Irene Hoover papers

Collection

Identifier: IWA0472

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Scope and Contents

The Irene Hoover papers date from 1923 to 2001 and measure 10 linear inches. The collection includes folders concerning her family, Farm Bureau activities, activities with other organizations, her international visitors, and photographs. There are a few personal letters and a photocopy of a family photograph,but the collection consists primarily of publications, programs, and photographs of the various organizational events with which she wasinvolved. There are notes of undated speeches she delivered, as well as notes taken during the 1950 tour of Europe. The collection also contains good records of the visits of the international guests to Mahaska County duringthe 1960s. The bulk of the photographs depict groups of women at various organizational events.

Dates

Creation: 1923-2001

Creator

Hoover, Irene (1907-2001) (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

The papers are open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright held by the donor has been transferred to the University of Iowa.

However, copyright status for some collection materials may be unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility and potential liability based on copyright infringement for any use rests exclusively and solely with the user. Users must properly acknowledge the Iowa Women’s Archives, The University of Iowa Libraries, as the source of the material. For further information, visit https://www.lib.uiowa.edu/sc/services/rights/

Biographical / Historical

Irene Winifred Else Hoover, farm woman, 4-H leader, and volunteer, was born in Mahaska County and graduated from Oskaloosa High School in 1924. She married Carl W. Hoover, a fellow farmer, the following year. She devoted considerable time and care to their first child Elvin, who was born with significant health and developmental problems. Their second son Dale enjoyed an abundance of health, eventually graduating from the University of Chicago with a Ph.D. in Economics.

During their childhood, Irene Hoover led a girls' 4-H club. After they were older, she chaired the Mahaska County Farm Bureau Women's Committee and served on its state board. She attended the Associated Country Women of the World conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, in 1950 and represented the Iowa Farm Bureau Women at the annual meeting of the Rural Health Council of the American Medical Association in Portland, Oregon in 1956. That year, she was honored as a Master Farm Homemaker.

She became involved in international exchanges in the 1960s, hosting many visiting international guests. She was a member of the Board of Social Welfare of Mahaska County for twenty years, beginning in 1962. She served on the Iowa Legislative Study Committee for Mental Health in 1956 and 1962. Nominated as Iowa Mother of the Year, she became a "Merit Mother" in 1963. She co-chaired the Mahaska County Republican Party for four years and belonged to various women's clubs. She joined and was active at the national level in the Friends Church.

Her husband, Carl W. Hoover, died suddenly in 1973. Irene Hoover and her son Elvin Hoover moved to Raleigh, North Carolina in 1988 to be closer to Dale Hoover, then on the faculty of the University of North Carolina. Irene Hoover passed away September 2, 2001.