Nancy Beck Young - Lou Henry Hoover: Activist First Lady

MODERN FIRST LADIES

Lewis L. Gould, Editor

TITLES IN THE SERIES

Helen Taft: Our Musical First Lady, Lewis L. Gould

Ellen and Edith: Woodrow Wilsons First Ladies, Kristie Miller

First Lady Florence Harding: Behind the Tragedy and Controversy,Katherine A. S. Sibley

Grace Coolidge: The Peoples Lady in Silent Cals White House, Robert H. Ferrell

Lou Henry Hoover: Activist First Lady, Nancy Beck Young

Eleanor Roosevelt: Transformative First Lady, Maurine Beasley

Bess Wallace Truman: Traditional First Lady, Sara L. Sale

Mamie Doud Eisenhower: The Generals First Lady, Marilyn Irvin Holt

Jacqueline Kennedy: First Lady of the New Frontier, Barbara A. Perry

Lady Bird Johnson: Our Environmental First Lady, Lewis L. Gould

Betty Ford: Candor and Courage in the White House, John Robert Greene

Rosalynn Carter: Equal Partner in the White House, Scott Kaufman

Nancy Reagan: On the White House Stage, James G. Benze, Jr.

Barbara Bush: Presidential Matriarch, Myra G. Gutin

Hillary Rodham Clinton: Polarizing First Lady, Gil Troy

LOU HENRY
HOOVER

ACTIVIST FIRST LADY
NANCY BECK YOUNG

Lou Henry Hoover was a star-crossed first lady. Her four years in the White House came between the tenure of the stylish Grace Coolidge and the extended stay of the controversial Eleanor Roosevelt. As a result, Hoovers record has faded in the popular mind to the point where she has become only a name on the list of twentieth-century presidential wives. Such a judgment is misleading. When Lou Hoover moved into the White House in 1929, she had a long history of involvement with the Girl Scouts and womens athletics to prepare her for her new duties. During her husbands presidency, she continued her commitment to the Girl Scouts and used that connection in reacting to the Great Depression. In her work as first lady, she spoke on the radio, gave interviews to the press, and pursued social causes. She represented an important transition between the presidential wives who played merely social and ceremonial roles and those who were committed to various causes and developed their own staffs to help them achieve their goals.

Bringing Lou Henry Hoover into clearer historical focus and locating her in the record of modern first ladies are Nancy Beck Youngs goals in her informative and lively study of this complex woman. Access to the rich collection of Mrs. Hoovers personal and policy papers has allowed Young to construct a narrative that explores the Hoover marriage in fuller detail than any previous scholarly work. Young also explains the first ladys views on race, her efforts to use voluntarism to fight the economic crisis that shaped the Hoover presidency, and her growing conservatism. With the abundance of information and insights that Young supplies, the reasons for Lou Hoovers accomplishments and failures in her challenging role become clear. More than just a pale forerunner to Eleanor Roosevelt, Hoover was an innovator as a presidential spouse, as well as a victim of the assumptions that she did so much to change. Thanks to Youngs illuminating narrative, Lou Henry Hoovers service between 1929 and 1933 can now be seen as an important turning point in how first ladies fulfilled their special role in American politics and society.

This book resulted from a conversation I had with Lewis L. Gould in the summer of 1998. It is to Lew that I owe my largest intellectual debt in terms of conceptualizing and completing this project. I also benefited from stimulating conversations with and comments from several historians who aided my efforts: Deborah Blackwell, Bill Childs, Kendrick Clements, David Hamilton, Sarah Harper Case, Joan Hoff, John Inscoe, Kristie Miller, Martha Swain, and Leigh Ann Wheeler. Fred Woodward performed above and beyond the call of duty in his role as editor at the University Press of Kansas.

Equally important was the assistance I received from the dedicated staff of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library. I was made welcome on each of my trips, and the archivists never failed to answer my many queries or fetch the numerous boxes I requested. I am indebted to Tim Walch, the director of the library, and his staff, particularly Brad Bauer, Jim Detlefsen, Dale Mayer, Dwight Miller, Matt Schaefer, Lynn Smith, Pat Wildenberg, and Cindy Worrell. The librarians at McKendree College cheerfully filled my many interlibrary loan requests and provided great friendship as a bonus. My deepest thanks go to Rebecca Bostian, Bill Harroff, Debbie Houk, and Liz Vogt.

Financial intervention at key junctures sustained my efforts. I gained an important grant from the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Association in the beginning stages of my research. Throughout the course of my investigation, McKendree College was most generous, providing small grants to support additional research and travel expenses so that I could attend conferences and present papers about Lou Henry Hoover. Associate deans David Brailow and Dennis Ryan welcomed each of my grant applications and shared their insights into my work. Gerald Duff, the provost of the college, deserves a special word of thanks. He has nurtured my career since I arrived at McKendree and has created an intellectual environment that supports and encourages scholarship. Finally, John Riley and the White House Historical Association provided a grant that allowed me to complete my research in a timely fashion.

Being a college professor provides a scholar with a captive audience on whom she can test new ideas. I reaped all the benefits of that situation and none of the complaints. Countless McKendree students listened to and tested my ideas about Lou Henry Hoover. My students also played a critical role outside the classroom. A special word of thanks goes to the student research assistants who have worked in my office over the years: Rachel Brandmeyer, Carl Florczyk, John Jurgensmeyer, Erin McKenna, Dawn Pedersen, Matt Sherman, and Dana Vetterhoffer.