1915 – William Howard Taft and Theodore Roosevelt attend a New York City banquet honoring the visit of Baron Shibusawa Eiichi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo above: William Howard Taft (next to the gentleman whose image reveals only half of his face)

Photo below: Theodore Roosevelt (centered beneath the chandelier)   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These rare photos are segments from a much larger 1915 photograph (20 x 12 inches) that presents the sixty-five guests at this U.S. Japan diplomatic event. This antique photo appears to be the only one in existence. It was discovered while researching for the illustrated biography on Prince Tokugawa Iesato, titled: The Art of Peace.

Prince Tokugawa Iesato (1863-1940) and his close ally Baron Shibusawa Eiichi (1840-1931), along with their other Japanese and non-Japanese supporters devoted themselves to promoting democracy and international goodwill in many creative ways.

The original larger 1915 photo is presented within another blog post on this website. That blog post invites historians to collaboratively assist in identifying all of the attendees at this event, and gives a fuller description of the significant topics discussed during this gathering. General readers are also invited to explore that blog post to see how these prominent members of society are gradually identified – It is a time capsule which gives a fuller understanding of U.S. Japan relations, and a window to the exciting world of New York City during the early twentieth century.