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
Part 1 By Matthew Schaeffer The health of the President of the United States is often newsworthy. President Trump’s height and weight made recent headlines. Obama’s smoking drew public interest. Clinton’s affinity for eating fast food, sometimes while dressed for jogging, was worth a news photo. I would argue that the American public cares more … Continue reading Hoover Ball Genesis
by Lynn Smith March 26, 1931 started as a lovely 60 degree spring day on the eastern plains of Colorado between the small farming communities of Towner and Holly. Twenty local children, dressed for spring, set out for Pleasant Hill School near the Kansas border in a makeshift bus fashioned from a 1929 truck with … Continue reading Boy Hero Visits Hoover White House and Leaves a Family Friend
On April 29, 1931 several precedents were set at a State Dinner at the White House. The Hoovers hosted King Prajadhipok and Queen Rambai, monarchs of Siam. This was the first State Dinner where an ‘Oriental monarch’ met with the President. It was also the first time that the ruling monarch sat at the … Continue reading State Dinner at the Hoover White House for the King and Queen of Siam
By Thomas F. Schwartz A popular approach to room design is feng shui, or creating the right harmony between the room, the furnishings, and the people who use the space. When Herbert and Lou Hoover moved into the White House on March 4, 1929 it took some time and many rearrangements of the furniture before … Continue reading Feng shui at the White House
By Thomas F. Schwartz, Director A genre of writing concerns the memoirs of domestic White House staff. Personal secretaries, head butlers, maids, and secret service who live round the clock with the President, First Lady, and First Family see and hear things that are typically not reported at the time but become known through “tell … Continue reading White House Staff Remember Lou
By Thomas Schwartz Having previously noted some of the White House musicales presented during the Hoover Administration, one may ask who was in charge of determining the programs and securing the artists. These tasks were the responsibility, not of a White House staff member, but of Henry Junge at Steinway & Sons piano company. Actually, … Continue reading White House Musicales: The Rest of the Story
The Hoovers continued the tradition, which began during the Theodore Roosevelt administration, of sponsoring concerts or "musicales" at the White House, usually following important dinners or receptions. The Hoovers' tastes, and therefore the programming, tended toward classical music. Some of the renowned artists who performed at the Hoover White House included opera stars Margaret Matzenauer … Continue reading White House ‘Musicales’
A love of books is rarely innate and usually the result of careful cultivation. Herbert Hoover described a moment when he was a teenager in Salem, Oregon when Miss Jennie Gray took an interest in his education. "She took me to the small library in the town," according to Hoover's published memoirs, "and borrowed for … Continue reading Hoover and Books
One of the many improvements to the White House was undertaken by President Calvin Coolidge. In 1927, Coolidge replaced 100-year-old pine beams with an expanded third floor using a steel frame. Of the most under-appreciated endeavors of First Lady Lou Henry Hoover are her efforts to preserve and document the rich history of the White … Continue reading Recollections Of A Piece of Wood 1930
