Howard J. Rogers Collection

Collection

Identifier: A3160

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection dates from circa 1900 to 1904 and is comprised primarily of invitations along with a poem dedicated to the World’s Fair, newspaper clippings, blank address postcards from Paris, and a school report card. Most of the events relate to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition but there are also a small number of invitations to local graduation ceremonies, a wedding, and a wedding anniversary celebration in New York. The bulk of the collection dates from April through June 1904 and is arranged alphabetically by topic and/or type of document. Most of the collection relates to exhibition openings at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition fairgrounds. Several of the invitations are for events held at the St. Louis Women’s Club. There are a small number of cards presumably related to fair events that do not match the chronological fair invitations. There is also an advance copy of the Hymn of the West, a poem dedicated to the World’s Fair, numbered #5 of 30 copies. The Paris postcards most likely date from the time Prof. Rogers served as Director of Education and Social Economy for the United States during the Paris exhibition of 1900. Several items in the collection do not relate to the 1904 World’s Fair, such as a school report for Joseph Rogers, who attended the Smith Academy. There are also a program and newspaper clippings for a recital at the St. Louis Women’s Club arranged by Mrs. Rogers for her sister, Mary Elizabeth Turner Salter, a vocalist and composer. Local high school and college graduation announcements and invitations date from May to June 1904. There are also invitations to the Grace Simpson – Theodore Taylor weddinging in St. Louis and to a wedding anniversary party in New York.

Dates

ca. 1900-1904

Creator

Rogers, Howard J. (Howard Jason), 1861-1927 (Collector, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research use.

Conditions Governing Use

For permission to publish, quote from, or reproduce material in this collection, please contact the Archives Reference Desk at archives@mohistory.org. Copyright restrictions may apply. The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming to the laws of copyright.

Biographical Sketch

Howard J. Rogers was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1861 and graduated from Williams College (Williamstown, Mass.) in 1884. After graduation, he served as an instructor in English literature and rhetoric at the Albany Military Academy in New York. Rogers was a charter member of the Albany Chess Club and in 1894 he served as president of the New York State Chess Association. In 1887, Rogers had studied law and was admitted to the New York State Bar. In December 1887, he married Annie North Turner. The Rogers family resided in the state of New York for most of their marriage and had three children. In 1892, Rogers accepted the superintendency of the New York State Educational Exhibit at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He was appointed Director of Education and Social Economy and served as the U.S. delegate to the International Congresses for the Paris Exposition in 1900. In 1901, Rogers accepted three positions with the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company in St. Louis: Chief of the Department of Education, Chief of the Department of Social Economy, and Director of Congresses. He edited an eight-volume set, Congress of Arts and Sciences, Universal Exposition, St. Louis, 1904, which was published from 1905 to 1907 by Houghton, Mifflin & Company. In January 1905, Rogers was presented the insignia of the Royal Order of the North Star of Sweden upon order of King Oscar II in appreciation of favors shown to the Swedish educational exhibit at the St. Louis fair. Rogers and his family resided in St. Louis from approximately September 1901 through the summer of 1904. Joseph Edwin Rogers, their son, attended Smith Academy, and Mrs. Rogers was a member of the St. Louis Choral-Symphony Society. In April 1904, she organized a musical reception at the St. Louis Women’s Club to introduce her sister, Mary Elizabeth Turner Salter, where they both performed compositions written by Mrs. Salter. After the fair, the Rogers family returned to New York where Mr. Rogers held positions with the State Education Department and the Red Cross. He died in Manhattan on September 28, 1927.