A love of books is rarely innate and usually the result of careful cultivation. Herbert Hoover described a moment when he was a teenager in Salem, Oregon when Miss Jennie Gray took an interest in his education. "She took me to the small library in the town," according to Hoover's published memoirs, "and borrowed for … Continue reading Hoover and Books
by Spencer Howard On January 31, 1921, a five-masted schooner was spotted aground on Diamond Shoal, off the coast of North Carolina, with sails set but no sign of the crew. Due to high seas, the Coast Guard was unable to identify or board the ship until February 4. When finally boarded, the ship was … Continue reading The Wreck of the Carroll A. Deering
In the summer of 1923 President Harding left Washington D.C. to travel across the country and visit the U.S. territory of Alaska. He initiated the visit to Alaska - feeling that Washington, with its great distance from Alaska, could never have a proper appreciation of their problems if they were only presented on paper. Harding wanted … Continue reading Alaska and the Voyage of Understanding
A rapid acceleration of Adolf Hitler’s anti-Semitic violence began the evening of November 9 and continued into November 10. Kristallnacht, or “the night of the broken glass”, witnessed more than 8,000 Jewish shops destroyed with countless synagogues demolished or burned. Individual Jews were attacked, many severely beaten, and more than ninety killed while others committed … Continue reading An Actor’s Response
The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library-Museum recently acquired a decorative flour sack that came with a two-typed page explanation by Marthe Boel. The name is unfamiliar to most Americans but Boel was a leading feminist in Belgian before and after World War I. She and her husband were imprisoned by the Germans for their activities in … Continue reading Subversive Flour Sacks of Thanks
by Spencer Howard The 2016 Rose Bowl Game will be a contest between the Iowa Hawkeyes and the Stanford Cardinal. The two football teams have never met on the gridiron, but the universities share a unique connection: the thirty-first President of the United States, Herbert Hoover. Herbert Hoover was born August 10, 1874 in West … Continue reading Divided Loyalties: Herbert Hoover and the Rose Bowl
by Spencer Howard What do you give a friend who has everything? For the last twenty years of his life, Herbert Hoover lived in suite 31A of the Waldorf Towers in New York. The Waldorf was one of the most exclusive addresses in New York, and Hoover's neighbors included General Douglas MacArthur, Ambassador Henry Cabot … Continue reading What to Give a Friend Who Has Everything?
As the holiday season approaches, thoughts turn to family gatherings, festive celebrations, and delighted children. The Hoovers were not a typical family, and spent many Christmases in unusual circumstances. Take, for example, Christmas 1903. The year 1903 was significant because Herbert and Lou welcomed their first child, Herbert Charles Hoover, into the world on August … Continue reading Christmas 1903
by Spencer Howard Before the days of international air travel, when passenger liners ruled the oceans and crossings were measured in days instead of hours, two passenger liners were named in honor of President Hoover. On December 9, 1930, the first SS President Hoover was christened by First Lady Lou Henry Hoover in Newport News, … Continue reading SS PresidentHoover
Shortly after her return to the United States to enroll her two young sons in school, Lou Hoover received an urgent telegram from her husband. Herbert Hoover, the head of the newly created Commission for Relief in Belgium [CRB], outlined the dire situation in Belgium: “OVER ONE MILLION PEOPLE ON BREAD LINE IN BELGIUM AT … Continue reading Lou Hoover’s Reflections on Reflectors
