Herbert and Lou Hoover’s Connection to the Rosetta Stone

By Thomas F. Schwartz Beginning on Saturday, April 13, 2019 and running through October 27, 2019 will be a unique temporary exhibit at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum entitled Written In Stone: The Rosetta Stone Exhibit.  The exhibit will feature an exact replica made from a cast of the original Rosetta Stone at … Continue reading Herbert and Lou Hoover’s Connection to the Rosetta Stone

Lou Hoover, Grace Coolidge and the Girl Scouts Little House

Lou Hoover outside the Girl Scout Little House in Washington, DC, ca. 1925. In a recent blog, I summarized Lou Hoover’s long involvement with the Girl Scouts.  In doing so, I gave scant attention to some significant firsts.  Among these was the creation of the first Little House for Girl Scouts.  A photograph with this … Continue reading Lou Hoover, Grace Coolidge and the Girl Scouts Little House

Waterloo Movie Makers, or, The Gift that Would Not Stop Giving

by Spencer Howard In August, 1928, Lou Henry Hoover visited her hometown of Waterloo as part of a trip through Iowa to kick off Herbert Hoover's Presidential campaign.  While Lou expected to be the center of attention, she did not anticipate the persistence of a local photographer who saw a business opportunity. As the appointed … Continue reading Waterloo Movie Makers, or, The Gift that Would Not Stop Giving

Lou Henry Hoover and Girl Scouts

3/25/24 First Lady Grace Coolidge, honorary president of the Girl Scouts with Lou Henry Hoover, President of the Girl Scouts, at a re-dedication ceremony of the"Girl Scout Little House" in Washington DC. Lou Henry Hoover’s involvement with the Girl Scouts spanned decades.  Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of Girl Scouts, recruited Lou Hoover in 1917 … Continue reading Lou Henry Hoover and Girl Scouts

The Oval Office Roasting on a 1929 Christmas Fire

By Thomas F. Schwartz A previous blog described Christmas gifts Lou Henry Hoover gave to people in 1930.  Made from century-old pine beams original to the White House and removed in the 1927 renovation by Calvin Coolidge, some of the oral histories conducted with associates of Herbert Hoover conflate these gifts with the 1929 fire … Continue reading The Oval Office Roasting on a 1929 Christmas Fire

Political Campaigns and Dirty Tricks

  Dirty tricks in political campaigns are not recent phenomena.  Every American electoral cycle spawns a new reason for candidates to be justifiably paranoid.  Someone is out to get them, or at least to get their political office.  Those closest to the candidate, especially members of their immediate family, sometimes get caught up in the … Continue reading Political Campaigns and Dirty Tricks

Lou Henry Hoover on the Middle Class

by Matthew Schaefer When I give presentations to the general public within the friendly confines of the Hoover Library, I make it a point to show and share manuscripts from our collections.  This is the first visit to a Presidential Library for many in my audience.  Showing a folder with drafts of Herbert Hoover speeches, … Continue reading Lou Henry Hoover on the Middle Class

Lou Henry Hoover’s Narrow Escape?

by Spencer Howard In 1928, the press reported a narrow escape from injury by Lou Hoover, then the wife of Secretary of Commerce and Presidential hopeful, Herbert Hoover: MRS HOOVER ESCAPES INJURIES IN CAR CRASH Secretary's wife and two friends leap from auto hanging at bridge edge Washington Star, March 18, 1928 Winchester, March 17 … Continue reading Lou Henry Hoover’s Narrow Escape?

Washington in the Summer

by Matthew Schaefer Later this July, baseball’s annual All-Star Game will take place in Washington DC.  Among the featured stories that week will be the brutal heat and humidity attendant on any summer event in Washington.  Washington’s weather in the summer should surprise no one as the town is laid out on what had been … Continue reading Washington in the Summer