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Hoover Foundation marks 70 years
by Gregory R. Norfleet · News · March 27, 2024
The Hoover campus benefitted greatly from the help of the Hoover Presidential Foundation, according to speakers marking the group’s 70th anniversary.
The Herbert Hoover Birthplace Society formed in 1938 to maintain the birthplace cottage. On March 22, 1954, the Herbert Hoover Birthplace Foundation formed and the Hoover Birthplace Society merged with this foundation, seven decades ago.
On March 22, 2024, the Foundation under its new name marked its anniversary with a brief ceremony attended by more than 40 guests at the Rummells Center, 127 West Main Street.
Foundation President Mundi McCarty called it a “birthday party” and a “historic occasion” to remember “Founder’s Day.”
She said Hoover’s wife, Lou Henry Hoover, and their sons helped the Society get started and that eventually led to the Foundation.
“Many people have been touched and changed hearing about the Hoovers,” McCarty said.
Ken Fawcett, a Foundation trustee since 1988, talked about how his father, Floyd, founded the Birthplace Society.
“I’m happy and pleased with the Hoover Foundation and what it’s done,” Ken said.
Floyd also influenced his son John who changed his major and found a career in the National Archives and Records Administration that began at the Hoover museum.
Ken told a story about how John once worked as a guard for the museum before the National Park Service brought in rangers to patrol the birthplace and the gravesite.
John’s supervisor once questioned John’s records that showed he only logged two minutes out from the time he left the museum to the time he returned from checking both of those historic landmarks.
Ken recalled John’s reply: “Track is my best sport. I can jump the creek and get back in two minutes.”
Ken noted that John also played a role in recruiting the former museum director, Richard Norton Smith, who oversaw the last museum renovation in 1992.
Ken said he looks forward to the next renovation project, of which the Foundation’s $20 million fundraising campaign, “Timeless Values | Modern Experience,” is currently under way.
Museum Director Thomas Schwartz noted how the Birthplace Society changed its name to better focus on the museum and the national park around it.
Without that refocus, the museum today would not be able to undergo the renovation.
The project will renovate the exhibits and add 2,250 feet to the front to better facilitate large groups, like bus loads of students.
He said the museum will close in August and plans to reopen in May 2026.
Schwartz called the planned renovation “exciting.”
“(It will be) more attuned to a modern audience,” he said.
The Foundation also took time to note that both Herbert and wife Lou Henry Hoover were born 150 years ago. Lou Henry’s birthday is this Friday as she was born March 29, 1874. President Hoover’s birthday is Aug. 10, 1874.
The museum laid out ways to recognize those birthdays, starting with Lou Henry.
Lou Henry was heavily involved in the Girl Scouts of America and the Hoover Library and Museum will give away Girl Scout cookies on Friday to all visitors.
The museum will also on Friday display a collection of rarely seen items of the First Lady, like some of her clothing and Girl Scout-related “ephemera,” items not designed to be preserved but became collectables.
On Saturday, the museum will host speakers to talk about Lou Henry’s life in fashion, geology, and the Girl Scouts.
The Hoover Foundation also administers the annual Hoover Uncommon Student Award. Among the awards given out is the Mariah Becker Volunteer Leadership Award. Becker, a 2000 HUSA who died of cancer, was represented at the event by her mother, Kathy.
Kathy Becker called HUSA “an amazing program” for students taking what they do well and turning into something that benefits their community, usually in perpetuity.
“I’m blown away with what the kids create and make happen,” the mother said.
Kathy said the Foundation created the award two years after Mariah’s death and recently established an endowment to keep the award and scholarship going.
“That meant the world to our family,” the mother said. “Mariah lives on through these students. I absolutely love the Hoover Foundation and am grateful to them.”
Hoover National Historic Site Ranger Chelsea Nelson also demonstrates the blacksmithing techniques used by Hoover’s father, Jesse Hoover.
She said Hoover’s father led his children by his example of hard work and service and she appreciates the opportunity to show those skills in the blacksmith shop.
“Thank you for believing in me and allowing me to share the story behind that wonderful forge,” Nelson said.
Foundation Trustee Karen Suchomel invited the crowd to raise a glass and toast the Foundation for 70 years benefitting the Hoover campus.
Foundation timeline
A timeline of the history of what is now known as the Hoover Presidential Foundation, according to the group:
• 1938: The Herbert Hoover Birthplace Society was formed to maintain the birthplace cottage.
• 1954: The Herbert Hoover Birthplace Foundation was formed. The Birthplace Society merged with the foundation.
• 1971: The Herbert Hoover Birthplace Foundation establishes offices in the Crozer house, also known as the Yellow House.
• 1972: The group’s name is changed to the Herbert Hoover Presidential Association.
• 2014: The group’s name changed to the Hoover Presidential Foundation.
• 2021: The Hoover Presidential Foundation acquires and renovates the old US Bank building for new offices.
• 2022: The Foundation moves into the former bank and renames it the Rummells Center.
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