Corinne Roosevelt Robinson
Corinne Roosevelt Robinson
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Corinne Roosevelt Robinson

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Corinne Roosevelt Robinson

Corinne Roosevelt Robinson (September 27, 1861 – February 17, 1933) was an American poet, writer and lecturer. She was also the younger sister of President of the United States Theodore Roosevelt and an aunt of First Lady of the United States, Eleanor Roosevelt.

Corinne Roosevelt was born on September 27, 1861, at 28 East 20th Street in New York City, the fourth and youngest child of businessman/philanthropist Theodore Roosevelt Sr. and socialite Martha Stewart Bulloch. Her siblings were Anna, Theodore Jr. (who became president), and Elliott (the father of future First Lady of the United States Anna Eleanor Roosevelt). As an Oyster Bay Roosevelt Corinne was a descendant of the Schuyler family. She received most of her education from private tutors.

Corinne was best friends with Edith Kermit Carow, her brother Theodore Roosevelt's second wife and later the First Lady of the United States. Theodore Sr. was a supporter of the North during the Civil War, while Mittie supported the South. Mittie's home state was Georgia, and she had moved to New York only because of her marriage to Theodore. Mittie's brothers were members of the Confederate Navy. However, the conflict between Corinne's parents' political loyalties did not prevent her from experiencing a privileged childhood, including the best schools and regular travel, or the formal debut into society expected of the daughters of prominent families.

Robinson began writing at an early age, through the encouragement of her friends, in particular Edith Wharton who helped critique her poetry. In 1911, Robinson published her first poem, "The Call of Brotherhood", in Scribner's Magazine. Her first book of poems of the same title was published in 1912. This volume was quickly followed by One Woman to Another and Other Poems (1914) dedicated to her daughter, also named Corinne, commemorating the loss of Robinson's brother Elliott and son, Stewart.

Other volumes of poetry by Robinson include Service and Sacrifice (1919) dedicated to her brother Theodore Roosevelt, The Poems of Corinne Roosevelt Robinson (1924), and Out of Nymph (1930) dedicated to Charles Scribner. She also wrote the prose memoir My Brother Theodore Roosevelt (1924).

Robinson was a member of the executive committee of the Republican National Committee and the New York State Republican Committee. During the election of 1920, Robinson became the first woman ever called upon to second the nomination of a national party convention candidate; speaking before a crowd of 14,000, she endorsed General Leonard Wood as the 1920 Republican candidate for president. After Wood lost the nomination to Harding, Robinson came out strongly for Harding and his vice-presidential candidate, Calvin Coolidge. In the 1924 election, she served as a member of Coolidge's advisory committee. Also in 1924, she wrote a letter to The New York Times commenting on the election loss of her nephew, Theodore Roosevelt Jr., for Governor of New York.

Despite being a prominent Republican, Corinne voted for her fifth cousin and nephew-in-law Franklin when he ran for Governor of New York in 1928, and in 1932 when he was elected President of the United States. During the 1932 election, she declined the designation of a Republican elector-at-large, and wrote to Franklin saying that she had refused to take an active part in the campaign. She also stated that:

You must understand why I cannot comment on the national campaign. My own beloved niece is the wife of the Democratic candidate. She is the daughter of the brother who was nearer to me in age than Theodore. For her I have the deepest affection and respect. So, much as I would like to pay the highest tribute to President Hoover, I cannot do so in this campaign.

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