Lou Henry Hoover and the Girl Scouts
Juliette Low invested Lou Henry Hoover as a Girl Scout in 1917. From then until the end of her life, Lou Henry Hoover was actively engaged in the Girl Scout movement. She was a leader of Troop 8 in Washington, D.C. for ten years; a council member in Palo Alto, California; Chairman of the Girl Scout National Board of Directors; twice elected President of the Girl Scouts of the U.S.A.; and honorary president when her husband was President of the United States.
Although she was interested in all of Girl Scouting, the out-of-doors was her special love. An expert and enthusiastic camper, she was eager for all girls to experience camping. Day camping was introduced into Girl Scouting during Mrs. Hoover’s first term as President of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. Lou Henry Hoover’s love of open spaces and of outdoor living developed as a child when she went camping with her father. On these trips she learned facts and legends about rocks, flowers, trees, birds, and animals, in addition to acquiring skills for living in the outdoors.
These childhood experiences prompted her to major in geology at Leland Stanford University. There she met Herbert Hoover and later, a year after she graduated in 1898, married him. Mr. Hoover’s work as a mining engineer took them all over the world. Whether living in China, Mandalay, Japan, Australia, Russia, England, or the United States, Lou Henry Hoover always found and kept a nearby outdoor sanctuary. When the Hoovers went to live in the White House, they found a campsite in the wilderness in Virginia.
During her years in Girl Scouting, Lou Henry Hoover encouraged, and worked ardently toward, enlarging the scope of the Girl Scout program in the outdoors and raising its standards. She wanted girls to understand and do something about conservation and to have fun while learning to take care of themselves in the open.
In 1944, the National Board of Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. established the Lou Henry Hoover Memorial in recognition of her love of living things and her lifetime work toward the conservation of natural resources. The Lou Henry Hoover Memorial Sanctuary Project is a living memorial to a dedicated member of the Girl Scout movement. A natural area providing a setting where Girl Scouts can gain an understanding of the interrelationships of all forms of life. (source: archives.girlscouts.org)
