In 1980, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed June 27th Helen Keller Day in America. This proclamation coincided with the 100th anniversary of Helen Keller’s birth. It was an apt way to celebrate the life of this remarkable woman. Keller lost her hearing and vision at a young age, but was able to have a long career … Continue reading Helen Keller and the Hoovers
By Thomas F. Schwartz President Hoover and First Lady Lou Hoover at a dinner at the Waldorf Astoria, Feb. 12, 1933. A common approach to short biography today is to provide a series of questions asking the interview subject to list their favorite foods, movies, music, etc. The archivists are frequently asked these same questions … Continue reading An Eclectic Taste in Music: Herbert Hoover’s Favorite Tunes
Part 2 By Thomas F. Schwartz Though the original ten reel production never was released for general viewing, the existing scripts give a sense of its contents. Because it was a silent film, the subtitles clearly describe the film footage that preceded it. It begins by stating: “This is not a picture of actors … Continue reading The Lost Documentary Film of the Commission for Relief in Belgium
Stanford University, 1941 By Matthew Schaefer While in a research dalliance regarding Allan Hoover’s graduation from Stanford, I learned that his father, Herbert Hoover, was tapped twice to deliver the commencement address at Stanford. This brought me up short. Even though I recognize that commencement addresses are largely forgettable exercises in oratory, I was abashed … Continue reading Rites of Spring: Public Addresses to Graduates
Part of series of photos on presidential candidates and their families. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover and Lou Hoover with King Tut on the porch of their Washington, DC home. 5/21/1928 By Thomas F. Schwartz Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798 served both a military function in disrupting British access to India as well as … Continue reading The Neo-Egyptian Revivals
London, ca. 1904 Anne Martin, Jack Means, Newton Knox and Herbert Hoover. While working on another social media project, I came across Anne Martin. She had written a letter on National Woman’s Party letterhead to Lou Hoover on July 10, 1917. This lengthy missive described in detail an incident at the White House where suffragists … Continue reading Who is Anne Martin? Why Should Anyone Care?
By Thomas F. Schwartz Much of the familiarity the Hoovers had with Egypt came from their many journeys through the Suez Canal going to and from Australia. Like train travel where you see landscapes unfold as you travel along the tracks, their understanding of Egypt was initially what they witnessed from the ship traveling through … Continue reading A Vacation in Cairo
First Lady Lou Henry hoover Sometimes blog posts miraculously present themselves, like spring flowers after a long winter. The astute blogger just provides the background context, the stands aside to let the reader see the beauty for themselves. This is a nearly verbatim re-presentation of an undated essay written by Lou Hoover. SPRING’S COMING Flower … Continue reading Lou Hoover ‘Spring’s Coming’
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
The dining cabin at Camp Rapidan, rhododendron are in the front. It is the end of March so Spring has begun. Assuming no more snow for Iowa, perhaps mistaken given the odd weather experienced in 2019, the temperature will rise, the sun will shine, and flowers will begin to sprout and bloom. Mrs. Hoover … Continue reading Flower Child, Lou Henry Hoover
