ROOSEVELT, Theodore (1858-1919). President. PAIR OF WIRE-RIMMED SPECTACLES AND BLACK CASE, ONCE BELONGING TO THEODORE ROOSEVELT and given to White House usher Ike Hoover. With 1 February 1983 letter from Lillian Rogers Parks to Raleigh DeGeer Amyx, on White House stationery detailing provenance. Mrs. Parks worked at the White House along with her mother, "from the time of President Taft until President Eisenhower." She explains that, "This pair of pince-nez eyeglasses was owned and used by President Theodore Roosevelt...The glasses were given to her by then White House Chief Usher, Mr. Ike Hoover." Packing up their possessions during the 1909 transition, the Roosevelt family gave many small gifts to the White House service staff, "these glasses being one of them." Parks's mother started working at the White House in 1909 and eventually became the First Maid. She worked alongside Ike Hoover for many years, and he presented the glasses to Mrs. Rogers as a token of their long friendship. Mrs. Rogers in turn gave them to her daughter. Mrs. Parks published several reminiscences of the Executive Mansion, including My Thirty Years Backstairs at the White House (1961), It Was Fun Working at the White House (1969) and The Roosevelts: A Family in Turmoil (1981).