By Matthew Schaefer While driving back from a Des Moines meeting of the Iowa World War I Centennial Committee, it occurred to this Hoover Archivist that a series of monthly posts might be in order to describe the activities of Herbert Hoover as America edged closer to war. Consider this episode one. Hoover had spent … Continue reading On Centennial Celebrations
By Thomas F. Schwartz Unlike Hoover’s birthday that remained a contested issue until 1924, Herbert “Bert” Hoover’s marriage to Lou Henry on February 10, 1899 has never been questioned. Most of the accounts of the event were recalled years later resulting in conflicting information. An earlier blog post on February 10, 2016, “The Hoover Wedding … Continue reading Documenting the Hoover Marriage of February 10, 1899
By Thomas F. Schwartz A widespread characterization of the Hoover presidency is that he ignored the needs of average Americans during the worst hardship. In fact, the opposite is true. Every request for assistance sent to the White House was forwarded to First Lady Lou Henry Hoover. Mrs. Hoover set up a system which both … Continue reading Lou Hoover’s System for Dealing with the Depression
At 11:40 am on Monday September 12, 1921 Lou Henry Hoover began a 3,945 mile cross country trip from Palo Alto, California to Washington, D.C. Ostensibly, this was a trip to move the family’s Cadillac to D.C. Its deeper purpose was to support her father, Charles Henry, in a time of grief. Her family … Continue reading A FAMILY ADVENTURE
by Spencer Howard In January 1929, President-Elect Herbert Hoover returned from his seven-week trip to Latin America and began preparing for the Inauguration. (At that time Inauguration Day was March 4, so he had an extra six weeks to work with.) After a couple of weeks in Washington DC during which he chose most of … Continue reading Herbert Hoover, President-Elect – a Florida vacation
“May you have the happiest new year imaginable.” By Thomas F. Schwartz The recent film Jackie (2016) by Pablo Larrain offers an artistic interpretation of a life based on a 1963 Life magazine interview by Theodore H. White with the recently widowed Jacqueline Kennedy. One typically would not connect Herbert Hoover with this fashionable First … Continue reading The Hoover/Kennedy Letters.
By Thomas F. Schwartz Prohibition kept law enforcement officials busy busting wooden barrels of illegal spirits and confiscating copper vats and tubing from illegal stills. The District of Columbia decided to put the confiscated property to good use and sent the copper to occupational therapy instructors at Walter Reed Hospital. Here the materials were given … Continue reading From Illegal Liquor Stills to Legal Christmas Cheer
by Matthew Schaefer For some the end of the year is a time of reflection—a time to assess what has happened, what may yet come, and where they fit in the grand scheme of things. Herbert Hoover gave voice to such reflections in the late Decembers between 1913 and 1918. Hoover later titled these notes … Continue reading It’s the End of the Year as we Know it…
By Matthew Schaefer Christmas is a holiday laden with memories--family, fun, food, and faith form the warp and woof of these memories. This held true for Herbert Hoover. Late in his life, Hoover began to collect his Christmas reminiscences to share with family and friends. One set of such memories is found in Hoover’s Post-Presidential … Continue reading Herbert Hoover’s Many Facets of Christmas
By Thomas F. Schwartz December 1931 was like any other except that more Americans were feeling the effects of what would later be known as the Great Depression. Herbert and Lou Hoover had a long history of assisting those in need. The First Lady decided that the annual Christmas party would have a different emphasis. … Continue reading Santa Claus Lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
