A Woman of Adventure

I enjoyed learning about a first lady I'd never heard of let alone knew anything about before this book. I mean as kids in school you learn about all the president's but you tend to only learn about a select few first lady's. That needs to change.

Lou Henry Hoover isn’t a well-known First Lady. It doesn’t help that her husband President Herbert Hoover has a poor ranking among the presidents. He is remembered for ineffectual and even harmful policies during the Depression, plus his public persona was cold and inflexible. And yet….It was Hoover who aided starving Belgium after WWI and fed Europe after WWII, giving the work his 100%. This biography attests that even his wife and family were left behind in his dedication.

The fun-loving man who Lou married changed. Early in their marriage, Lou traveled with him across the world. During the war, she was virtually abandoned. Luckily, Lou led her own active life while defending her husband to the end.

Lou’s dad raised her as a boy; they even worked together in a gold mine one summer. She was physically active and intelligent. She was the first woman at Stanford University to earn a degree in geology. She meet fellow student ‘Bert’ Herbert Hoover and after Lou graduated they married and went off to China for his work. The couple had to flee China during the Boxer Rebellion, and in Australia traveled across the outback. They jointly translated an ancient Latin treatise on mining. It was an exciting and adventurous life for Lou. Then the war came, taking Bert’s entire energy and attention.

The family was in England during WWI and Lou and their sons returned to America while Bert stayed to run the relief organization to feed Belgium. Lou raised funds from their home in California, but Bert insisted she return to him in London without the boys. It was a dangerous time for sea travel to England. Lou was not sure she would survive the trip and wrote letters to friends and her sons detailing her wishes if she and Bert did not survive the war. It was heartbreaking to read.

I know that if I should die, I can pray my soul to go over to my two dear little boys and to help and comfort their souls.
letter from Lou Henry Hoover to her son Allan

Bert’s work continued to keep him aloof from his family. Lou and Bert’s relationship had altered, its closeness ended. Lou depended on their financial manager to keep her in the loop about her husband’s activities and plans as he organized and ran the Food Administration, initiating food conservation for the war effort.

Lou found satisfaction in her volunteer work. The founder of the Girl Scouts asked for her service. She traveled the country teaching ‘Hooverizing’, Bert’s goals for food conservation. She was a natural manager and fund-raiser. She traded her tomboy attire for elegant fashions.

Although Lou was generous with her charitable giving, secretly aided individuals in need and funding girls college tuition, she resisted any publicity. Both the Hoovers were distrustful of the press and self-promotion, and their demands for privacy created a distance with the American public. They did not realize how their image impacted Bert’s political career and reelection. When FDR won the presidency, Bert was angry and resentful.

The Hoovers both believed in American exceptionalism and superiority, which included only white Americans. They valued “the dignity of work versus the ignominy of a handout.” Bert called for volunteerism to attack the Depression. He tried to correct a budget shortfall by slashing the federal budget and calling for a tax increase. Other programs he supported addressed banking problems. He saw the Depression as the market correcting itself. The handling of the WWI veterans who converged on Washington DC demanding a promised bonus was disastrous, ending in much publicized violence.

Lou courted controversy when she included the wife of an African American congressman to a White House tea, which alienated Southern congressmen and perhaps fueled Bert’s reelection defeat.

A Woman of Adventure is a great introduction to Lou Henry Hoover. The couple spent years living apart and separate lives, reminding me of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt’s marriage. Bert relied on Lou, but offered her little in return. The author mentions press rumors of Bert having an affair. It would be fascinating to understand more about this aspect of their marriage. For all of Lou’s exceptional life that broke gender boundaries, she placed herself second to Bert, ignoring health signs that perhaps lead to her early death.

It was interesting to read the author’s insight into the Hoovers’ reticence to publicity and how their antagonistic relationship with the press impacted Bert’s image in the public eye, leading to public anger and his losing reelection. Lou preferred a public image of wife and homemaker, repressing public knowledge of her many gifts and talents.

Another interesting insight is that Lou was interested in restoring the White House to period furniture of the Monroe presidency, even creating copies of the original furniture. and commissioning a copy of Elizabeth Monroe’s privately held portrait. Few knew about her work.

The book is filled with revelations about Lou’s multitude of gifts and contributions.

I received a free egalley from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.

Thank you to Net Galley and University of Nebraska Press, Potomac Books for the chance to read and review this book. The opinions expressed are my own.

This is the story of Lou Henry Hoover, wife of President Henry Hoover. I had never read anything about this fascinating First Lady, so I learned a lot. She was a very talented lady who fought for her own causes as well as supporting her husband. I thought one of the most interesting facts was she started the Girl Scouts as well as provide financial assistant to men and women pursuing higher education. I really enjoyed this book!

I have a mission in life. To read all the presidential and their wives biographies that I can. Herbert Hoover is not a president that I know much about.. Lou Henry married Herbert Hoover in February 1899. They had a lot of adventures that included trips to China. She made extensive study of languages including Latin, Mandarin Chinese, Spanish, German, Italian and French, She was a quite fascinating woman. I enjoyed reading about her

Thank you to Net Galley for allowing me to read a copy of this book.

Excerpt from a longer article:

Timely Take-aways for life-long Learners: Strong Women Around the World
From a planetary scientist to a pirate’s wife, several new autobiographies and biographies explore the lives of lesser-known women through history. Whether using her position as first lady to support educational projects or solving crimes on the high seas, these nontraditional women left powerful legacies.

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A Woman of Adventure:
The Life and Times of First Lady Lou Henry Hoover
Annette B. Dunlap, June 2022, Potomac Books and Longleaf Services
Themes: Biography, First Ladies, Women
While supporting her husband’s political career and the needs of her family, Lou Henry Hoover was still able to promote educational opportunities for women. This engaging biography shares the fascinating life and powerful legacy of this less-known first lady.
Take-aways: Students are likely familiar with first ladies such as Eleanor Roosevelt. Use this biography to demonstrate the achievements of first lady Lou Henry Hoover.

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Whether helping educators keep up-to-date in their subject-areas, promoting student reading in the content-areas, or simply encouraging nonfiction leisure reading, teacher librarians need to be aware of the best new titles across the curriculum and how to activate life-long learning. - Annette Lamb