Reimagining the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum

Imagine a sensory experience of sight and sound that puts you in the middle of the myriad of world-changing issues and challenges that faced Herbert Hoover before, during and after his presidency. Imagine being so inspired by the life of public service that he and first lady Lou Henry Hoover lived that you decide to […]

Imagine a sensory experience of sight and sound that puts you in the middle of the myriad of world-changing issues and challenges that faced Herbert Hoover before, during and after his presidency. Imagine being so inspired by the life of public service that he and first lady Lou Henry Hoover lived that you decide to create positive change in your own community.

It’s that kind of experience – and much more – that’s being planned for the $20 million “reimagining” of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch. The enhanced museum experience will bring the story of the Hoovers to a new generation of visitors, with the latest technology creating an immersive and emotional experience. The same firm behind the design of the much-acclaimed Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Illinois – BRC Imagination Arts of Los Angeles – is the creative engine behind the Hoover project. The plans are creating a lot of excitement in the state, where legislators last year approved $5 million in Hoover Tax Credits to encourage Iowans to donate to the project. The new experience at the museum is expected to bring thousands more visitors to the site, which was closed almost two years during the pandemic and is now just rebounding after being open for the past 10 months. Fundraising is well underway and will receive a boost from an Oct. 7 event at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Cedar Rapids featuring former President George W. Bush, who is being honored, along with former first lady Laura Bush, with the first Hoover Presidential Foundation Great Humanitarian Award. Jerry Fleagle, president and CEO of the Hoover Presidential Foundation, said the National Archives and Records Administration, which owns and operates the library-museum, requires that 90% of the funds are raised before construction (or destruction) at the current site can begin. As of mid-August, fundraising efforts in the “Timeless Values-Modern Experience” campaign, including cash, pledges and letters of credit, amounted to around $12 million, Mr. Fleagle said. The foundation also has applied for a $5 million Destination Iowa grant. Of the $20 million to be raised, $17 million will go to modernize the museum’s exhibition spaces, $2 million will launch what’s being called the Uncommon Iowans Center, and $1 million will go toward establishing an endowment fund to secure maintenance of the renovated facilities and put the institution on firmer long-term financing footing, according to the campaign. 

Overdue upgrade 

The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum was dedicated at the time of the former president’s 88th birthday, on Aug. 11, 1962, as a crowd estimated at 25,000 attended to hear remarks by Mr. Hoover and former President Harry Truman. The two men of different political parties had become good friends in the wake of Mr. Hoover’s assistance to the Truman administration following World War II. Mr. Hoover quickly answered President Truman’s call to assist with postwar issues of starvation across Europe caused by harsh winters, drought and devastated economies. With his experience addressing issues of massive hunger in Belgium during World War I, Mr. Hoover headed the Famine Emergency Committee to get food supplies to the most vulnerable people. The National Historic Site was rededicated on Aug. 8, 1992 after $6.5 million in renovations, which included the addition of six galleries transporting visitors to various stages of the Hoovers’ lives, and some interactive displays. Former President Ronald Reagan delivered the remarks to a crowd of 5,000. But with 30 years now passing, the Hoover site has gone the longest of any of the presidential libraries without an upgrade. “Most library museums are usually refreshed every 12 to 15 years,” Mr. Fleagle said. “Herbert Hoover is a great story. We are trying to take it to the next generation.” The goal is to open the updated museum on Aug. 10, 2024, on what would be the 150th anniversary of Mr. Hoover’s birth, though Mr. Fleagle acknowledges it is a tight deadline.

Family pride

Allan Hoover III, great-grandson of President and Mrs. Hoover, is excited about seeing the couple’s story of public service brought to life for a new generation of visitors. “There are so many good lessons from their lives,” said Mr. Hoover, 50, who lives in Denver. “If I were to pick one that resonated with our family, it’s perseverance. During their lives they had to overcome a lot. But they carried on.” He noted that “Lou and Bert” were a true team, circumnavigating the globe together five times. Their public service, he said, continued until their last days. In a phone interview, Mr. Hoover spoke of the obstacles his great-grandfather overcame to address massive issues of starvation during World War I and after World War II when President Truman asked for his assistance. He recalls visiting the 1962 version of the museum as a boy, with “galleries filled with glass cases.” The 1992 renovations “amazed” him, but the capabilities that today’s technology will bring to a new generation will put their story in an entirely different framework. He called BRC Imagination Arts “terrific storytellers.” “We’re going to be retelling their story in a way to connect with this generation, a new generation since the last renovations,” he said. That generation includes his own children, a daughter, 19, and sons, 16 and 13.

Reaching a new audience

Matthew Solari, vice president and creative designer for BRC Imagination Arts, said his research into the Hoovers has taught him much that he didn’t know about the nation’s 31st president. And he is eager to share that knowledge in a way that makes an impact. “We are looking at it as an experience, really bringing it alive to people,” he said. “We are taking it out of the realm of standard presentation of material and really creating these touchpoints so people can get to know Herbert and Lou Hoover. We want to get people to know them.” Mr. Solari said as the BRC team talked to scholars and to the Hoover family, “the more amazed we were, the more proud we were. As human beings and as Americans, he and Lou were among our most exceptional people.” The new exhibits will take a deep look into Mr. Hoover’s presidency, exploring the Great Depression, which was described as “a war on 1,000 fronts.” In learning more about Mr. Hoover’s story, Mr. Solari said he was struck by how the native Iowan, at the height of his achievements as a mining engineer, turned his back on his financial and professional success and committed his life to public service. “Everybody I talk to, they are blown away that people don’t know this story,” he said. “It’s so American. We step in and we take care of people. Mr. Hoover basically invented a way for us to do that on a scale that we had not experienced.”

Uncommon Iowans Center

Generations of Iowa children have taken school field trips to the Hoover museum. That tradition will continue, with an updated twist. The Uncommon Iowans Center planned for the project will invite students to debate and consider key decisions that have shaped the country in what are described as high-energy simulations. “Assuming characters such as secretary of state, policy adviser, and digital correspondent, students will gather in a government office replica – or connect virtually from home or a classroom – to solve a simulated crisis in real time,” according to campaign materials.

FYI:

For more details on the renovation project, visit timelessvaluescampaign.org.

Former President Bush to be honored in Cedar Rapids

Table sponsorships and individual tickets are still available for an appearance by former President George W. Bush in Cedar Rapids on Oct. 7, as he and former first lady Laura Bush are honored with the first Hoover Presidential Foundation Great Humanitarian Award. The Bushes are being recognized for their extensive relief and humanitarian efforts both through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) during the Bush administration and their extensive work in African nations after he left office on women’s health care initiatives, including screenings for breast and cervical cancer. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 7  at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Cedar Rapids. Following the presentation of the award, Margaret Hoover, one of Herbert Hoover’s great-granddaughters and host of the PBS series, “Firing Line with Margaret Hoover,” will lead an armchair discussion with the former president. Mrs. Bush will not be attending due to other schedule commitments. Following dinner will be a short presentation highlighting programs of the foundation and the “Timeless Values-Modern Experience” campaign for extensive renovations at the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum. Business dress/cocktail attire is requested. Jerry Fleagle, president and CEO of the Hoover Presidential Foundation, said the foundation board decided to honor President and Mrs. Bush with its first-ever Great Humanitarian Award just before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. “Everything came to a halt then,” Mr. Fleagle said. “We’re very pleased the president is coming now. A lot of people have fond memories of when he was president.”  

FYI:

To purchase sponsorships or tickets, visit hooverpresidentialfoundation.org/celebration-banquet.

West Branch plans for more visitors, residents

West Branch has welcomed hundreds of thousands of visitors over the years to see and hear the story of Iowa’s native son, President Herbert Hoover, visit his birthplace and gravesite and tour the museum and library.

Now, as the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum is ready to undergo a $20 million “reimagining,” West Branch officials are making plans for infrastructure improvements, new economic development projects, and other initiatives that will accommodate not only more visitors, but an expected growth in population. West Branch City Administrator Adam Kofoed, who took the job in his hometown about nine months ago, said the current population of just over 2,500 is expected to grow to 3,000 in the next couple of years. New housing, including traditional subdivision developments, mixed-use housing and an expansion of the city’s mobile home park, ensure a diversity of options for residents, a growing number of whom commute to academic, health care and other jobs in Iowa City and the region, Mr. Kofoed said. “We’re hoping to start some capital improvement projects in coordination with the expansion” at the Hoover site, he said. A reserve fund has been started for renovating the downtown park, possibly making it pedestrian-only. The city is also undergoing a hotel feasibility analysis. With additional visitors expected once the Hoover site project is completed in 2024, “we hope to have a second hotel, downtown,” he said. A Days Inn by Wyndham is the only hotel in the community now. Mr. Kofoed said he anticipates more visitors will bring more commerce, and perhaps some new retail businesses to the downtown area. Eighty percent of the businesses downtown are owned by women, he said. “Our downtown is still in quality shape. We’re really planning on the next couple of years that downtown will be a focus,” he said. Residential and commercial development is planned near the corner of Fourth and Main streets, he said. On the edge of town at Exit 254 off Interstate 80 is the newly constructed Parkside BP gas station, built by Advantage Builders of North Liberty. A planned unit development with a mix of residential and business is going in nearby, he said.