Lou Hoover 1874–1944

The original version of this portrait was made in 1932, while Herbert and Lou Henry Hoover were still in the White House. A wealthy and exceptionally well-educated woman, Hoover’s privilege sometimes blinded her to the challenges that working presented for lower class women or those who maintained homes and raised children without domestic help. This disconnect alienated Hoover from much of the nation when the Stock Market Crash of 1929 brought on the Great Depression. Thus, many of her solutions, including women’s volunteerism and communal support, went over poorly, although they were similar to those later championed by Hoover’s equally wealthy yet vastly more empathetic successor, Eleanor Roosevelt.

The White House