Minneapolis Roosevelt High School was named for President Theodore Roosevelt.   All in all, a worthy namesake.

As a child he was sickly and asthmatic,  but through force of  will overcame his health problems and became a robust man with accomplishments to match his mighty ambitions.  During a brief military career he was a hero of the Spanish-American war, leading his cavalry regiment of “rough riders” up San Juan Hill;  he was Governor of New York, and then William McKinley’s Vice-President.  When McKinley was assassinated, Roosevelt became President.  He was progressive in his outlook and forceful in promoting his ideas.   His famous policy pronouncement:  “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” 

He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1905

As an outdoorsman and champion of the environment, T.R. helped protect 148 million acres of land as national forests.

He’s been honored on 16 different postage stamps, and is one of the four presidents on Mount Rushmore.

THE TEDDY BEAR...

To his countrymen, Roosevelt was known as “Teddy.”

The story is that on a hunting trip in 1903 his aides captured a young bear and tied it to a tree for President Roosevelt to shoot.  Hardly sporting, and naturally T.R. refused.   Newspaper cartoonists had fun with the story, and toy manufacturers took notice.  Famous toy designer Richard Steiff, produced a toy bear that he named the “Teddy Bear” and before long the Teddy Bear became a craze that swept the country.   It was considered, at the time, one of the few doll-like toys appropriate for boys to play with.

Roosevelt even adopted the Teddy Bear as his mascot during his 1904 re-election campaign.   If it was good enough for Teddy Roosevelt, it was good enough for Roosevelt High School.   And thus we are “The Teddies.”