Hoover Presidential Foundation

Charitable Planned Giving Mechanisms
2020-11-10 18:00 - 19:00 (America/New_York) | Webinar Style Program
Join us for this free virtual program outlining how planned giving can benefit you and your loved ones and causes you care about. Ask your questions using the Q&A feature! If you are busy that night, register anyway and we’ll send you a link to the recording after the program.

The program will be presented by Robert Downer of Meardon, Sueppel & Downer.

Mr. Downer is co-chair of the Probate, Property and Trust Law Committee of the Iowa State Bar Association and a Fellow, American College of Trust & Estate Counsel since 1993, and Iowa Chair 2000-2005. He is also a Fellow, Iowa Academy of Trust and Estate Counsel since its creation, and listed in Best Lawyers in America for Estate and Trust Law and Estate and Trust Litigation since 1995.

Advance registration is required. REGISTER HERE.

Third Thursday - Heroism and Humanity Behind German Lines
2020-10-15 18:00 - 19:00
6 to 7 p.m. Zoom Webinar
Speaker: Jeff Miller
Presented by historian and author Jeffrey B. Miller. Miller has written extensively on the WWI Commission for Relief in Belgium (CRB) and will share his insights into Herbert Hoover’s humanitarian efforts, delivering compelling portraits of young idealists who interrupted their lives to serve the CRB for no pay.
To succeed, Hoover and his band knew they had to be on the right side of worldwide public opinion: “Hoover’s understanding of this concept,and of the way the world’s news media worked, would serve him and hiscause extremely well from the very beginning,” Miller writes.
Advance registration is required. REGISTER HERE.

The Invisible Guest Banquet
2020-09-30
The Invisible Guest Banquet

As you can imagine, the COVID-19 pandemic put an end to many scheduled programs this year. Unfortunately, we’ve had to cancel our annual Celebration Banquet as well- our largest, most prestigious fundraiser of the year. So we’re looking for ways to creatively reduce that loss and still deliver a Hoover message. And we didn’t have to look far- because Herbert Hoover himself set the example in 1920 with a series of Invisible Guest Banquets.
At the end of WWI, Congress appropriated $100 million and created the American Relief Administration, naming Herbert Hoover to head the effort. When the money ran out, Hoover knew the work was not done and there were more people to feed, so he asked President Wilson to allow him to continue using the ARA name as a private organization and he would raise the funding needed himself. To do that, he created the Invisible Guest dinners. Guests would buy their tickets plus one extra ticket for the invisible guest – which was really an empty chair with a candle on it, representing those who were in need of food.
“Americans spend more than one billion dollars on automobiles, on ice cream, tobacco, gum and cosmetics,” Hoover said in 1920. “Surely we can reduce this spending to feed a child.” At $1000 a plate, the guests were served the same relief food used in Europe. He was able to quickly reach his goal of $30 million within a year. But we’re not actually having a dinner, and we’re not asking for $1000 a plate.
We’re asking anyone who’s ever been to one of our banquets or people who wish to support the Hoover Presidential Library and National Historic Site, to purchase an Invisible Guest Banquet ticket for themselves and one for the invisible guest, at $150 each. If they do, we have a limited edition Hoover signature tie or a ladies scarf patterned after one of Lou Henry Hoover’s dresses for them. If they purchase a pair of tickets and one for the invisible guest, we’ll send a scarf AND a tie as our thank you for their support.
By making your gift through our convenient online portal, you’re helping share Herbert and Lou Henry Hoover’s life and legacy with a generation who has not heard his incredible story! In return, we’d like to thank you with your choice of a limited edition Hoover signature tie or ladies scarf – or both!
REMEMBER- There is no date or location for this banquet- because there is no banquet! This will have some people scratching their heads- to promote a banquet that doesn’t exist – but the main focus here is to support the Hoover Presidential Library and Museum and the National Historic Site, and the work we do to share the life and legacy or Iowa’s only president, Herbert Hoover.

Thank you!

Third Thursday - A Brief History of Women's Suffrage, 1840-1920
2020-09-17 13:00 - 14:00
6 to 7 p.m. 3rd Thursday Virtual Program
Speaker: Karen Kedrowski
This year, 2020, marks the Centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which enfranchised 27 million American women. This program will discuss the history of the suffrage movement, including its controversies, Iowans’ roles, and its impact.
Advance registration is required. REGISTER HERE

About the Speaker:

Dr. Karen Kedrowski
Dr. Karen M. Kedrowski is Director of the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics and Professor of Political Science at Iowa State University. The Catt Center conducts research on women and politics, with a focus on Iowa; and promotes civic engagement. She assumed this role in January 2019.
Dr. Kedrowski is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities and the University of Oklahoma, Norman. Dr. Kedrowski’s research agenda focuses primarily on women and politics and civic engagement. Prior to coming to Iowa State, she spent 24 years at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, where she served in many roles, including Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, including serving as a key leader of the University’s civic and voter engagement efforts. She also received Winthrop’s highest faculty honor, Distinguished Professor, in 2011.
To learn more about the Carrie Chapman Catt Center, CLICK HERE.

A Celebration of Life and of Lives
2020-09-10 14:00 - 15:00 | Webinar Style Program
Presented by Allan Hoover III, President Hoover’s great-grandson. Even though this is a celebration of life for Hoover, we are also celebrating the lives of those involved with these great humanitarian efforts as well as those that were saved by them – including tens of thousands of Polish children, members and leaders of the CRB, ARA (and other relief efforts) as well as a story of a man saved by the ARA during/after the Bolshevik Revolution.
Advance registration is required. REGISTER HERE.

Third Thursday - "An Evening with the Presidents"
2020-08-20 13:00 - 14:00
6 to 7 p.m. Zoom Webinar
Featuring Dr. Larry Cook
Dr. Laurence Cook will present “An Evening with the Presidents” featuring rare and interesting memorabilia pertaining to each President along with little-known facts and stories about each man and highlighting the friendship between Dr. Cook and President Carter. The Presidents covered in this presentation are: James Buchanan, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, Herbert Hoover, and Jimmy Carter. The presentation also includes a question and answer portion for the audience.
Advance registration is required for this FREE webinar. REGISTER HERE.

For Students in 7 to 12th Grade - The Little Rock 9 & Interview with Dr. Terrence Roberts
2020-08-11 09:00 - 10:00 | Webinar Style Program
Presented by the Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, this is a one hour, free, interactive webinar for students grades 6-12. Join us for a session that will look at Brown v. Board of Education, presidential powers, civil rights, and more as well as a discussion with Dr. Terrence Roberts, one of the Little Rock Nine students.
REGISTER YOUR STUDENT HERE.
Upcoming distance learning events include:

American Women and the Vote
Constitutional Amendments
The Potsdam Conference & the Atomic Bomb

To learn more about these exciting FREE programs, CLICK HERE!

Teacher Professional Development: What Makes a Winning Presidential Campaign?
2020-07-21 09:00 - 10:30 | Webinar Style Program
Offered through the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, this free webinar is part of the Presidential Primary Source Project.
The event takes place July 21 through the 23rd, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. each day.
LEARN MORE HERE.

Third Thursday with Dr. Terrence Roberts
2020-07-16 13:00 - 14:00
6 to 7 p.m. Zoom Webinar
Featuring Dr. Terrence Roberts
Terrence James Roberts was one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who, in 1957, were the first black students ever to attend classes at Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. In 1999, he and the other people of the Little Rock Nine were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal by President Bill Clinton. On September 4, 1957, Roberts and eight other African American students (known as the Little Rock Nine) made an unsuccessful attempt to enter Little Rock Central High School. Despite the presence of the National Guard, an angry mob of about 400 surrounded the school.
Dr. Robert’s is a very dynamic speaker and his message will provide a timely perspective in relation to current events.
Advance registration required

Third Thursday -"Lives, Fortunes, and Sacred Honor: Declaring Independence"
2020-06-18 13:00 - 14:00
6 to 7 p.m. Zoom Webinar
Presented by Garrett Cloer, Chief of Interpretation and Cultural Resources, Herbert Hoover National Historic Site
Each year, people across the country celebrate their nation’s independence on July 4 even though Congress actually voted for it on July 2! Join us for a look at the real story of the creation of the United States as Herbert Hoover National Historic Site Park Ranger Garrett Cloer discusses the critical months leading to the independence vote, the Declaration of Independence, and its impacts and afterlife.
Advance registration required

Third Thursday - "Truman & Hoover: WWII Food Relief" Online Event
2020-05-21 13:00 - 14:00 | Webinar Style Program
Truman & Hoover: WWII Food Relief
Join us for a live online discussion with the Truman Presidential Library director Kurt Graham and Hoover Presidential Library director Thomas Schwartz, along with Truman supervisory archivist Sam Rushay and Hoover supervisory archivist Craig Wright, as they discuss the relationship between the presidents in providing food relief following World War II.
Registration is required to join the online feed and is free for all to attend. REGISTER HERE. Participants will be able to ask questions of the speakers during the program.

Third Thursday -“Travels with Dad: Lou’s 1921 Cross Country Trip”
2020-04-16 13:00 - 14:00
6 p.m. broadcast on Facebook
Presented by: Craig Wright, Archivist, Hoover Presidential Library and Museum

In September 1921, Lou Henry Hoover began a cross-country trip with her father Charles. Driving a 1919 Cadillac, the trip would take 34 days to wind its way over nearly 4,000 miles as they traveled from San Francisco to Washington, DC with brief stops in Iowa at Boone, Le Grand, Waterloo, Iowa City and West Branch. Supervisory archivist Craig Wright will offer highlights and colorful anecdotes from the trip.
A video feed of Craig’s presentation will appear at 6 p.m. on the Foundation’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/HooverPresFoundation/
We hope to resume normal scheduling next month. Watch our Facebook page and e-newsletters for details.

First Lady Lou 4
2020-03-30 14:00 - 16:00
First Lady Lou

Special Performance Highlights Life of First Lady Lou Henry Hoover
This March, we celebrate the 146th anniversary of the birth of Waterloo, Iowa native Lou Henry Hoover, also known as Mrs. Herbert Hoover.
The Hoover Presidential Library and Museum and Hoover Presidential Foundation will mark these momentous occasions with a series of free public performances throughout Iowa.
The performances celebrate and share the life of Lou Henry Hoover, a remarkable pioneer of her time. Celebrating her during Women’s History Month and on the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage seems like an especially appropriate context to educate and celebrate her many groundbreaking accomplishments. Not only did Mrs. Hoover excel in her role as First Lady, but the Waterloo, Iowa native became the first woman to earn a geology degree from Stanford University. Before becoming First Lady, she led a very active and public life, leading and working in many new movements and organizations, including the early years of the Girl Scouts and helping with food relief efforts during China’s Boxer Rebellion and World War I.
The show features Jane Fellows, an actress who has performed the one-woman show, First Lady Lou at numerous venues around the United States. Throughout the show, ‘Lou’ takes the audience on the remarkable journey of her life. Set in a New York City hotel room, Act I takes place in 1914, the day before Lou sails to London to join Herbert. Act II takes place in 1944 at the end of her life. Throughout the play the audience experiences history through the eyes of a smart, compassionate and visionary woman.
“Learning about Lou Henry Hoover was an eye-opening experience for me,” Leslie Hoover-Lauble, great granddaughter of Lou Henry Hoover, said. “As a woman born in the late 1800’s, she was anything by typical of her times. She was a woman of many and surprising talents, with a high sense of integrity. I am a proud descendant of Lou Henry, and I thoroughly enjoy First Lady Lou as performed by Jane Fellows.”
Leslie was too young to meet her great-grandmother during her life but feels Jane Fellow’s depiction of Lou Henry gave her the opportunity to meet her after all.
Ms. Fellows first performed First Lady Lou in March 2014 as a commissioned piece by Colonial Dames of America in Oregon and the Hoover-Minthorn House Museum. “Being able to share this part of history through the lens of this extraordinary woman is at once humbling as well as a distinct honor,” Fellows said.
Lou Henry made great efforts to be inclusive while in and out of the White House. As First Lady, Lou Henry coordinated the social functions at the White House, including inviting the wives of the members of Congress to the White House for tea. Mrs. Hoover faced an unusually delicate situation – for the first time in 30 years, Congress included an African American member: Oscar Stanton DePriest, the son of former slaves, elected from Chicago. Rather than bow to political pressure, she invited Mrs. DePriest to an intimate tea at the White House with the wives of cabinet members. Her attendance as an invited guest at a White House social function accorded her social legitimacy, and by implication, equal standing with the white guests, something well ahead of her time. First Lady Lou will discuss issues of ethnicity, diversity and identity, giving audience members great insights into the history of these important issues.
First Lady Lou was written by Des Moines, Iowa playwright, Rebecca Christian. The Hoover Presidential Foundation has received a grant award from Humanities Iowa, a state-based affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and from Royal Neighbors of America in support of First Lady Lou.
Performance Locations, Dates and Times
All performances are offered at no charge with open seating.
Muscatine Community College Little Theatre, Strahan Hall
152 Colorado St., Muscatine, IA
March 24, 7 p.m.
Prairieview Theatre Arts Center
560 SE University Ave, Waukee, IA
March 26, 7 p.m.
Hoover Presidential Library and Musuem, Figge Auditorium
210 Parkside Dr., West Branch, IA
March 29, 2 p.m.
Hoover Middle School Theatre
630 Hillcrest Rd., Waterloo, IA
SOLD OUT- LOCAL STUDENTS ONLY

First Lady Lou 3
2020-03-29 14:00 - 16:00

First Lady Lou 2
2020-03-26 14:00 - 16:00

First Lady Lou
2020-03-24 14:00 - 16:00
First Lady Lou

Special Performance Highlights Life of First Lady Lou Henry Hoover
This March, we celebrate the 146th anniversary of the birth of Waterloo, Iowa native Lou Henry Hoover, also known as Mrs. Herbert Hoover.
The Hoover Presidential Library and Museum and Hoover Presidential Foundation will mark these momentous occasions with a series of free public performances throughout Iowa.
The performances celebrate and share the life of Lou Henry Hoover, a remarkable pioneer of her time. Celebrating her during Women’s History Month and on the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage seems like an especially appropriate context to educate and celebrate her many groundbreaking accomplishments. Not only did Mrs. Hoover excel in her role as First Lady, but the Waterloo, Iowa native became the first woman to earn a geology degree from Stanford University. Before becoming First Lady, she led a very active and public life, leading and working in many new movements and organizations, including the early years of the Girl Scouts and helping with food relief efforts during China’s Boxer Rebellion and World War I.
The show features Jane Fellows, an actress who has performed the one-woman show, First Lady Lou at numerous venues around the United States. Throughout the show, ‘Lou’ takes the audience on the remarkable journey of her life. Set in a New York City hotel room, Act I takes place in 1914, the day before Lou sails to London to join Herbert. Act II takes place in 1944 at the end of her life. Throughout the play the audience experiences history through the eyes of a smart, compassionate and visionary woman.
“Learning about Lou Henry Hoover was an eye-opening experience for me,” Leslie Hoover-Lauble, great granddaughter of Lou Henry Hoover, said. “As a woman born in the late 1800’s, she was anything by typical of her times. She was a woman of many and surprising talents, with a high sense of integrity. I am a proud descendant of Lou Henry, and I thoroughly enjoy First Lady Lou as performed by Jane Fellows.”
Leslie was too young to meet her great-grandmother during her life but feels Jane Fellow’s depiction of Lou Henry gave her the opportunity to meet her after all.
Ms. Fellows first performed First Lady Lou in March 2014 as a commissioned piece by Colonial Dames of America in Oregon and the Hoover-Minthorn House Museum. “Being able to share this part of history through the lens of this extraordinary woman is at once humbling as well as a distinct honor,” Fellows said.
Lou Henry made great efforts to be inclusive while in and out of the White House. As First Lady, Lou Henry coordinated the social functions at the White House, including inviting the wives of the members of Congress to the White House for tea. Mrs. Hoover faced an unusually delicate situation – for the first time in 30 years, Congress included an African American member: Oscar Stanton DePriest, the son of former slaves, elected from Chicago. Rather than bow to political pressure, she invited Mrs. DePriest to an intimate tea at the White House with the wives of cabinet members. Her attendance as an invited guest at a White House social function accorded her social legitimacy, and by implication, equal standing with the white guests, something well ahead of her time. First Lady Lou will discuss issues of ethnicity, diversity and identity, giving audience members great insights into the history of these important issues.
First Lady Lou was written by Des Moines, Iowa playwright, Rebecca Christian. The Hoover Presidential Foundation has received a grant award from Humanities Iowa, a state-based affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and from Royal Neighbors of America in support of First Lady Lou.
Performance Locations, Dates and Times
All performances are offered at no charge with open seating.
Muscatine Community College Little Theatre, Strahan Hall
152 Colorado St., Muscatine, IA
March 24, 7 p.m.
Prairieview Theatre Arts Center
560 SE University Ave, Waukee, IA
March 26, 7 p.m.
Hoover Presidential Library and Musuem, Figge Auditorium
210 Parkside Dr., West Branch, IA
March 29, 2 p.m.
Hoover Middle School Theatre
630 Hillcrest Rd., Waterloo, IASOLD OUT- LOCAL STUDENTS ONLY

Third Thursday -“Lou Gets the Vote!”
2020-03-19 12:30 - 14:00
5:30 – 7 p.m. in the Figge Auditorium

Presented by: Matthew Schaefer, Archivist, Hoover Presidential Library and Museum

Archivist Matt Schaefer talks about Lou Henry Hoover that the 19th Amendment that gave women throughout the country the right to vote. It explores Lou’s views on women’s suffrage and voting. On August 18, 2020, we will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of the amendment’s ratification.
