By Thomas F. Schwartz Before the invention of IMAX projection and Circle Vision 360, the viewing public was dazzled by panoramic paintings called cycloramas. Dating from 1787 and reaching its height of popularity by 1900, cycloramas depicted beautiful landscapes or great historic events. Created by producing multiple oil paintings that could be assembled in the … Continue reading “What a wonderful panorama!” Lou Henry Hoover’s idea for picturing America.
by Matthew Schaefer Last month my wife and I attended a women’s basketball game at the University of Iowa. We were delighted to learn that the game coincided with National Girls and Women in Sports Day, so that we’d get the commemorative t-shirts. This led to a discussion of women’s athletics, Title IX, and the … Continue reading Lou Henry Hoover and Athletics for Women and Girls
National Proposal Day! What will they think of next? I know from personal experience that my memory of proposing to my wife does not align with her memory of the event. No matter, we're still happily married 30+ years on. The Hoovers have similarly unaligned stories regarding Herbert's proposal to Lou Henry. Doubtless memory is … Continue reading National Proposal Day! What Next?
On February 26, 1936, Lou Henry Hoover offered some observations on Girl Scouting to leaders and council members at the Pacific Palisades meeting. She was careful to explain that she was not there to deliver a speech or to lay down dictates, asserting: ‘I am just working on a problem like everyone else here.’ The … Continue reading Lou Henry Hoover Plants a Girl Scout Metaphor
by Spencer Howard Lou Henry Hoover was born in Waterloo, Iowa in 1874 and lived there for much of her childhood. Over the years there has been considerable interest in marking or memorializing her childhood home, which has been complicated by the fact that the Henry family lived in a number of different homes. In … Continue reading The Nomadic Henry Family
Lou Henry Hoover died on Friday January 7, 1944 at the Waldorf-Astoria suite that she shared with her husband Herbert Hoover. The following Monday more than 1500 mourners attended her memorial service at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church. There was no eulogy. After the service, the Hoover family took the mortal remains of Lou Henry Hoover … Continue reading On the Passing of Lou Henry Hoover
Matthew Schaefer Mothers know all too well the familiar refrain after sending their son to summer camp: ‘You never call. You never write.’ Lou Henry Hoover was no exception. When her seventeen year-old son Allan went off to spend August at Cody, Wyoming’s Valley Ranch Camp and Yellowstone National Park, Lou did not hear from … Continue reading Mum’s Summer Camp Blues
By Thomas F. Schwartz One of the great Hanna-Barbera cartoons was Wally Gator that ran from 1962 through 1963. The vocal talents of Daws Butler, best known as the voice of Yogi Bear, made Wally Gator the alligator counterpart of that wily rabbit Bugs Bunny. As everyone knows, alligators are found in the United States … Continue reading Not a Croc: The Hoover Alligators
by Matthew Schaefer Every spring, certain recursive features appear on the American landscape—crocuses, April showers, Easter bonnets, and elders addressing students on college campuses. On May 16th 1920, Lou Henry Hoover made her contribution to this annual tradition, giving a short address to the women of Bryn Mawr College. As was her wont, Lou Hoover … Continue reading Spring Diversions
by Matthew Schaefer Lou Henry Hoover read her eulogy for Lindon Bates, Jr. at a memorial service held in early June 1915 at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. Bates went down with the sinking of the Lusitania on May 7, 1915. Hundreds attended his memorial service. Many prominent figures spoke: the President of the borough of … Continue reading Lou Henry Hoover’s Eulogy for Lindon Bates, Jr.
