By Thomas F. Schwartz Lawrence Saunders (a pseudonym for the married couple John Burton Davis and Clare Ogden Davis, not the Lawrence Saunders of The Anderson Tapes) and Harry Stephen Keeler are relatively unknown today but were rather well-known mystery writers in their day. The Columnist Murder (1931) was dedicated to Walter Winchell, the infamous gossip … Continue reading Mystery Writers Read by the Hoovers: Part IV
A group sits inside the President's cabin at Camp Rapidan. Lou Henry Hoover is seen on the left knitting. By Thomas F. Schwartz Many of the leading mystery writers of the era were English and tended to place murder settings in country manors. Class status, a pronounced feature of British society up to and beyond World … Continue reading Mystery Writers Read by the Hoovers: Part III
August 20, 1932: President Hoover, Lou Henry Hoover and Weegie relaxing at Rapidan Camp. By Thomas F. Schwartz How do we know what mystery writers were read by the Hoovers and available for visitors to Camp Rapidan? There are two boxes of 3x5” cards with the names of the author, title, and location of the … Continue reading Mystery Writers Read by the Hoovers: Part II
Lou Henry Hoover and Herbert Hoover sitting and reading at Camp Rapidan. (31-1930-70) By Thomas F. Schwartz A previous blog post described the friendship the Hoover’s shared with mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart. A review of the books they owned and provided for guests at Camp Rapidan shows a number of leading mystery writers that … Continue reading Mystery Writers Read by the Hoovers: Part I
By Thomas F. Schwartz Miss Jennie Gray is immortalized by Herbert Hoover as introducing him to the wonders of reading. As he recalled: “She took me to the small library in town [Salem, Oregon] and borrowed for me a copy of Ivanhoe. That opening of the door to a great imaginative world led me promptly … Continue reading Travel, Reading, and Herbert Hoover
There are numerous emancipation moments in American history: many by blacks fleeing enslavement on their own initiative, and others through legal, military, executive and congressional acts. Most individuals know of the work of the “Underground Railroad” that was neither underground nor a railroad, but a network of individuals who helped enslaved people escape to freedom. Often … Continue reading The Emancipation Moment
A letter of thanks written by Rosemarie Brettman to Herbert Hoover for his food relief efforts in Germany. The letter is dated March 4, 1948. Previous blogs have described various aspects of Hoover’s food relief efforts in post-WWII Germany. Combating various leaders who sought to punish Germany by withholding food, Hoover understood the necessity of … Continue reading “We all are poor fugitives.”
Students from the elementary school at Hamburg Volksdoft in Germany sent drawings like this to Herbert Hoover as a sign of appreciation for their "Hooverbreakfast" in a letter dated November 12, 1947. On January 18, 1947, President Harry Truman reached out to Herbert Hoover with another request. Stating that “a serious situation in food still … Continue reading Hearing Loss, Colds, and the Hoover Speisung [Feeding]: Hoover’s 1947 Trip to Germany
Former Pres. Hoover, head of the Finnish Relief Fund thanks Popeye the Sailor Man. Popeye is handing Hoover $100 in bills, his contribution to start the "Kids Popeye Finnish Relief Fund." The famous Robert Frost poem ends: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made … Continue reading The Road Not Taken: Hoover and Feeding the Five Small Democracies
Publicity photo of Merian C. Cooper with a King Kong prop, ca. 1933. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cooper-Kong.jpg. History is often more imaginative than fiction with individuals whose lives reflect deeds like something out of a novel. Merian C. Cooper is one of these individuals. As a young journalist, he joined the American Expeditionary Forces and became a pilot. … Continue reading “King Kong” and the American Relief Administration
