“The independent girl is a person before whose wrath only the most rash dare stand, and, they, it must be confessed, with much fear and trembling.”

Does this line call out to your eternally 14-year old heart?  It’s from a handwritten essay by future-First Lady Lou Henry Hoover, written shortly before her 15th birthday.  “The Independent Girl,” penned on January 31, 1890, reveals Lou’s own vivacious and independent spirit. 

In the conclusion, Lou seems to channel the future that awaits her as the partner of 31st President Herbert Hoover.  She proclaims that the independent girl will sooner or later “meet a spirit equally as independent as her own…and with combined strength go forth to meet the world.”

Go forth, girls.

-More independent Lou

Source: research.archives.gov

Santa’s Helpers Lou Henry Hoover aids Santa in distributing gifts to needy youngsters at the Central Mission party in the Fox Theater. Her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Herbert Hoover, Jr. stands at her side. Washington D.C., December 24, 1931. Notice something different?  Us too, so we asked an archivist at the Hoover Library about the collage-like look of this image. Turns out it was like a proto-Photoshop: newspapers sometimes blacked out the background of an image so it would stand out better in black and white print. -from the Hoover Library Thanks to amooseintexas for asking about Mrs. Herbert Hoover, Jr.  Her maiden name was Margaret Eva Watson.  She met Herbert Jr. while they were both students at Stanford University, and the couple was married in 1925.  They had three children together, and many in the Hoover family have since been named after Margaret.  We used the original description for this photo, which is why her full name did not appear in the post.  We appreciate the reminder!
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Santa’s Helpers

Lou Henry Hoover aids Santa in distributing gifts to needy youngsters at the Central Mission party in the Fox Theater. Her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Herbert Hoover, Jr. stands at her side. Washington D.C., December 24, 1931.

Notice something different?  Us too, so we asked an archivist at the Hoover Library about the collage-like look of this image. Turns out it was like a proto-Photoshop: newspapers sometimes blacked out the background of an image so it would stand out better in black and white print.

-from the Hoover Library


Thanks to amooseintexas for asking about Mrs. Herbert Hoover, Jr.  Her maiden name was Margaret Eva Watson.  She met Herbert Jr. while they were both students at Stanford University, and the couple was married in 1925.  They had three children together, and many in the Hoover family have since been named after Margaret. 

We used the original description for this photo, which is why her full name did not appear in the post.  We appreciate the reminder!

Because Lou Henry Hoover was awesome- Before she became First Lady, Lou Henry Hoover was a tomboy, outdoors woman,  bareback horse rider, Girl Scout leader, world traveler, and one of the first women geologists at Stanford.  Have we mentioned she spoke Latin and Chinese? Here’s Lou on a camping trip to California’s Mount Gleason in 1891.  She is seated on a burro outside the Acton store-post office-photographers studio. -More amazing Lou
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Because Lou Henry Hoover was awesome-

Before she became First Lady, Lou Henry Hoover was a tomboy, outdoors woman,  bareback horse rider, Girl Scout leader, world traveler, and one of the first women geologists at Stanford.  Have we mentioned she spoke Latin and Chinese?

Here’s Lou on a camping trip to California’s Mount Gleason in 1891.  She is seated on a burro outside the Acton store-post office-photographers studio.

-More amazing Lou

Source: ecommcode2.com