Young Teddy Roosevelt walked down Broadway one day near his New York City home. He spotted a seal, killed in the harbor, on a slab of wood. All at once, the seal “filled me with every possible feeling of romance and adventure,” he later said. 

Teddy returned to the seal day after day. He measured it with a ruler and wrote down all his measurements and observations. Teddy hoped to be given the entire seal. Instead, he received the seal’s skull.

The very young future president

The skull inspired Teddy to create the “Roosevelt Museum of Natural History.” Teddy and two cousins placed the museum’s exhibits in Teddy’s bedroom until a chambermaid complained to his parents. Then Teddy had to move the seal skull and the animals and bird exhibits to a back hall bookcase.

Birthplace of Teddy Roosevelt, New York City

Like Teddy, his father was a founding member of a museum, the American Museum of Natural History.

Theodore Roosevelt, Senior

Teddy visited his father’s museum frequently. He studied the exhibits and explored behind the scenes. When he was twelve, Teddy contributed a collection to the museum. It included: a bat, a turtle, mice, a red squirrel’s skull, and four bird eggs.

The American Museum of Natural History

Teddy loved natural history and was especially fascinated with birds. He enjoyed spending time in the country studying nature. He drew pictures of birds and mice and described insects in his notebooks.

Teddy dreamed of becoming a naturalist. That dream changed when he studied at Harvard. He decided instead to enter politics.

As president, Teddy Roosevelt signed laws to set aside two hundred and thirty million acres of wilderness for national parks. Five national parks, eighteen national monuments, fifty-one bird reserves, and 150 national forests were established during his presidency.

If you like this post, then please consider sharing it and leaving a comment below. Thank you! Barbara Lowell, Children’s Author

To Learn More Visit The American Museum of Natural History online at: http://www.amnh.org/explore/science-topics/theodore-roosevelt

You may like two more posts about Teddy Roosevelt: The President’s Christmas Surprise https://barbaralowell.com/the-presidents-christmas-surprise

A Pony in the White House https://barbaralowell.com/a-pony-in-the-white-house

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