Lou Henry Hoover

Lou Henry Hoover (; March 29, 1874 – January 7, 1944) was an American philanthropist, geologist, and the first lady of the United States from 1929 to 1933 as the wife of President Herbert Hoover. She was active in community organizations and volunteer groups throughout her life, including the Girl Scouts of the USA, which she led from 1922 to 1925 and from 1935 to 1937. Throughout her life, Hoover supported women's rights and women's independence. She was a polyglot, fluent in Mandarin Chinese and well-versed in Latin, and was the primary translator from Latin to English of the complex 16th-century metallurgy text De re metallica.

Hoover was raised in California while it was part of the American frontier. She attended Stanford University, and became the first woman to receive a degree in geology from the institution. She met fellow geology student Herbert Hoover at Stanford, and they married in 1899. The Hoovers first resided in China; the Boxer Rebellion broke out later that year, and they were at the Battle of Tientsin. In 1901 they moved to London, where Hoover raised their two sons and became a popular hostess between their international travels. During World War I, the Hoovers led humanitarian efforts to assist war refugees. The family moved to Washington, D.C. in 1917, when Herbert was appointed head of the Food and Drug Administration, and Lou became a food conservation activist in support of his work.

Hoover became the First Lady of the United States when her husband was inaugurated as president in 1929. Her invitation of Jessie De Priest to the White House for tea was controversial for its implied support of racial integration and civil rights. She refused to give interviews to reporters, but she became the first first lady to give regular radio broadcasts. Hoover was responsible for refurbishing the White House during her tenure, and saw to the construction of a presidential retreat at Rapidan Camp. She minimized her public role as White House hostess, dedicating her time as first lady to her volunteer work.

Hoover's reputation declined alongside her husband's during the Great Depression as she was portrayed as uncaring of the struggles faced by Americans. Both the public and those close to her were unaware of her extensive charitable work to support the poor while serving as first lady, as she believed that publicizing generosity was improper. After Herbert lost his reelection campaign in 1932, the Hoovers returned to California, and they moved to New York City in 1940. Hoover was bitter about her husband's loss, blaming dishonest reporting and underhanded campaigning tactics, and she strongly opposed the Roosevelt administration. She worked to provide humanitarian support with her husband during World War II until her sudden death of a heart attack in 1944.

Early life and education

thumb|left|Lou Henry, age 17, on a [[burro at Acton, California, on August 22, 1891|alt=Lou Henry Hoover as a teenager sitting on a burro while carrying a rifle]]

Lou Henry was born in Waterloo, Iowa, on March 29, 1874. Her mother was Florence Ida (née Weed), a former schoolteacher, and her father was Charles Delano Henry, a banker. She was the older of two daughters, raised in Waterloo before moving to Texas, Kansas, and California. Most of her childhood was spent in the California towns of Whittier and Monterey. While she was a child, her father educated her in outdoorsmanship, and she learned to camp and ride. She took up sports, including baseball, basketball, and archery. Her parents taught her other practical skills, such as bookkeeping and sewing. Her family was nominally Episcopalian, but Lou sometimes attended Quaker services.

As a child, Henry attended Bailey Street School in Whittier until 1890. She was well-liked in school, known for the science and literature clubs she organized and for her tendency to ignore gender norms by engaging in athletics and outdoor activities. When she was ten, she was the editor of her school newspaper. She began her postsecondary schooling at the Los Angeles Normal School (now the University of California, Los Angeles). While in Los Angeles, she was a member of the school's Dickens Club that studied and collected specimens of plants and animals. She later transferred to San José Normal School (now San José State University), obtaining a teaching credential in 1893. She took a serious interest in politics during her college years; she joined the Republican Party based on its progressive platform, and she strongly supported women's suffrage.

After her graduation in 1893, Henry took a job at her father's bank as well as working as a substitute teacher. The following year, she attended a lecture by geologist John Casper Branner. Fascinated by the subject, she enrolled in Branner's program at Stanford University to pursue a degree in geology. It was there that Branner introduced her to her future husband, Herbert Hoover, who was then a senior. They bonded over their shared Iowa heritage and their common interests in science and outdoorsmanship, and their friendship developed into a courtship. She studied geology with the intention of doing field work, but she and Branner were unable to find any employers willing to accept a female geologist. She maintained her interest in sports while at Stanford, serving as president of the Stanford Women's Athletic Club in her final year. In 1898, Hoover became the first woman to receive a bachelor's degree in geology from Stanford, and she was one of the first women in the United States to hold such a degree. She continued to work with Branner, conducting research on his behalf and requesting geological samples for Stanford's collection. Branner credited her with making it one of the largest collections in the world. After graduating, Henry volunteered with the Red Cross to support American soldiers during the Spanish–American War.

Marriage and travels

Marriage and travel to China

In 1897, Herbert was offered an engineering job in Australia. Before leaving, he had dinner with the Henrys and their engagement was informally agreed upon. Lou and Herbert maintained a long-distance relationship while he was in Australia. Herbert was hired as chief engineer of the Chinese Engineering and Mining Company the following year, and he sent her a marriage proposal by cable, reading "Going to China via San Francisco. Will you go with me?". They were married in the Henrys' home on February 10, 1899. Lou also announced her intention to change her religious faith from Episcopalian to her husband's Quaker religion, but there was no Quaker Meeting in Monterey. Instead, they were married in a civil ceremony performed by a Spanish Roman Catholic priest.

The day after their marriage, Lou Hoover and her husband boarded a ship from San Francisco, and they briefly honeymooned at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu. While en route, they read extensively about China and its history. They arrived in Shanghai on March 8, spending four days in the Astor House Hotel. Hoover stayed with a missionary couple in the foreign colony in Tientsin (now Tianjin) while her husband was working, and they moved into a home of their own the following September. It was their first home as a married couple, a Western-style brick house at the edge of the colony. It was here that Hoover began homemaking and interior decoration; she managed a staff and entertained for guests. She also took up typing while in China, purchasing a typewriter and writing scientific articles on Chinese mining with her husband. Hoover worked closely with her husband, through both writing and field work. She also started a collection of Chinese porcelain that she would maintain throughout her life.

Hoover set an early precedent for the political role of first ladies in the 20th century by expressing an interest in women's issues and supporting her husband's platform with her own projects. Despite their political differences, Hoover has been compared to her successor Eleanor Roosevelt in their common approaches to political engagement and women's issues. Hoover's use of radio broadcasts proved similar to her successor's own use of media over the following years.

The first biography about Hoover was Lou Henry Hoover: Gallant First Lady, written by her friend Helen B. Pryor in 1969. Her husband requested that her papers remained sealed for twenty years after his own death, preventing any significant scholarly analysis of her life or her role as first lady until then. They were opened in 1985, allowing for increased scholarship on her life and her work. Her papers are relatively comprehensive for historical figures of the period, including over 220,000 items and encompassing every period of her life. Historical study of Hoover has been complicated by her private nature, as she would often refuse media attention and burn personal letters.

The Stanford home that Hoover designed was donated to the university by her husband, who requested that it be named the Lou Henry Hoover House. Two elementary schools were named in her honor: Lou Henry Hoover Elementary School of Whittier, California, in 1938 and Lou Henry Elementary School of Waterloo, Iowa, in 2005. One of the brick dormitories at San Jose State University was named "Hoover Hall" in her honor until its demolition in 2016. Camp Lou Henry Hoover in Middleville, New Jersey, is named for her.

In May 2017, the Lou Henry Hoover Sculpture Park was dedicated in Waterloo, Iowa on the site of her torn down birthplace home. There are two statues of her in the Sculpture Park, one of her as a child & young lady and one of her as First Lady.

Notes

References

External links

Lou Hoover at C-SPAN's First Ladies: Influence & Image
Lou Henry Hoover Papers