Rare Photo Of Former U.S. President Found In OK Co. Jail Basement

<p>While sifting through historic ledgers from the Oklahoma County jail, an intern found a rare photo of former President Theodore Roosevelt visiting Oklahoma City.</p>

Wednesday, January 13th 2016, 11:14 pm

By: News 9


While sifting through historic ledgers from the Oklahoma County jail, an intern found a rare photo of former President Theodore Roosevelt visiting Oklahoma City.

It was taken more than 100 years ago and it may be one of a kind.

Deputy Bradley Wynn volunteers his time to sift through old records found in the basement of the Oklahoma County jail.

He has the help of an intern, Jason Knight, who hopes to become a deputy someday, and as they digitally scanned the books, they found stories about our past even between the pages.

“I was over here working on something and he said, ‘What do you want me to do with this?’ and he brings it over to me and I unfold it,” Wynn gasped.

It took only a glance for him to know who was in the photo, former President Theodore Roosevelt.

And after all kinds of research, he confirmed the image of TR in Oklahoma City was taken during a presidential campaign stop on September 24, 1912, just a few years after signing us into statehood.

Wynn believes the candid photo captured Roosevelt either before or after he would try to sway voters with his campaign speech.

“This was actually running for a third term. He was splitting the parties and it was a big deal,” he explained.

But perhaps what makes the image even more amazing; it gives us a glimpse at Oklahoma City as it was booming with growth and becoming what it is today.

Twenty days after his stop in Oklahoma he was shot and saved by his speech notes in his breast pocket.

And then seven years after that, he died of a heart attack.

Wynn contacted the Theodore Roosevelt Center in North Dakota and historians there had never seen it and requested a copy to be displayed.

Click here to keep up with Wynn’s findings.

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