WEST BRANCH — The mood on the lawn outside the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum was light and pleasant. The smell of cut grass and the cheery tune of “Camptown Races” — played by the U.S. Navy’s Great Lakes Woodwind Quintet — mingled on the breeze as attendees took their seats. While rain initially seemed to threaten the festivities, light had begun to overpower the clouds when the ceremony began.
Four days away from what would have been Hoover’s 152nd birthday, the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum reopened to the public. After 18 months of being closed for $20.3 million in upgrades, the museum drew a crowd ranging from casually dressed parents and children to military officials in full uniform to foreign dignitaries.
Speaking to the gathered crowd, Hoover’s great-grandson, Allan Hoover III, pointed to the cottage Hoover was born in, visible across the well-tended fields of the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site where the library sits. He described it as the site of an “extraordinary American story,” in which Hoover grew from a young boy to someone who became an engineer, served as the nation’s 31st president and aided reconstruction around the world after the world wars.
“Seeing all of you here today is both very humbling, very gratifying,” Hoover said. “It's a reminder that Herbert and Lou Henry Hoover’s story belongs not only just to our family, but to all of you.”
While speakers referenced Hoover’s presidency, from 1929 to 1933, their remarks focused on his work outside of office, namely his aid efforts that fed millions of Belgians during and after World War I. Together, they painted a picture of Hoover as a multifaceted and moral man who left behind a legacy of service.
Herbert Hoover was born in West Branch, east of Iowa City, in 1874. After being orphaned when he was 9, he was a real estate broker before graduating from Stanford’s first class in 1895 and becoming a mining engineer. Hoover was living in London when World War I began, and he established the Commission for Relief in Belgium in response to the desperate famine the country was facing.
Dr. Jan Wouters, a professor of international law at the Leuven Centre for Global Governance in Belgium, described the enormity of the task Hoover was faced with. Belgium was a manufacturing-focused country that relied heavily on imports to feed its citizens. When the Germans occupied it in 1914, millions of Belgians faced the possibility of famine.
Hoover was not involved in any government position, Jan Wouters said. Yet he took on the responsibility of coordinating aid to Belgium, which not only involved coordinating the logistics of distributing food but negotiating with Germany and England to allow aid into the contested territory.
“The challenge was almost unimaginable: to feed an entire nation, in total 9 to 10 million people, on a daily basis,” Wouters said. “He acted at once as a businessman, as a diplomat, as an advocate, and as an administrator.”
Hoover remained active in restoration efforts after the war, and built a relationship between the U.S. and Belgium that endures to this day, said His Excellency Dirk Wouters (no relation to Jan), former ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to the United States.
“The distance between West Branch, Iowa, and Leuven, Belgium, is measured not in miles but in a century of friendship,” Wouters said. “That is Herbert Hoover’s enduring gift to all of us.”
Hoover’s memory is best honored by following in his footsteps, Jan Wouters said, asking the crowd if the will existed today to orchestrate a vast initiative to assist foreign people in crisis.
“History becomes most valuable when it inspires action in the present,” he said. “To honor Hoover is not simply to place his name upon a building. It is to ask whether we remain capable of the same moral imagination and organizational courage today.”
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who also spoke at the event, said Hoover’s journey — from being the son of craftspeople to a mining engineer, humanitarian and president of the United States — is a reminder that small-town Iowa children can grow up to have a tremendous impact on the world.
“History gives us perspective. It teaches us about perseverance in difficult times, the responsibilities of citizenship and the character required to lead through challenge and change,” Reynolds said. “Hoover's life reminds us of the values that built this nation and still define Iowa: hard work, personal responsibility, voluntary cooperation, and a deep belief that people working together can accomplish great things.”
Mary Henderson, 74, came to the ceremony prepared for the sun, wearing a woven hat with a bright ribbon. Originally from the West Branch area, Henderson was in Iowa from her home in Goodyear, Arizona, for her 60th high school class reunion and decided she might as well attend the museum’s while she was in town.
The museum was built when Henderson was in high school, and she said her family would gather in the yard by a local garage and watch the construction. The last time Henderson had walked through it was 15 years ago, when she toured it with her daughter and grandchildren.
The library and museum have grown from just being Hoover’s birthplace, Henderson said, and she's seen it reinvigorate the community's interest in discovering its own history. Henderson, a former fourth-grade teacher, said she would often tell her unimpressed students in Arizona that she shared a hometown with a U.S. president.
Henderson said she appreciated Hoover’s “dedication to humanity” even more than his presidential title. Hearing from the Belgian representatives about Hoover’s contributions to aiding and rebuilding their country made her appreciate the scope of his work.
“You heard little snippets about his humanitarian aid and everything, but never, never heard the impact it made,” Henderson said. “He really did so many things outside of being president.”