LOU HENRY HOOVER: UNSUNG HEROINE, PART II
House since Teddy Roosevelt dined with Booker T. Washington, a move Teddy never repeated after the backlash of public opinion against him for it. Lou understood that an invitation to Jessie DePriest could have very unpleasant repercussions. In spite of that, Lou Hoover sounded out other congressional wives and found a dozen or so who would not embarrass Mrs. DePriest and gave a separate tea for them.
When word of the invitation got out, several southern publications objected, saying that Lou Hoover had "defiled the White House." The Mobile Alabama Press charged that Lou had offered the nation "an arrogant insult." Social mixing of the two races would not do, newspapers claimed, especially in the nation's most famous home.
Lou Hoover's determination to hold the DePriest tea as scheduled, in spite of criticism, reinforced her growing reputation as egalitarian. She drove herself around Washington, and invited a wide variety of people to dinners. Woman's Home Journal noted that she "does not keep the rules, but mixes the great and the near-great with the obscure and the near obscure."
Any woman willing to brave such controversy and criticism might have been expected to be more open with the press. But Lou Hoover was far less open with reporters than she had been in her early days in Washington. White House reporters suffered such a dry spell that they resorted to unprecedented tactics to get stories and information. Bess Furman managed to get into the family quarters by posing as one of a group of girl scouts performing Christmas carols. She dressed in the traditional uniform with her hair tucked under her cap, and passed herself off as "one of the taller girls." She kept her face down, surreptitiously taking in details so she could write an account of how the President's family celebrated Christmas. Furman sent a copy of the article to Lou Hoover, who marked it "nice story" without ever discovering who provided the details.
In political matters, Lou took a much more traditional role as First Lady. If she ever disagreed with the President on any matter, she kept it to herself. She made her suggestions for economic recovery fit her husband's. Her public pronouncements on how to end the Great Depression reinforced her husband's belief in relying on volunteerism. Even after Herbert lost the 1932 election, she went on national radio to continue to encourage women to volunteer. She said that if everybody helped,
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