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Lou Henry Hoover's Story
Lou and Bert Hoover sailed for China on February 11, 1899 the day after they were married at Lou's home in Monterey, California. They took along every book they could find on China to read during their month long journey aboard the S.S. Coptic.
Tientsin would be their home for the next 14 months. Tientsin was a sprawling city flanked on one side by the Peiho River. Lou and Bert's home was in the Concession a foreign settlement populated with people from Britain, France, Russia, Japan, and the United States.
Two weeks after arriving in China, Bert soon began his travels to different sites looking for gold for the minister of mines. Lou stayed behind in Tientsin and occupied her time by reading and studying the reports Bert sent back. On Bert's return they examined the ore samples he gathered.
Lou collected geological specimens and sent them back to Dr. Branner at Stanford University for the geology department. A task she would continue to do for the rest of her life.
Lou took Chinese lessons and learned to speak the language quite well. Bert never became a fluent Chinese speaker. Later in life, when Lou wanted to say something privately to Bert in a crowd, she spoke in Chinese. Hoo Loo was Lou's name in Chinese; and Hoo Yah was Bert's.
Sometimes Lou went with Bert on his trips. They traveled by canal boat, carts, mule, sedan chair, and horseback. Lou sketched the country and the people wherever they went.
Conditions while traveling were difficult, but Lou made the best of it; often sleeping on grass mattresses and quilts a top a kang (the wide brick shoulder of the fireplace). She kept warm through the night from the tiny charcoal blaze in the fireplace.
Lou fell in love with China, but difficult times were coming. The young emperor of 
China had brought foreigners in to develop mines, build railways, and improve harbors. But some Chinese feared the influence of Westerners. The Empress Dowager seized control of the government and in the spring of 1900, a group called the I-ho-ch'uan (called the Boxers in English) vowed to rid northern China of all foreigners, and any Chinese associated with the foreigners.
On June 16, the 25,000 Boxers surrounded Tientsin and began burning houses between the Concession and the city. The night sky was ablaze with the city on fire. In the morning, bullets whizzed throughout the city and shells fell everywhere. The siege lasted for 29 days.
Lou gathered sheets and bandages for the hospital. Riding her bicycle close to the walls of buildings to avoid stray bullets.
Lou had several close calls. The front tire of the bicycle she was riding was pierced by a bullet; and one afternoon while she was playing solitaire in her home, a shell tore through a back window and exploded blowing out the front door. It is said that Lou calmly went on with her game of cards.
Hearing that relief was just across the river, Lou and Bert climbed to the top of the barricade. They saw soldiers marching. First came the Welsh Fusiliers and then the Americans marched into the Concession. The reinforcements drove the Chinese back. The siege ended on July 14, 1900.
News from the outside world began to arrive. In one newspaper, Lou found her obituary. It was three columns long. "I'll never be this famous again," she laughed. She immediately wired her family that she was safe.
Lou and Bert left China in August of 1900 sailing to London. On board the ship Lou spent much of her time writing about their experiences. The manuscript resides in the holdings of the Hoover Presidential Library.
To read more about this courageous lady, check out Notable Americans, published by Morgan Reynolds Inc., Lou Henry Hoover: The Duty to Serve by Nancy A. Colbert.
Memoirs of Herbert Hoover | Lou's Story | Letter to Evelyn
Christmas 1899 | Using Primary Sources with Students
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Last updated: August 15, 2007