WOODROW WILSON (1856-1924). Wilson was President during World War I.

TLS. 1pg. 6” x 8”. October 26, 1910. Princeton.  A typed letter signed “Woodrow Wilson” to John McCarthy of Chicago.  Writing on “President’s Room” letterhead, Wilson  stated “On returning from a speaking tour I find your interesting and important letter of October 22^nd.  I wish most unaffectedly that I could comply with the request it contains, but unhappily it is literally impossible for me to come to Chicago before Election Day, or even to write such a letter as I would be willing to have read.  I have time only to send my very warm greetings and to express my great regret that I cannot lend my small aid to the thing you are trying to accomplish.”  Wilson was then running for Governor of New Jersey.  The letter has toning from a previous framing and a horizontal tape remnant to the top margin.

OFFICIAL HANDWRITTEN PROCLAMATION WELCOMING PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON AND THE LIBERTY BELL TO LANE COUNTY, OREGON IN 1915

WOODROW WILSON (1856-1924). Wilson was the Twenty-Eighth President.

Document. 4 pgs. 10” x 14”. July 15, 1915. Lane County, Oregon. An official proclamation for President Woodrow Wilson: “Our President, Greetings: Know you that the citizens of Lane County, State of Oregon, on the occasion of the visit of the liberty bell, fittingly observed July 15, 1915. – as Wilson Day and that in mass-meeting assembled they expressed their faith in your statesmanship in the unanimous adoption of the following patriotic declaration: We, the people of Lane County in the state of Oregon, in general mass meeting assembled…do solemnly declare: That we love peace and deplore war, That we hold most sacred the great principles of American liberty and demand that the life and liberty of American citizens shall be secure throughout the world, That the President of the United States has our loyal support, sympathy and confidence in all his efforts to adjust the present complications with foreign powers honorably and without war, we trust and believe he will be able to do so and here and now unhesitatingly confirm his every effort to that end; but if he is unable to accomplish an honorable adjustment of such complications and war can not be averted, we are ready to take up arms, to follow the President and the Flag until the life and liberty of the citizen of the United States shall be secure wherever the sun shines”. Starting July 4^th 1915, the Liberty Bell left Philadelphia on a custom train for a cross-country summer tour. The Liberty Bell ended up visiting 275 communities, traveling 10,000 miles, and being seen by a quarter of all Americans. One Oregon publication reported 15,000 met the Liberty Bell in Eugene, the county seat of Lane County, Oregon. For Wilson, the tour was a way to increase patriotic fervor in the country and to build support for his policy towards the war in Europe; he wanted credit for maintaining peace thus far but have the nation support military intervention if he called for it. At least in Lane County, the strategy failed; Wilson lost the county in his re-election campaign by almost ten percent. Each page of the proclamation is written on vellum with a beautiful decorative border, reminiscent of a medieval manuscript. Most of the text is in black ink, but some letters have been written in different colors. The proclamation is preserved inside and bound to a cardstock cover that decoratively says, “Woodrow Wilson President”. Each page is further protected by tissue paper being laid between the cover and first page and between each page. The proclamation and the cover are entirely handwritten. This document is in excellent condition.