Lewis Strauss (in the rear, wearing a dark suit and long tie) and Robert Oppenheimer (next to Strauss, 3-piece suit) with a group of scientists and engineers. Probably 1953. [31-1952-a10] by Spencer Howard In later years, Herbert Hoover was proud that so many of the young men who helped him provide food to starving Europe … Continue reading Lewis Strauss and Robert Oppenheimer
The front of the Inaugural Medal given to Herbert Hoover, dated March 4, 1929. The back of Herbert Hoover's Inauguration Medal. In March 1921, after having served for four years as United States Food Administrator and Commissioner for Belgian Relief, Mr. Hoover was appointed as Secretary of Commerce by President Warren G. Harding. Beloved for … Continue reading Much Ado About Medals Act III: The Secretary, The Flood, and The Chief
A silver medal of thanks was made only two years into Mr. Hoover’s Belgian Relief activities. It depicts the face of Herbert Hoover on the front, with a personalized inscription on the reverse of: Herbert C. Hoover from his friends of the Commission for Relief in Belgium (65.6.38).The back of the silver medal of thanks … Continue reading Much Ado About Medals Act II: Leones Belgicae
There are numerous emancipation moments in American history: many by blacks fleeing enslavement on their own initiative, and others through legal, military, executive and congressional acts. Most individuals know of the work of the “Underground Railroad” that was neither underground nor a railroad, but a network of individuals who helped enslaved people escape to freedom. Often … Continue reading The Emancipation Moment
Mining medal for Lou Henry and Herbert Hoover, showing the inscription of the medal inside its case. Here in the Curatorial Department of the Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, we help promote and protect the former President’s legacy by safekeeping his physical artifacts. This includes approximately four hundred coins and medals that Herbert Hoover accumulated … Continue reading Much Ado About Medals Act I: Lou and The Engineer
A letter of thanks written by Rosemarie Brettman to Herbert Hoover for his food relief efforts in Germany. The letter is dated March 4, 1948. Previous blogs have described various aspects of Hoover’s food relief efforts in post-WWII Germany. Combating various leaders who sought to punish Germany by withholding food, Hoover understood the necessity of … Continue reading “We all are poor fugitives.”
Students from the elementary school at Hamburg Volksdoft in Germany sent drawings like this to Herbert Hoover as a sign of appreciation for their "Hooverbreakfast" in a letter dated November 12, 1947. On January 18, 1947, President Harry Truman reached out to Herbert Hoover with another request. Stating that “a serious situation in food still … Continue reading Hearing Loss, Colds, and the Hoover Speisung [Feeding]: Hoover’s 1947 Trip to Germany
Former Pres. Hoover, head of the Finnish Relief Fund thanks Popeye the Sailor Man. Popeye is handing Hoover $100 in bills, his contribution to start the "Kids Popeye Finnish Relief Fund." The famous Robert Frost poem ends: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, And that has made … Continue reading The Road Not Taken: Hoover and Feeding the Five Small Democracies
Publicity photo of Merian C. Cooper with a King Kong prop, ca. 1933. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cooper-Kong.jpg. History is often more imaginative than fiction with individuals whose lives reflect deeds like something out of a novel. Merian C. Cooper is one of these individuals. As a young journalist, he joined the American Expeditionary Forces and became a pilot. … Continue reading “King Kong” and the American Relief Administration
Rep. W.C. Hawley and Sen. Reed Smoot, April 11, 1929.Library of Congress, National Photo Company Collection, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/npcc.17371. A popular understanding of studying history is reflected in an attribution to the philosopher George Santayana: “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The notion that history contains lessons that if only studied … Continue reading Lessons of History? The Use and Misuse of Smoot-Hawley Tariff
