Lou Henry Hoover and Herbert Hoover sitting and reading at Camp Rapidan. (31-1930-70)

Mystery Writers Read by the Hoovers: Part I

Lou Henry Hoover and Herbert Hoover sitting and reading at Camp Rapidan. (31-1930-70) By Thomas F. Schwartz A previous blog post described the friendship the Hoover’s shared with mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart. A review of the books they owned and provided for guests at Camp Rapidan shows a number of leading mystery writers that … Continue reading Mystery Writers Read by the Hoovers: Part I

President Hoover smoking and reading on the deck of the U.S.S. Arizona on his trip to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands on March 27, 1931. (31-1931-12)

Travel, Reading, and Herbert Hoover

By Thomas F. Schwartz Miss Jennie Gray is immortalized by Herbert Hoover as introducing him to the wonders of reading.  As he recalled: “She took me to the small library in town [Salem, Oregon] and borrowed for me a copy of Ivanhoe. That opening of the door to a great imaginative world led me promptly … Continue reading Travel, Reading, and Herbert Hoover

Hoover and Books

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