by Spencer Howard When Herbert Hoover became President in 1929, one of his early initiatives was to call for a national conference on child health. Hoping to build on the work of the non-profit American Child Health Association, an organization he had founded in 1923, President Hoover announced that the purpose of his proposed conference … Continue reading Herbert Hoover’s vision for healthy children – Part 2: The Children’s Charter
This image is from the Commerce Years gallery at the Hoover Presidential Museum. by Spencer Howard Of the many charitable organizations that Herbert Hoover led, one of the most important was the American Child Health Association. In its almost 13 years of existence, from its founding by Herbert Hoover in 1923 to its liquidation in … Continue reading Herbert Hoover’s vision for healthy children – Part 1: The Child’s Bill of Rights
by Spencer Howard Frances Knight Parrish was the head of the U. S. Passport office from 1955 to her retirement in 1977. Working under her maiden name, Miss Knight was known for her no-nonsense style, constant feuds with her superiors at the State Department, and her conservative politics. Her tenure was noted for marked efficiency … Continue reading The “Dragon Lady” of the Passport Office – Frances Knight Parrish
by Spencer Howard During the Hoover Administration, arguably the most famous pet in Washington belonged not to the Hoovers, but to Secretary of State Henry Stimson, who was the proud owner of a profane parrot named The Old Soak. Tales of The Old Soak include a long-distance relationship, scandalous behavior, and a horrifying disease, all … Continue reading The Old Soak
by Spencer Howard The fall of 1929 is typically remembered for the October stock market crash, but did you know that 1929 also witnessed a pandemic scare, one that ended almost as soon as it started? It wasn’t Covid-19 or even the Spanish Flu; it was Parrot Fever. Known to science as Psittacosis, parrot fever … Continue reading Parrot Fever — the 1929 pandemic
by Spencer Howard Visitors to the gravesite of Herbert and Lou Henry Hoover are often struck by its dignified simplicity. Two ledger stones of Vermont white marble mark their resting place, inscribed only with their names and life dates. No epitaph records their achievements or honors. Located at the top of a small rise known … Continue reading Army and Navy Union USA at the Hoover Gravesite
Freedom Betrayed: Herbert Hoover's Secret History of the Second World War and Its Aftermath by Spencer Howard Nearly eighty years ago, during World War II, former President Herbert Hoover began writing the first words of what was later to be called his “magnum opus.” The "magnum opus" originated as a volume of Hoover’s memoirs, a … Continue reading Freedom Betrayed
by Spencer Howard Economists are still divided about what caused the Great Depression, and what turned a relatively mild downturn into a decade long nightmare. One contributing problem was that the United States had too many small banks (branch banking was illegal at that time), and many banks made risky loans during the late 1920s. … Continue reading Federal Home Loan Banks
by Spencer Howard When Herbert Hoover became President in 1929, the care of America's veterans was one of the nation’s most pressing issues. Three agencies had overlapping jurisdiction over veterans affairs: the Veterans Bureau, the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers, and the Bureau of Pensions. By the end of the 1920's, the total expenditures … Continue reading Herbert Hoover and the Veterans Administration
by Spencer Howard On September 17, 1930, Secretary of the Interior Ray Lyman Wilbur journeyed to the Nevada desert to drive a silver railroad spike, marking an end and a beginning. The spike commemorated the completion of a railroad from Las Vegas to Black Canyon, which was to be the site of an enormous new … Continue reading What’s in a Name? The Saga of the Hoover Dam
