ROOSEVELT, Theodore (1858-1919). Autograph manuscript signed ("Theodore Roosevelt") Sagamore Hill, 8 December 1912.

One page, bifolium on vellum, 300 x 198mm. Manuscript on interior page (binding stitch holes at left margin, mild toned spots on recto and verso of first leaf). The outer leaf bears the emblem and mission statement of the Modern Historic Records Association.

Theodore Roosevelt writes on Lincoln for a time capsule: "He fought in his time for social and industrial justice; and we are making the same fight in our time." A poignant statement on the goals of the Progressives at the dawn of the twentieth century, drawing parallels with the accomplishments of Abraham Lincoln and written a month after his defeat at the polls to Woodrow Wilson: "All that we are trying to do is to apply the principles of Abraham Lincoln to the issues of the present day. He fought in his time for social and industrial justice; and we are making the same fight in our time. He sought to make the constitution and the courts instruments for securing justice, instead of barriers to prevent the abolition of injustice. This is precisely what we are seeking to do. He worked in a spirit of sane and tempered racialism. We work in the same spirit. He used practical common sense as a servant of lofty idealism. We strive to show the same practical common sense, and the same devotion to high ideals."

Roosevelt wrote the statement for The Modern Historic Records Association. Established in 1911 by Alexander Konta, a Hungarian-born banker, the association sought to assemble a pair of time capsules to better preserve the past for future generations. The membership included numerous leading lights of the day. Roosevelt was joined by his predecessor, William Howard Taft (who came in third place in the 1912 election), as well as George Bernard Shaw, Andrew Carnegie, Admirals Dewey and Peary, H.G. Wells, William Jennings Bryan, Thomas Edison, Rudyard Kipling, John Muir, Gugliemo Marconi and many others had been invited to write statements on prepared parchment bifolia bearing the association's seal on the front leaf. The seal stated the groups core mission to preserve "in imperishable form the record of history, heretofore 'writ on water,' in order that future generations may know the exact measure of our wisdom and our ignorance, our achievements and our failures."

The association, which met at the National Arts Club in New York, intended to assemble two time capsules, one to be housed at the New York Public Library and the other buried near the Cheops pyramid in Egypt. Although original statements can be found in a few institutional collections, and the New York Public Library holds a set of copies of the same, the original time capsules have never been located. The association itself seems to have faded out of existence by 1914. (See: The Argonaut, 6 January 1912, p. 2; "To Bury Records in Egypt. Historic Association Will Make Sure Duplicates Are Not Lost," New York Times, 26 January 1913, p. 5; "Celebrities Write on Parchment for Future Ages," New York Times, 2 June 1912, p. 9; Jason Feifer, "The Predecessor to Google Books, Facebook Graph Search, and Rewind.me—in the Early 1900s," Fast Company, January 2013. Accessed 3 March 2021: https://www.fastcompany.com/3004908/predecessor-google-books-facebook-graph-search-and-rewindme-early-1900s).