ROOSEVELT, THEODORE and WHITE, WILLIAM ALLEN
Photograph inscribed to author Edna Ferber. [N.p.: 25 December 1912]. Photograph mounted on card depicting Roosevelt and White standing in full length, signed by each on the photograph below their image, further inscribed on the mount by White: "For Edna Ferber with Christmas good wishes from two of her sincere admirers/Christmas 1912." 13 1/2 x 7 7/8 inches (35 x 20.5 cm); framed. The White signature and "Theodore" somewhat faded but the "Roosevelt" strong, the photograph with a few short creases and the mount lightly toned, unexamined out of frame.
A fine association between Roosevelt, the influential editor William Allen White, and Showboat author Edna Ferber. White first met Ferber in 1912 in her capacity as a newspaper woman when they both were hired by the George Matthew Adams Newspaper Syndicate to cover the Democratic and Republican national conventions (lifelong friends, they became known at this time as "Adams' Trained Seals"). 1912 was also the year White helped Roosevelt form the "Bull Moose" party in his losing bid to become president. Enamored with Ferber's serialized stories, Roosevelt encouraged Ferber, and by Christmas 1912 she had published her first two novels.