by Hoover Archivist, Matthew Schaefer In honor of First Lady Lou Henry Hoover's birthday, March 29, 1874 At 5:15 in the evening of Sunday, November 27th, 1932, First Lady Lou Hoover gave an address, ‘Women’s Place in the Present Emergency,’ over the NBC national radio network. The speech was part of a series of weekly … Continue reading Women’s Place in the Present Emergency
By: Matthew Schaefer, Hoover Archivist The meeting of the Iowa World War I Centennial Committee reminded this Hoover archivist that it was time to pen the monthly installment of the Herbert Hoover saga. When we left, Hoover was struggling to raise funds in America for the Commission for Relief in Belgium. German submarines were exacting … Continue reading Herbert Hoover and the Centennial of American Entry into World War I: Episode II
by Spencer Howard As noted previously in this blog, 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. Unfortunately, as far as we know, none of … Continue reading White House Musicales: The Rest of the Story
By Thomas Schwartz John Wade Gordon stood along a hot, dusty California highway not far from Petaluma hoping to hitch a ride to Sausalito ferry about forty miles south. Gordon had relocated to California from Memphis, Tennessee is search of better prospects. It was August 24, 1933. Hungry and in need of employment, Gordon hoped … Continue reading Hitching a Ride with a President
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 Spencer Howard When Lou Henry Hoover became First Lady in 1929, one of her main responsibilities was to coordinate the social functions at the White House, and the first major event on her agenda was to invite the wives of the members of Congress to the White House for tea. The Congressional teas served … Continue reading Tempest in a Teapot – Lou Henry Hoover and the DePriest Tea Incident
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
From the left: Anton Fokker, Herbert Hoover, F. Trubee Davison and Edward Warner. by Spencer Howard The inauguration of the first air passenger service between Washington DC and Philadelphia on July 16, 1926 was a major milestone in the development of the nation's capital, and of unusual personal significance for Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover. … Continue reading Hoover Field – Washington DC’s First Airport
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
