Andrew Whitfield
October 12, 2011
HIST 299
Literarture Review
In 1909, following the end of his presidency, Theodore Roosevelt set out on a safari
throughout Africa. Andrew Carnegie financed this safari, and the purpose of this safari was to
hunt animals and collect their specimens. The specimens that they collected were to be donated
to the Smithsonian Institution as well as the New York Museum of Natural History. Roosevelt
brought numerous people such as R.J. Cunningham and Carl Akeley (the father of modern
taxidermy) on this journey. During this journey, Roosevelt killed and trapped over 11,397
animals, ranging from various insects to hippopotami and elephants. Although this journey was
conducted in the name of science and research for exotic animals, it became quite the political
and social event in the United States. The safari became such a spectacle thanks to Roosevelt’s
documented encounters with African tribal members that most Americans had no prior
knowledge of. This literature review will examine how literature about Theodore Roosevelt’s
safari in 1909 evolved from 1909 to 2011, and how the authors stances on the issue evolved
along with them.
John Bierman’s book, Dark Safari, includes a New York Times article that was written in
1900, which depicts African people who live in tribes in an overly exaggerated manner.
Additionally, this article identifies the animals that can be found throughout the African savanna.
This article is important because it proves that Americans had very little (if any) realistic
knowledge of the people and animals that belonged to these African safaris prior to Theodore
Roosevelt’s African safari. This article provides an example of America’s understanding of
Africa. Once Theodore Roosevelt’s safari discoveries reached the press and American people,
the true identity of Africa was unveiled.
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On March 22, 1926, (sixteen years after the Roosevelt safari) Time Magazine published
an article titled Cinema Hunt. While the author of this article is not given, the article was
published under the “Art” section. Thus, we can deduce that this person, while seemingly
anonymous, had some form of credentials as an art critic. The article is written from a skeptical
point of view, as the author felt that Roosevelt’s safari adversely affected Africa. He/she states
that “The safari was led by Americans primarily for pleasure, but also to supply the Museum of
Natural History with habitat groups of African fauna and to also make a cinematic volume on
natural history,” but instead of one scientific adventure “filming and hunting in Africa has
become a family event.”1 Throughout this article, the author supports the idea that Roosevelt’s
safari expedition eventually led to Africa’s exploitation, as it encouraged many amateur
cinematographers to travel to Africa in order to view “the real Africa” from their personal
perspectives. 2
Less than ten years later, Time Magazine published another article on February 3, 1936,
entitled Animals: Paradise Lost. This article discussed another important topic that the earlier
article from Time Magazine did not: the animals in Africa. This article seems to express the same
feelings as the first article (specifically, how Roosevelt’s safari had affected the wildlife in
Africa). The author openly stated his/her support for the International Agreement, which was
passed in 1935 in order to help protect the fauna and flora in Africa from all of the excessive
hunting that had stemmed from the rapid incline in the number of safaris that people had been
going on since 1910. The author stated that Africa has “the worlds sternest, smartest, and the
most thorough set of game laws” and that they are “glad animals can only be hunted now with
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2
“Cinema Hunt” Time Magazine, March 22, 1926, 30.
“Cinema Hunt”, 31.
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licenses so Africa is no longer an insatiable killers paradise.”3 The article also refers to the
Americans going over to Africa as “white hunters,” while referring to the Africans that guide
them on their safaris as “black boys.” This shows that even though 36 years had passed since the
earlier published New York Times article, the American views towards people living in tribal
Africa had not significantly changed.
In an article written in Field and Stream magazine in 1952, Terry Tucker wrote an article,
On Safari With the Comforts of Home, which showed a new perspective on Africa and the
outcomes from Roosevelt’s safari expressed in earlier documented articles. This article was
published in a magazine that is primarily published for people interested in topics such as
hunting and fishing, and because of this, it is understood that they are proponents of African
safaris. Tucker gave descriptions of modern-day safaris which allow the customers to remain in a
state of maximum comfort while on their safari by saying, “Safaris have really changed since
Theodore Roosevelt’s time, what used to be an all out rugged hunting expedition is now a
vacation.”4 An interesting point that is brought up in the article is that Africa is promoting people
to come on safaris as a way to generate money for their home countries. It is stated in the article
“The Springbok Safari office in Johannesburg sells safaris the way that New York travel
agencies offer weekend trips.”5 This statement supports the idea that Africa itself played a role in
the exploitation of its own wildlife.
Two more articles that discuss similar topics regarding America and Africa and their
governments’ aiding the exploitation of Africa include: Hunters Get a Break; Safaris are
Deductible and The Safari Business is Booming. Both of these articles were written by Elspeth
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4
5
Unknown, “Animals: Paradise Lost,” Time Magazine, February 3rd, 1936, 43.
Terry Tucker, “On Safari With the Comforts of Home,” Field and Stream, November, 1952,
25.
Tucker, “On Safari With the Comforts of Home,” 26.
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Huxley on December 21, 1955 and June 19, 1960 respectively. Huxley is an Englishwoman who
was born and raised in Kenya in 1907, so she was around to see how Africa existed before,
during, and after Roosevelt’s safari. In the Hunters Get a Break article, Huxley explained how
safaris can be written off as a tax return if it promotes your business. An example that she
provides revolves around a dairy company whose president went on a safari in 1950 and made a
film about Africa, which he then showed at his dairy plant—leading to thousands of people
coming to his plant and buying his products. By the American government allowing safaris to be
written off on taxes, more people were encouraged to go to Africa on safari, which further led to
Africa’s exploitation. In her second article, Huxley showed that she does not support the African
governments’ stances on safaris. Huxley stated, “The customers are there but Africa’s big game
animals are dwindling fast.”6 In this article, it is also shown that tourism is Africa’s fourth largest
industry, bringing in over $24,000,000 a year, and charging on average $10,500 per person on a
safari; an additional fee for the professional photographing of your safari was $33 a day. We can
see that the African government supported the increase of tourists coming into Africa on safari,
which caused the exploitation of animals in Africa.
Patricia O’Toole wrote a book about Roosevelt’s life following his presidency entitled
When Trumpets Call, which was published in 2005. In this book, O’Toole supports the Roosevelt
expedition stating that “It was an Americans duty to come over to Africa and hunt big-game
animals as long as it was done like a gentleman hunter.”7 O’Toole also pointed out that the
Europeans exploited Africa first through their imperialism over the entire continent, whereas
American hunters saw coming to Africa as a game and a way to get money quickly. It is evident
that although O’Toole was pro-safari, she does not feel that it was America’s fault that African
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7
Elspeth Huxley, “The Safari Business is Booming,” New York Times, June 19, 1960.
Patricia O’Toole, When Trumpets Call (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), 45-57.
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wildlife was exploited through numerous safaris and films, as Africa had already been exploited
by European powers.
The two final sources regarding this issue both discuss film and peoples’ desire to see
more and more of Africa and Africa’s eventual exploitation. These books are entitled Mistaking
Africa: Curiosities and Inventions of the American Mind and Film and the American View of
Nature. Mistaking Africa was written in 2009 by Curtis Keim. In this book, Keim stated that
“Roosevelt only wanted to introduce African wildlife to the American people, but gave people
the impression that the Safari was more than a scientific adventure for the love of nature and
hunting,” and that it was because of Roosevelt that “more stories and more famous Americans
followed who linked Africa with hunting in the American mind.”8 This statement shows that
many years later, people are finally beginning to accept that Roosevelt’s safari played a very
large role in how Americans saw and felt about Africa, which led numerous people to want to go
over to Africa to gain their own perspectives. Ronald Tobias wrote Film and the American View
of Nature in 2011. In this book, Tobias used reputable references to show how the American
view of Africa was shaped by Roosevelt’s safari. The safari started primarily as a political and
scientific outing, because Roosevelt wanted to leave the country to help support Taft’s campaign
for presidency. Then, the Smithsonian Institute decided to fund him to take a trip to Africa to
collect specimen for their new exhibits. Before this safari, Africa was an enigma to the American
people, but eventually, more than 26 million people viewed nickelodeons on safaris every week.9
This created a never-ending desire among Americans for photographs, films, and stories about
Curtis Keim, Mistaking Africa: Curiosities and Inventions of the American Mind (Westview:
Westview Press, 2005), 112-165.
9 Ronald Tobias, Film and the American Moral Vision of Nature (East Lansing: Michigan Stat
University Press, 2011), 86-111.
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Africa, which resulted in an increasing number of people going over to experience Africa on
their own.
After Theodore Roosevelt’s safari in 1909, there was a desire among Americans for more
and more Africa. It was this desire, as well as financial support from publishing companies, that
caused so many Americans to go over to Africa on safaris. One question that remains
unanswered throughout all of these works is one that questions why there was such positive
feedback from the masses dealing with Africa. Why did so many people want to go to Africa, to
see pictures of Lions, and even watch short black and white films of the African wilderness? The
literature shows the evolution over time of literature about Theodore Roosevelt’s safari and the
safari business in general, but the debate has not been settled regarding America’s desire for
African media or the African governments’ desire for the amount of money tourism provided,
which caused Africa and its natural wonders to be exploited.
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Bibliography
Bierman, John. Dark Safari. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997.
Huxley, Elspeth. "Hunters Get a Break; Safari is Deductable." The New York Times, 1st
edition December 21, 1955.
Huxley, Elspeth. "The Safari Business is Booming." The New York Times, 1st edition June 19,
1960.
Keim, Curtis. Mistaking Africa: Curiosities and Inventions of the American Mind. Westview:
Westview Press, 2005.
O’Toole, Patricia. When Trumpets Call: Theodore Roosevelt After the White House.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005
Tobias, Ronald. Film and the American Moral Vision of Nature. East Lansing, MI:
Michigan State University Press, 2011.
Tucker, Terry. "On Safari With the Comforts of Home." Field and Stream, November 1952,
25-28.
Unknown. "Curious African Tribes." The New York Times, 1st edition September 30, 1900.
Unknown. "Cinema Hunt." Time, March 22, 1926, 30-31.
Unknown. "Animals: Paradise Lost." Time, February 03, 1926, 43-44.
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