“ He W ho Has Planted W ill Preserve the motto o the Roosevelt " amil , f y ri Her name was Ethel Carow ment to save the histo c house , has “ Roosevelt Derby . She was born at said : The lady who led the charge up ’ ’ m 1891. l . Saga ore Hill in Her father, Sagamore Hil was Ethel Derby No ” T . US . in u r heodore Roosevelt, was the Civil was not her vocab la y Service Commissioner under President In addition to the preservation of ri . d 86 Benjamin Har son She ied years Sagamore Hill, Ethel Roosevelt Derby 1977 later, in , at her home in Oyster Bay, accomplished many other public ser l . New York, the vil age where she had vices She accompanied her husband , . r always lived . Dr Richard Derby, whom she mar ied in 1913 Mr s . u Derby was the g iding force , to France to work in the Ameri in the efforts of the Theodore Roosevelt can Ambulance Hospital during World r Association to preserve Sagamore Hill War I . She was the fi st Roosevelt to as an historic site af ter the death of her work in the war zone . T r l mother Edith Kermit Roosevelt in 1948 . hroughout the yea s that fol owed m Mr s . Because of Derby, there is a Saga she worked with the A erican Red . i more Hill National Historic Site . Her Cross She was Nassau County Cha r r n ri godson, former Cong essma Leonard man of the Red Cross du ng World W . ar W Hall , whose father worked at Saga II , and later Chairman of the Nassau more Hill and was her ally in the move County Nursing Service . “H e W ho Has Planted W ill Preserve, the mo tto of the Roosevelt " amily ri Her name was Ethel Carow ment to save the histo c house, has ” Roosevelt Derby . She was born at said : The lady who led the charge up ’ ’ l . l 1891. Sagamore Hil in Her father, Sagamore Hi l was Ethel Derby No ” US . in r . Theodore Roosevelt, was the Civil was not her vocabula y Service Commissioner under President In addition to the preservation of mi . i 86 r Benja n Harrison She d ed yea s Sagamore Hill , Ethel Roosevelt Derby 1977 later, in , at her home in Oyster Bay, accomplished many other public ser . n New York, the village where she had vices She accompanied her husba d , . a always lived . Dr Rich rd Derby, whom she married in 1913 Mr s . i Derby was the guid ng force , to France to work in the Ameri in the efforts of the Theodore Roosevelt can Ambulance Hospital during World Association to preserve Sagamore Hill War I . She was the first Roosevelt to as an historic site after the death of her work in the war zone . Thr mother Edith Kermit Roosevelt in 1948 . oughout the years that followed Mr s . Because of Derby, there is a Saga she worked with the American Red more Hill National Historic Site . Her Cross . She was Nassau County Chair oi godson, former Congressman Leonard man the Red Cross during World . Hall W ar W , whose father worked at Saga II , and later Chairman of the Nassau more Hill and was her ally in the move County Nursing Service . un t Community Fo da ion, a local public service which she helped found in 1965 . Mr s . Derby took a leading part in endeavors to preserve her father’ s memory and ideals . She was a freq uent visitor at Sagamore Hill, often taking school children or other visitors through her childhood home . She was always available to help scholars, writers , and the public better understand Teddy 26th Roosevelt, the President of the United States . She was an officer of the Theodore Roosevelt Association . On 28 1977 October , , shortly before her death, she was awarded the Associa ’ tion s Theodore Roosevelt Distinguished Service Medal . Dr . and Mr s . Derby had four chil r . d en, a son and three daughters Dr Derby died in 1963. Mr Derby is sur vive d by two daughters and nine grand children . Ethel Roosevelt Derby combined Mr s . Like her father Derby was the q ualities of graciousness , gentleness , hurnil greatly interested in conservation and sweetness , serenity of spirit, and 4 t r . 0 r t na u al history For over years she ity with those of st ength, ac ivism, i . served on comm ttees at the American courage, and determination Her favor ’ Museum of Natural History where she ite q uotation of her father s was on his helped found the Theodore Roosevelt heroic commission to his followers dur ” Memori al Fund to provide research ing the 1912 campaign In the long r t g ants in conserva ion, ecology, and fight for righteousness the watchword ” natur al history study . for all of us is spend and be spent . ’ She was a ls o an active member of That was Mr s . Derby s watchword other causes , such as the Oyster Bay to the end . Mr Re na d P R s . i l ose g . of n I had always known Sagamore tended one meeti g of the Village , only Am as had most of erica, but I only saw as an observer, and came away without ’ the house twice before Mrs . Roosevelt s too much hope that Sagamore could be — 47 . I 19 t death went there in with Mrs saved but even so, I felt s rongly that ’ R a T. i ich rd Derby, R s daughter, and the house should become ava lable to walked around the ground floor with no the public . idea that in time I would come to know The story of the saving of Sagamore i in . the house as well as my own . H ll is a book itself It is not my sto ’ r Af ter Mr s . Roosevelt s death in it came th ough the untiring efforts o?a 1948 the q uestion of the ultimate dis small group who should be remembered position of Sagamore Hill as one of the if only for their wisdom and purpose in di hi n outstan ng storic spots in the United preservi g the house of a great man . The rm States became the most controversial fi of Chapman , Evans and ‘ is sue that had faced our community in Delehanty were engaged as architects years . Many residents of the Incor for whatever structural renovation was orate d l n p Vil age of Cove Neck felt that needed , and the work was placed u der i d n t . the in rusion of a publ c buil i g the direction of Mr Robert I . Powell of violated their rights as residents . I at that firm . A new heating system was in St l i tu n a led , ceil ngs were replastered, and a that the pic res might be hu g as they ’ new stair case was added to expedite the were in the 1900 s . In the files of the flow of visitors who would eventually Theodore Roosevelt Association was an go to the rooms on the third floor . By excellent hotograph of the President ' ri 1952 s tu the sp ng of , the house was sound seated at desk a pic re that estab again and ready to be returned to its lishe d a number of facts . It showed the i in . ai former per od decoration It was de thin curt ns , the desk ornaments , and r cided to restore it to the period of the the nickel plated telephone . The chai s 1901—1909 tu l presidency the closing and tables, the pic res on the wal , the . The years of the gaslight era walls were bronzes , and the ornaments on the ri i stripped of their last paper, the elect c mantel were all laced accord ng to the r hoto ra p . brackets were removed, and the job of ea ly p g p s restoration began . In some ways the Drawing Room An historic photograph of the was the most difficult and yet the most Library showed a small pattern paper rewarding room in the house with . Th with a deep wallpaper border e nar which to work . The photographs indi row cornice moulding below the border cate d that it resembled a New York had been removed and was put back so drawing room rather than one in a coun try house although a sense of less for graph showed a metal ceiling and malit tu . r y appeared in the pic re The room co nice in the drawing room, long since r i . I i was d essy and charm ng, but neither gone felt it very mportant to restore heavy nor ornate . these two typical details;and Mr . Ralph ’ Mr s . 5 l A letter of Roosevelt men Howe l, the contractor, found me the tione d that the walls were blue and this roper ceiling and moulding . It took a pt ar baffled me for some time . By the tones o of work to find them; they e rarely r a . of gray in the photog aph, it was p made for modern houses and Mr ’ parent that the walls were lighter in Howell s enthusiasm for correct re s tora color than the woodwork . Finally, by tion was of the greatest help . Now the di ls the simple expe ent of scraping the wal and ceiling were done , the l all ru woodwork in sma l patches over the Aubusson gwas laid, the bear and room the lovely blue color emerged .