Collegiate football has always been a contact sport, but in its early days, which began in the late 1870s, it was particularly deadly. The game had not developed the forward pass, and there was regular fighting, with fists thrown. Scoring was mostly made by kicking the football to the goal. Bones were snapped, eyes were gouged, and men were even killed. Flimsy equipment, leather helmets and mere sweaters were little protection for the players – many of them illegally hired by colleges.

Roosevelt Helps Save Football

Our 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, was a lauded statesman, orator, and storyteller. He wrote more books than any other president and, indeed, more than most authors and intellectuals. To commemorate him and his North Dakota legacy, Roosevelt scholar and re-enactor Steve Stark has made selections from his speeches, books, and letters for a special Dakota Datebook series. 

Throughout 2019, listen for Dakota Datebook: Remembering Theodore Roosevelt in the regular Dakota Datebook time slots. Funding for this series is provided by the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation.

History

Society & Culture

In 2020, we will also be observing the 100th anniversary of women winning the right to vote. Theodore Roosevelt’s position on women’s rights evolved in early years of the 20th century. By his own admission, he followed the lead of the suffragist movement of the time.

Roosevelt on Women's Suffrage

Theodore Roosevelt found unbounded joys in both the dangerous adventures and the communal family ventures, memories, and celebrations.

Roosevelt Thanksgiving and Christmas

Theodore Roosevelt strove to live an honest life and often spoke of the high ideals he pictured in the promise of America. The vision in the bulk of what he said on the oration stump, in the dozens of his books, or in the guideposts of his life, was a respect for honesty and truth.

Truth & Honesty

Theodore Roosevelt thrived on so many aspects of life that it’s difficult to classify his favorite projects. But certainly, the preservation of wildlife and the natural world were foremost in his passions.

Roosevelt on Preservation

On this date in 1886 Theodore Roosevelt married Edith Kermit Carow in England. Although he had forgone the thought of another marriage after the death of Alice Hathaway Lee during the birth of baby Alice, TR and Edith, his dear and close childhood friend, renewed acquaintances, and the spark of love ignited.

Roosevelt Helps Save Football

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