by Spencer Howard Lou Henry Hoover's papers include numerous files documenting some of the secretaries, servants and aides that worked for her over the years. Among them is a folder of letters that tell the story of a Filipino, Matias Estella. Matias Estella was born in the Philippines around 1896. Two years later, the United … Continue reading Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: Not Quite American
by Matthew Schaefer While re-processing the personal papers of Senator Bourke Hickenlooper, I came across a folder labeled ‘Fish, 1954-1966.’ This was an odd title, and less descriptive than one would hope. Being a curious cat, I further investigated this fishy folder. It contained dozens of letters, newspaper clippings, receipts and photographs documenting Hickenlooper’s landing … Continue reading Fish Story
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 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?
by Spencer Howard In any discussion of President Hoover’s economic policies, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff often takes center stage. What's typically omitted, however, is the context in which the bill emerged. From the earliest days of the republic, a protective tariff was one of the bedrock principles of U.S. economic policy. In the late 19th and … Continue reading The Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930
By Thomas F. Schwartz It is easy to overlook the significance of Herbert Hoover’s food relief efforts by looking merely at numbers. The precise number of people Hoover saved from starvation remains murky but most scholars agree it is in the hundreds of millions. Ironically, one of the most brutal leaders of modern times, Joseph … Continue reading Preventing Tragedy and Statistics
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 In 1928, Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover took action for the civil rights of African Americans that was both momentous and ultimately trivial – he desegregated the Commerce Department. As his assistant, George Akerson pointed out, the official policy of the Coolidge Administration was that segregation was prohibited in Federal employment. In … Continue reading Desegregating the Commerce Department
