Nov/Dec 2011 (Volume 3, Issue 6)
By Jessica Lowe
Each year, thousands of Iowa school children get on busses and head to West Branch, in eastern Iowa, to learn about the state’s only president, Herbert Hoover.
Born in West Branch, Iowa, in 1874, Hoover went on to be elected president of the United States of America in 1928. But when visiting the Hoover Presidential Museum, visitors will not only learn about the first president born west of the Mississippi River, they’ll also learn about the extraordinary woman who stood by his side – his wife, Lou Henry Hoover.
Lou Henry also hailed from Iowa and led a remarkable life, one full of adventure and accomplishments, before and after meeting Herbert Hoover. Born in Waterloo on March 29, 1874, to Charles and Florence Henry, Lou was the older of two children. After the future first lady lived in Waterloo for nearly five years, her father moved the family across the country to Texas in 1879 looking for work. He soon returned to Waterloo, where his children would attend school for nearly seven years.
While growing up, Lou Henry attended kindergarten in Waterloo and then elementary school at Intermittent Public Grammar School from 1882-1887. She loved the outdoors and was something of a tomboy, engaging in various sports, learning to ride a horse and often camping out with her father. The family continued to move around as Charles sought his fortune in the banking business, finally settling in California.
Lou graduated from high school in Los Angeles and began her postsecondary education at the Los Angeles Normal School (now University of California, Los Angeles). She then transferred to San Jose Normal School (now San Jose State University), where she earned her teaching credential in 1893 with the plan to follow in her mother’s footsteps to work as a teacher. A year later, after working at her father’s bank and as a substitute teacher, Lou enrolled at Stanford University where she would go on to earn a bachelor of arts degree in geology – becoming the first woman to receive such a degree from Stanford.
Not only did Lou receive her B.A. from Stanford she also met her future husband, Herbert Hoover, during her first year there when he was a senior. The two shared not only Iowa roots but a deep love of geology and fishing and began a relationship that would carry them to the highest levels of success.
When Hoover left the country to become a professional geologist and, soon, a millionaire, he sent his love a telegram from Australia asking Lou to marry him. She responded by cable with a “yes”; the union would last more than 44 years and produce two sons – Herbert Charles Hoover (1903-1969) and Allan Henry Hoover (1907-1993).
Just one day after the Hoovers tied the knot at her parent’s home in Monterey, Calif., on Feb. 10, 1899, they left for his new job in China. His work took Herbert into the remote areas of a dangerous land, and soon the infamous Boxer Rebellion broke out, throwing the country into turmoil. Lou exhibited tremendous courage during the time, offering assistance to other Americans whenever possible, learning the Chinese language and even carrying a pistol for protection.
They stayed in China little over a year but it was the beginning of the pair traveling the world for Herbert’s work in the mining industry. They journeyed across Europe, India, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Siberia, Ceylon, Burma and Japan. During their travels, the Hoovers learned much about the world and the issues that were affecting people of all nationalities. The Hoovers would become famous for their relief work.
(Editor’s note: The print edition of this story includes an error about the founding of the Girl Scouts. It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, a year after she met Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts, now known as Scouting.)
TO READ THE ENTIRE STORY AND OTHER FASCINATING STORIES ABOUT IOWA HISTORY, subscribe to Iowa History Journal.