Virtual Program Video Archive

From Belgian Babies to UNICEF: The First World War, Children, and the Right to Food
Sept. 21, 2023  The Belgian feeding programs developed under Herbert Hoover’s leadership during World War I made an indelible impression not only in postwar Belgium, but in the United States and in international aid organizations in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The Commission for Relief in Belgium and its successor programs created an argument both for the right to food and for the importance of children’s health and welfare that has persevered. This short talk will examine the innovations of the CRB and its impact even in our contemporary world.

About the Speaker: Tammy M. Proctor is Distinguished Professor of History at Utah State University. Proctor earned her PhD in history from Rutgers University in 1995 and is a specialist in modern European and gender history with a special emphasis on the history of youth, gender, and conflict.

Hoover and Criminal Justice Reform
May 18, 2023   Professor James Calder, University of Texas at San Antonio, presents “Hoover and Criminal Justice Reform”

About the Speaker: Dr. Calder has been a faculty member at UTSA since 1979, teaching and publishing first as a member of the Department of Criminal Justice until 2006, then to present in the Department of Political Science and Geography. In recent years, his teaching in Political Science has included topics in global affairs, homeland security, the intelligence community and world affairs, federal justice policymaking, and politics in film. His articles and books have focused mainly on security matters, political leaders, and crime control policies, including studies of American presidents and their roles in directing federal actions against organized crime.

An Audio/Visual Potpourri
April 20, 2023

“An Audio-Visual Potpourri” will showcase a variety of favorite still images in our collection and share some Hoover home movies, newsreel films, and point out a few unusual items in the Hoover archives.

About the speaker: Lynn Smith is the audio-visual archivist at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum.

Spotlight on the Famous Flour Sacks
Dec. 15, 2022 The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum’s entire collection of decorated Belgian Relief flour sacks from World War I was subjected to a close examination in June 2022. Annelien van Kempen, visiting researcher from The Netherlands, and Marcus Eckhardt, Hoover Presidential Museum curator, studied every detail and counted 360 items in this unique survey of war-time American and Canadian flour sacks, decorated by Belgian schoolgirls, women and artists, mainly in 1915.

Herbert Hoover and Christmas
Nov. 17, 2022 Christmas was very important to Herbert Hoover, and he celebrated the holiday many ways during his long life. Join us for a ranger talk about Hoover and Christmas, from the simple holiday celebrations of his Quaker youth to his globetrotting years as a mining engineer in many lands, to his years in the White House and a memorable Christmas Eve fire in 1929.

In the last 20 years of his life, Hoover celebrated Christmas with elaborate decorations, gatherings, and gift giving from his suite in the Waldorf Towers. Based on the recollections of family and friends, and Hoover’s own writings, this talk will open a window into the private life of a president and his family, as they celebrated a favorite holiday.

About the Speaker: Park Ranger Peter Hoehnle is a National Park Service guide at the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and holds a doctorate in history. He enjoys doing historical research and has been widely published on American communal societies, including volumes on Amana and the Shakers.

A Hoover Homecoming Photo Album, Aug. 1928
Oct. 20, 2022 This presentation highlights the “homecoming” visit that Mr. and Mrs. Hoover and their two sons made to Iowa during the summer of 1928 after his nomination as the Republican nominee for the presidency. Although there was no official album, Juhl has arranged these seldom seen photographs to represent what could have been a family album.

About the Speaker: Paul Juhl, of Iowa City, has been writing about Iowa history for the past twenty years. Originally from Webster City, Juhl holds degrees from the University of Iowa in history, and the University of Northern Iowa in College Student Personnel Services. He is also an expert on photography in the late nineteenth century and often includes many images from all times periods in his books.

Prior to retirement, Juhl served several Iowa high schools, and also a school in Switzerland, as the school counselor and teacher.

The topics for his spiral bound books are diverse and include Grant Wood, Pulitzer Prize recipient, MacKinlay Kantor, Herbert Hoover and Abraham Lincoln’s grandchildren.

How the Hard Winter of 1880 Became the Long Winter
Sept. 15, 2022 This talk begins with an overview of the Hard Winter of 1880-81 as found in the newspaper record, followed by an exploration of some of Wilder’s struggles to convert her family’s experiences into her nearly perfect novel, “The Long Winter.”

About the Speaker: Cindy Wilson is passionate about history and enchanted by the prairie landscape. Her award-winning book, “The Beautiful Snow: The Ingalls Family, the Railroads, and the Hard Winter of 1880-81” can be purchased through her website TheBeautifulSnow.com or at various online and museum retailers.

Unraveling Yarns About the First Ladies
August 18, 2022 Lou Henry Hoover and 17 other first ladies who, at one point in their lives knitted, crocheted, embroidered, quilted, cross-stitched, or sewed, are the focus of a new book, “Ladies, First: Common Threads,” by Debra Scala Giokas. Debra will discuss the research and stories that went into that work.

About the Speaker: Debra Scala Giokas is a professional member of the Crochet Guild of America. She earned her B.A. in English from Stony Brook University and began a career in marketing communications where she writes every day. She has been working in that field ever since. Debra enjoys learning and writing about women in American History.

A Behind the Scenes Look at the Hoover Library Renovation
July 21, 2022 Hoover Presidential Foundation president & CEO Jerry Fleagle, Kat Reinbold, Creative Producer and Matt Solari, VP & creative director for BRC Imagination Arts, a premiere builder of exhibit spaces, look at the possibilities that lie ahead for the new exhibit renovation.

2021

A Tale of Two Famines
November 18, 2021
“A Tale of two Famines” explores the role Herbert Hoover played during the Russian famines of 1921 to 23 and 1932 to 33 from the perspective of the speaker’s grandparents who experienced it and were fed by Hoover. Presented by Robert Zapesochny

Hoover’s Last Trip Home
October 21, 2021
Take a look back 57 years to Oct. 25, 1964 when Herbert Hoover returned to West Branch to be buried on a hill overlooking his childhood home. Archival videos and audio clips will supplement the story. About the Speaker: Lynn Smith is the Audio-Visual Archivist at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum.

The Life of Jesse Hoover
September 16, 2021
Jesse was an inventive and talented young entrepreneur, a self-taught blacksmith, inventor, pump manufacturer, community leader, pioneer West Branch businessman, and husband…as well as the father of the thirty-first President of the United States. This is his story.

The Lafayette Escadrille
August 19, 2021
A century ago 38 Americans from every walk of life volunteered to fly in the First World War. It was their own idea—to fight in the skies to aid our oldest ally, France, long before the United States entered the war. They were willing to pay the ultimate price. They helped move their reluctant nation to ultimately join the Allies and enter the fight. They were the Lafayette Escadrille. We’ll hear from the film’s directors, Darroch Greer and Paul Glenshaw.

Nutritional Inequality in Vienna: 1919 to 1922
July 15, 2021
This presentation explores the impact that reduced food supplies due the First World War and Franco-British blockade had on the health of civilians in Vienna, as well as the nutritional impact on the city once the blockade was lifted and international food aid arrived. Philanthropic donations played a huge role in alleviating children’s suffering and reducing nutritional inequality.
About the Speaker: Dr. Mary E. Cox received a PhD from the University of Oxford and is an Assistant Professor of International Relations at Central European University in Austria. She will be making this presentation live from Vienna, Austria.

Clearing the Static: Herbert Hoover and Early Radio Regulation
June 17, 2021
Radio as we know it today emerged at the dawn of the 20th Century–first popular with amateur operators then becoming commercially viable in the 1920s.
Growth was so rapid that some control was necessary to make room on limited spectrum as radio enthusiasts were going “on the air” on any frequency, at any time and with any power.
Professor Stephen Coon discusses this history and also look at how regulatory decisions made by Herbert Hoover and others still affect today’s industry including social media.

Iowa’s Communal Utopias
May 20, 2021
Featuring the Iowa Pioneer Phalanx, Salburia, the Amana Colonies, the Icarian Communities, the Clydesdale Colony, Communia and many more, this talk will provide some details about specific communal groups, and a general overview of different communal movements in American history and how they influenced community builders on the Iowa frontier, and beyond. Presented by Hoover National Historic Site ranger Peter Hoehnle.

Shaping A Presidential Image: The Curious Case of Herbert Hoover
April 15, 2021
Every American President becomes a subject of mythology, both positive and negative. Dr. Nash’s lecture will explore how President Hoover’s reputation was affected by this process, in ways that confounded his contemporaries and obscured his place in history for many years. Presented by Hoover historian and biographer, Dr. George H. Nash.

Lou Henry Hoover: A Life of Adventure
March 29, 2021
Join us for a special event in honor of First Lady Lou Henry Hoover’s birthday, March 29 at noon CDT. Leslie Hoover-Lauble, President Hoover’s great-granddaughter, and Hoover Library Archives Technician Spencer Howard will share stories and photos illustrating the amazing life of Lou Henry Hoover from an independent girl, to scientist and world traveler, to First Lady.

A Woman of Achievement: Stories from the Life of Lou Henry Hoover
March 18, 2021
Presented by author and historian, Annette Dunlap. In World War I, Lou Henry Hoover helped start a hospital for wounded British soldiers. She was instrumental in establishing sewing factories to employ women whose men had gone off to war. In the early 1920s, she oversaw the nearly exponential growth of the Girl Scouts. As the nation’s first lady, Lou worked privately to find employment opportunities for individuals and hurting communities, while at the same time raising Americans’ awareness of the historical value of the White House and the importance of the arts. In her post-White House years, Lou continued to use her organizational and philanthropic skills to create new educational opportunities for students and cultural opportunities for her beloved Stanford community. Come learn about about the achievements of a first lady whose legacy has been largely forgotten, but whose impact can still be felt today.

Re-imagining the Future: The Hoover Presidential Library & Museum
March 3, 2021
Herbert Hoover’s great-grandson, Allan, discusses future plans for the Presidential Library and Museum. It was originally dedicated in 1962. The Library & Museum has been expanded three times since then – the last in 1992 when Ronald Reagan came and rededicated the Library & Museum. It is still the smallest (by far) of the 13 NARA Presidential Libraries and Museums. But as Herbert Hoover said, if his library is anything like the federal government, it will grow larger over time. It did grow during its first 30 years of existence. In 1992 the library was transformed and visitation reached record levels. Many Iowans and Americans learned and were inspired by the Hoover story in a modern way. Since then, the methods for presenting a captivating, immersive visitor experience have changed dramatically.

Behind the Scenes: Firing Line with Margaret Hoover
Feb. 25, 2021
Join Margaret Hoover, host of Firing Line with Margaret Hoover, for an insiders perspective at this unique program of guests that engage in a contest of ideas about important issues confronting our nation. Margaret will be joined by Iowa Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg, who is also a member of the Hoover Presidential Foundation board of directors. Gregg will act as host and moderator for the program.

Lincoln, Race, and the Challenge of Self-Government
Feb. 18, 2021
Presented by Dr. Lucas Morel. This program will examine Lincoln’s statesmanship in the context of longstanding and widespread racial bigotry against black Americans. It will explore how Lincoln attempted to inform public opinion regarding the natural rights of black Americans by reclaiming the central idea of the American regime—namely, human equality. Lincoln’s efforts to re-establish equality as the lodestar of the nation’s political practice will be contrasted with the policy of “popular sovereignty” as it was promoted by his long-time rival Sen. Stephen A. Douglas, the leading Democrat and therefore the leading American politician of the 1850s.

The Origins of the Presidential Cabinet
Jan. 21, 2021
Presented by Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky. The cabinet isn’t in the Constitution, but every president since George Washington has worked with a cabinet. So where did it come from? Join Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky to learn about the origins of the president’s cabinet, how Washington drew on his leadership practices from the Revolutionary War to shape this institution, and the important and often-overlooked legacy he left for his successors. Chervinsky will also explore some of the best and worst cabinets in American history, share how the institution has evolved over time, and why the cabinet still matters today.

The President’s First 100 Days
Jan. 21, 2021
Presented by Margaret Hoover, President Hoover’s great-granddaughter. Prepared exclusively for members of the Hoover Presidential Foundation, this program is our way to thank foundation members for staying the course during the struggles faced last year. To thank you for your support we’re inviting you to a special virtual program featuring Margaret Hoover, exclusively for Foundation members and donors, called, The President’s First 100 Days. Margaret will discuss the history behind the first 100 days and transition period for President Hoover and what we can expect this year. Joining Margaret will be senior political analyst and anchor at CNN, John Avlon, and Hoover biographer and historian, Dr. George H. Nash.