When The Melting Pot opened in Washington D.C. on 5 October 1908, former President Theodore Roosevelt leaned over the edge of his box and shouted "That's a great play, Mr. Zangwill. That's a great play."Guy Szuberla, "Zangwill's The Melting Pot Plays Chicago," MELUS, Vol. 20, No. 3, History and Memory. (Autumn, 1995), pp. 3–20. In 1912, Zangwill received a letter from Roosevelt in which Roosevelt wrote of The Melting Pot "That particular play I shall always count among the very strong and real influences upon my thought and my life."This passage is quoted on page 131 of "Theodore Roosevelt and the Idea of Race" by Thomas G. Dyer 1980 Louisiana State University Press (Paperback edition 1992). A footnote shows the letter to have been written on 27 November 1912. This letter is held in the Roosevelt Collection, Library of Congress.
