At a dinner celebrating: John Morton Blum, The Republican Roosevelt (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1954), 37. See also, Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Lyman Abbott, May 29, 1908, in Elting E. Morison, ed., The Letters of Theodore Roosevelt, vol. 6 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1951), 1042.

  171 Straus, along with Schiff: On Straus’s background, see Naomi W. Cohen, A Dual Heritage: The Public Career of Oscar S. Straus (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society of America, 1969).

  171 As part of his: David Nasaw, The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst (Boston: Mariner Books, 2000), 207–209.

  171 The Bureau of: Oscar Straus, Under Four Administrations: From Cleveland to Taft (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1922), 216; Letter from Oscar Straus to Robert Watchorn, December 30, 1907, OS.

  171 On the morning of: Oscar Straus Diary, 3, Box 22, OS.

  172 Some cases were: Straus, Under Four Administrations, 216–217. 172 “I would be less than human”: Cohen, A Dual Heritage, 154–155. 172 Straus made his: Oscar Straus Diary, 67–68, Box 22, OS; NYT, May 22, 1907. Robert Watchorn discusses the same story in his autobiography, but some of the details are different. Watchorn, Autobiography, 132–135.

  172 Straus made yet: “Report of Conference held at the Ellis Island Immigration Station,” June 15, 1908, File 51831-101, INS.