| It was at this time that Lou
Hoover  took
an active interest in the Girl Scout movement. She was asked to be a
troop leader for a Washington, D.C. scout troop. Lou's love of young
people and her interest in the scouting movement led her to take over
Troop VIII. One project that Lou had the scouts do was to cultivate
a war garden. Lou actively directed the girls to plant plots of
vegetables.
Lou devoted many hours and much energy
to the Girl Scouts. She was a strong advocate
for girls being able to experience a love of the outdoors. She accompanied
the girls on hikes, visited camps, and took part in many Girl
Scout ceremonies.
After the Armistice was signed and World
War I was over, Lou turned her attention to the building project that
had been put on hold at the beginning of the war, their dream
house in California. She made preliminary architectural drawings
for the house. She liked fireplaces, and each main room had one. Of
course there was a fireplace outside for toasting marshmallows and wieners!
During the Presidency of Warren G. Harding, Herbert
Hoover was appointed Secretary of Commerce. It was back to Washington,
D.C. for the Hoovers. As the wife of a cabinet officer, Lou spent a
substantial amount of time entertaining. She
was a warm, gracious hostess. These duties did not interfere with her
work for the Girl Scouts. She served every branch of Girl Scouting from
troop leader, to president of the national organization, to national
board member.
"To me the outing part of scouting
has always been the most important. The happiest part of my own
very happy childhood and girlhood was without doubt the hours and days,
the sometimes entire months, which I spent in pseudo-pioneering or scouting
in our wonderful western mountains with my father in our vacation times.
So I cannot but want every girl to have the same widening, simplifying,
joy-getting influences in her own life." (LHH Speech,Girl Scouts
in Articles, Addresses, and Statements, LHH Subject File).
Lou Hoover also was a strong advocate of physical fitness
for girls and women, and she had a great interest in their health and
welfare. So it was natural for her to become involved in the women's
division of the National Amateur Athletic Federation.
In the 1920's men's and women's amateur
sports were expanding rapidly due to the press and radio coverage of
sporting events. A trend was established toward spectator sports and
professional athletes. One controversy which arose concerned participation
and competition in women's sports. Many physical educators, physicians,
and sports enthusiasts favored participation of women by the model of,
"A sport for every girl, and every girl in a sport." A division
arose between those who advocated mass participation in sports and those
who preferred elite varsity sports. There was also opposition to the
participation of girls and women in the International Olympic Games.
The concerns led to the establishment of the National Amateur Athletic
Federation. The federation became the forum for discussions about sports
on a national level.
Lou Hoover was named a vice president
of the NAAF with a challenge to organize a women's division. She was
aware of the issues facing women in  athletics.
There were philosophical differences over competition vs. participation,
issues of facilities and space for women, and a lack of qualified women's
coaches. Lou used her organizational skills to arrange a conference
in Washington, D.C. in April of 1923. The conference developed a model
of athletics for girls and women based on, "egalitarian principles,
and healthful sports activity." (Joan Hult, LHH, Champion for Girls
and Women's Recreational Sports, March 11, 1989).
The Women's Division managed some growth
and it established a policy for girls and women that stated a belief
in the: "promotion of competition that stresses enjoyment of sport
and the development of good sportsmanship and character rather than
those types that emphasize the making and breaking of records, and the
winning of championships for the enjoyment of spectators and for the
athletic reputation or commercial advantages of institutions and organizations."
(NAAF Policy Statement in LHH Subject Files, NAAF). This policy remained
unchanged until 1940 when the women's division merged with the American
Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation.
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