presidentwilson

Text of speech: www.bartleby.com/124/pres44.html

This image has been used in the indicommons.org Inauguration-day post “There has been a change of government”, with a selection from President Wilson's Inauguration speech.

Surely "Bryan" is William Jennings Bryan--it looks like him, and he was so prominent, there would only have been a need to mention his last name. According to the Wikipedia article, Bryan supported Wilson in his 1912 presidential bid. And of course, this was Woodrow Wilson while he was governor of New Jersey (1911-1913). The date on the photo is December 12, 1912. (Ah, on edit, I see that someone else had made this identification on another photo.)

Thanks! We'll add the information to the source data and reload the description.

Other Bain/LOC photos of Wilson and Bryan in Trenton NJ -- December 21, 1912:

Probably meeting to put his administration together, as Wilson had already been elected president. Bryan was instrumental in Wilson winning the nomination in the 46th ballot.

Would this be the notification committee we've seen in other pics?

They certainly look happy. Was this in 1912? With the GOP in disarray that year, I'd guess they smell blood in the water, after 44 of the last 52 years having a Republican President.

Many of them seem to have the same hat. Are those Panama hats? I wonder if this meeting had something to do with the Panama canal.

They look like "boater" hats, popularly worn in the summers of that era: www.gentlemansemporium.com/store/hats.php?from=leftnav Top hats were out, and fedora's would not come in for another 15 years or so. The Panama Canal had already been built and fully operational this point, during the Roosevelt administration.

I'm surprised that they're sitting on the grass-- you'd never see that kind of thing these days.