| Lou attended a lecture by a
famous geologist from Stanford University. What Professor
J.C. Branner had to say in that lecture struck a chord deep within
Lou. He spoke to the students about a subject dear to her. After the
speech, Lou approached Dr. Branner, and told him of her love of the
outdoors and she also inquired about the study of geology for a woman.
With Dr. Branner's encouragement, and that of her parents, Lou Henry
enrolled in the Department of Geology at Stanford University. She was
the first woman in that major at Stanford. Among
her studies was Latin, one subject that would later prove invaluable
to her.
While at Stanford, Lou met
a senior assistant of Dr. Branner named Herbert Hoover. Hoover was one
of the pioneer students at Stanford since he would be in its first graduating
class.
At a dinner hosted by Dr. and Mrs. Branner, Lou and
Herbert found out that they had quite a bit in common. They had been
born within 100 miles of each other in Iowa, they were both geology
majors, and they both loved to fish. In Lou Henry,
Herbert Hoover saw a young woman who was self-reliant and able to live
the life of a geologist.
After graduating from Stanford
in 1898 with a degree in geology, Lou returned to her family home in
Monterey. It was here that she received a cabled proposal of marriage
from "Bert" Hoover. Herbert Hoover was to come to California
from Australia via London to marry Lou, and right after the wedding
they were to board a ship that was sailing to China!
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