>> our weekly series of presidency highlights the politics, policies and legacies of u.s. presidents and first ladies. coming up next, the 31st presidents great grandson, albert hoover iii talked about how the herbert hoover museum and library in west branch iowa valve in the coming years. the smallest library and museum in the national archives presidential library system, it was dedicated a 1962 and then re-dedicated and ip 92 by former president ronald reagan. >> i welcome you to the special

virtual program featuring alan hoover the third, called reimagining the future, of hoover presidential library and museum. allen will discuss the history behind the building of the presidential library and how it has evolved over the years. and what lies ahead. we invite you to submit questions for allen throughout the presentation by using the events q and a feature you'll find along the edge of your screen. alan hoover the third is a great grandson of herbert hoover. allan grew up in sacramento, california and received a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from uc berkeley. he and his wife michelle have three children and live in a suburb of denver, colorado. allan has worked on engineering projects all across the country. he also serves on boards related to the herbert over legacy. allan also enjoys golf, surfing and traveling. however of these three

activities he's only skill that traveling. before we meet allan, and they show you this clip of the herbert hoover presidential library and museum dedication from august 10th, 1962. let's take a look! >> the library, thrilling records of supreme action by the american people. devoted and sacrifice to their ideals. someone said those who do not remember their past are condemned to relive it again. [inaudible] and these records there are --

made by a political opponents as well as the expression of a free nation -- we may hope that hoosier students will rely on our friends. [inaudible] [applause] and any event, when students become sleepy they may be awakened by an enlightened flash of american political nuance in these archives. >> hello, my name is allan hoover, great grandson of herbert hoover. and i am delighted to be here with you today to discuss the reimagining of the future, the herbert hoover presidential library and museum. now, we just witnessed great granddad last public address on october 10th, 1962.

which is a grand opening and dedication of his presidential library museum in west branch. i thought it would be a great idea to start this discussion by referring to the past. the ideals and the purposes that great granddad had hoped for this presidential library and museum. today, we will discuss and exciting new project to renovate this library and museum that we hope will invigorate a new generation of americans to learn from the past. in particular, to learn from the past of this iowa native son, herbert hoover. and i was native daughter from waterloo, liu henry hoover. all of this to help fill the mission of the hoover presidential foundation, to enhanced the understanding of the president and humanitarian. this is a project which i believe great grant that would

enthusiastically approve of. he's not here, so why is? that well, i think the video we just witnessed helps answer that question. he believed that we must continually look to the past and learn from the past so as not to make those mistakes again in the future and i couldn't think of a better place on the herbert hoover presidential library and museum for that to happen. in remaking this library is an important step in continuing to dynamically accomplish this goal. before i begin, i would like to share a couple of stories. some that tend to pop up from time to time, some more often than others. it tends to come up, one question comes up in particular quite a bit when i am giving speeches at rotary's or other hoover events or conversation over dinner. that question is, do you remember how old you were when you first learned that herbert

hoover was your great-grandfather? so, today, i thought the story would be a fun one to share. because i have a picture of that moment, when that happened. so, here is a picture, which i hope is what is on your screen. here is a picture of my great grandfather outside the waldorf astoria. and there i am, to the right of him, with my sports coat and, as the 70s style was, the big caller. of course, granddad was very well dressed, he always was. is you can see in this picture. so, to rewind probably about an hour or two, actually do that morning of that picture, i was at my grandparents home in connecticut. that's with my grandmother and

grandfather, i was in town by myself. who is something that each of us got to do once, we would go visit grandma and grandpa for a week. this year and have to be my turn. so, we are at the breakfast table and grandma said to my grandfather, she called him dad, she said dad, what do you think about meeting at the waldorf historian for lunch today? of course, granddad said yes, that would be terrific. later on, grandma and i went down, we went to the waldorf astoria. we walk in the front door to go to the restaurant. and the most unusual thing happened. everyone said, hello mrs. hoover, good to see you mrs. hoover, it's been so long to see you. and who is as with? you and she would say, oh, it's master hoover. i was amazed, no one had ever called me master before, i was just an eight-year-old kid. so then, we go and sit down. of course, the same thing over

and over, staff coming up and saying great to see you mrs. hoover. then, granddad showed up. all over again. mr. hoover, so great to see, you it's been so long, we're so happy you're here. all of a theme over again. i was sitting there and thinking, what in the heck is going on? these are my grandparents! is there something i don't understand here? so then, we had lunch and from then grandma turned to grant that and said, that, do you think we should show little owl 31 a? he, said that would be a fine idea. we finish, lunged over the elevator. their move this velvet rope so that we can go through. then there is a man who operates the elevator. and again, the same greetings. hello mr. hoover, hello mrs. hoover, so great to see you. we get into the elevator, we go upstairs. and there is 31 a. somebody was living there, so

we couldn't walk in. but we looked at it. i guess my grandmother recognized the look on my face, because as a boy i was looking at a door with a placard that said 31 a with no real understanding or context. graham attended granddad and said, that, don't you think we should show little alba plaque out front? so then, he says yes that would be a terrific idea. so we go downstairs and that's where this picture came to be, we are downstairs and the plaque is to the left of granddad in this picture. it is facing the street. so, i read the plaque, it said the new york of presidents, herbert hoover. the 31st president of the united states. and then it all made sense. oh my gosh, your dad was the president! it hit me like a ton of bricks.

then i looked at my grandmother and i said, grandma, this is amazing. can i take a picture of this plaque? my friends will never believe me at school. so, she was very kind and she let me use her camera. so, i took a picture of the plaque. let me see if i can get that. here, there it is! so you get what you paid for. i was the photographer, and a year old kid taking this picture. not the best light, but you can make it waldorf astoria, sort of, on the top. if you look really hard you can see herbert hoover in the middle of the black. maybe there was something going on, the reason why i couldn't get this picture very well, we will get into that a moment. here's what the plaque actually says. the last time i saw it was about 15 years ago. it was in new york, probably if it's still there or not. there is the plaque. new york of the presidents. herbert hoover. the workday, the date he passed,

his a list of accomplishments. the fact that he -- for 30 years proceeding his death. to his office, gets back to work, grandma and, i mom and i, we go back to her house in connecticut. i'm just amazed. i am floored. we can't believe this. -- when i get home, i share all this great news with mom and dad. can you believe this, mom and dad? they sit me down and here is a picture of, maybe this is a conversation, maybe not, and mom introduces me to the other facet of this. she talks to me about the importance of keeping a low profile. this was a really memorable week because it was the realization of what the hoover name is. my great granddad being a president. but also the responsibility in

carrying out that name, trying to honor that, carry out at work for bearers wishes as best as possible. the other story i would like to share is whenever i'm an iowa, i always think about another famous island. that is darling. many of you know ding darling. he was a celebrated cartoonist from the des moines register. he want to pulitzer prices while working for them. he was also a really good friend of herbert hoover. when hoover was president, he thought, wouldn't it be a great idea to have ding join us at camp wrap a new, which was his retreat while he was president from -- wasn't far away, it was in virginia, in the national forest. he met him there. after a while they decided to go for a horseback right. they went for a horseback

right. one of them, not sure which, one of them had this great idea, gosh, why don't we try to ditch the secret service? and so they did. they galloped off. the secret service could not keep up, or lost them, something happened. anyways, they lost them. then they thought, wouldn't this be a lot of fun if we go to the ranger tower and watch the secret service try to find us? so they did. they climbed up to the top of the watchtower and watched the secret service frantically trying to find their president of the united states and his good friend. i thought that it's always a lot of fun to think about doing, my granddad. while the secret service, maybe they're still searching for him, i don't know, probably not by now, but i would like to spend a little bit of time today discussing iowa's native son, in my great-grandfather, herbert hoover. i would also like to discuss an

important legacy of his accomplishments. that is the herbert hoover presidential library museum. the hoover library museum is one of 13 national archives -- presidential library. of course, i was only presidential library museum. if you don't mind, if you could open up your question and answer box, it's located at the bottom of your screen. feel free to enter your answers in the question and answer box. i would like to just kind of see who in this audience has ever been to the hoover presidential library museum. just add a comment really quick. okay. okay, great. all right.

excellent! wonderful! lots and lots of people. let me ask one more question. when was the last time you visited the herbert hoover presidential library museum? you don't have to be specific, you can just say the year. which every year it was, you don't have to get to specific. great, lots of recent ones. terrific. for those of you who have not had the chance, first, for those who had a chance, you know it's a terrific tribute to iowa's only president, our 31st president. for those of you who have not had a chance to visit the hoover library museum, it's a hidden gem in plain sight, in iowa. just located minutes off of interstate 80, exhibit 2:54, in west branch. it's a gem waiting to be

explored. the library museum is in the middle of 180 acre national park, one of only two national parks in the state of iowa. the best part of the national park is just end up at the grave site and looked down the hill, if you have not done this before, for those of you who have, you know how special this is. you stand at the edge of the grave site, you look down the hill to a corridor of tree. through that corridor of trees, in that corridor you see my granddad's birthplace cottage. it's a great message. he really wanted to ensure americans, iowans, everyone who visited saw, a person from humble beginnings such as his could go on to accomplish such great things in life, such humanitarian efforts we, a long record of public service to the united states and the world. it's an inspiring sight. a small, little two bedroom cottage that house five people. not far from that cottage is a

replica of his father's blacksmith shop. his father's blacksmith shop, if you ever had a chance to visit, it if you visit in the future, i hope you, a funny story comes to mind about that blacksmith shop. it is truly an iowa win story. a great granddad was a young boy, his father was working as a blacksmith. he said, great granddad went and visited his father while he was working in the shop. just like many young boys want to do. what is that up to? he went into the blacksmith shop. boys, sometimes they have a mind of their own, if you have voice, you really understand this. he walked in without shoes on. he got a little too close to where dad was working. he stepped on a very hot coal. the sides the fact that it probably hurt like, it left a mark on his foot that was there

for the rest of his life. he affectionately called it his brand of iowa, or his mark of iowa. that mark of iowa was with him every step of the way when he was a stanford undergrad, through his mining career in australia, china, all over the world, during his humanitarian efforts, it was with him. when he helped save 6 million belgians from starvation. of course, the world war i efforts, when he helped, was the food administrator for europe, saving many lives. also, as a participant of the paris peace conference. his days as secretary of commerce. of course, when he was in the white house and walked the halls of the capital, the white house, that mark was always with him. all the way to his post presidential years until his death, when he returned to iowa, in october of 1964. perhaps just as impressive, one

thing to look back on a great granddad's life was, not only was he president himself, he also served under five other u.s. presidents. great granddad, during all those years, always looking for ways to be innovative and embrace new technologies. during his years as commerce secretary and president, he was the first person to appear on a broadcast of experimental television. imagine that today. we are doing it right now, how easy this is. he also organized the air traffic system to aid aviation. he was also the first to use a teleprompter. who else but herbert hoover had the foresight to see the importance of water management along the colorado river? secretary of commerce under -- he brought california, nevada, arizona, utah, new mexico, colorado, and wyoming, all states that had water with in the colorado river, he brought them all together to agree on the colorado river compact

which gave the hoover dam all the benefits of hydro electric power. just that dam alone, the entire compact now provides water to 18 million customers, power generated by turbines. 2 million customers in nevada, california, and arizona. today, there are 15 dams in the colorado river that provide recreation as well as hydroelectric power and water to many metropolitan areas across the west. this just touches on the service of what you would find in the museum. here is a photo of great granddad on the same day, august 10th, 1962, on the day of the grand opening and dedication. he was there with his friend, harry truman, as they opened the library and walk through the front doors.

and then here is a picture of what the library looked like shortly after that dedication. it serves as a depositary his presidential papers and artifacts from friends and foes alike, as he said in his video earlier. the museum has been expanded three times since then, last in 1992 and ronald reagan came and re-dedicated the museum. and it's fill the still the smallest, by far, of the 13th presidential libraries and museums. but it's great granddad said if his libraries anything like the federal government it will grow larger overtime. and he was right. it did grow during its 30 years of existence and, back in 1992, the library was transformed and visitation reached record levels. many iowans and americans learned, who were inspired by the hoover story, in a modern way. since then, the methods for

presenting a captivating, immersive visitor experience have changed dramatically. 20 years ago, think of this, think of how much has changed since 1992. back in 1992, we made a portable telephone call on a bag phone, perhaps the size of your computer. or the size of your suitcase. and perhaps you are on that phone as you are driving to blockbuster video, if you around then. then you remember blockbuster video. perhaps you are going to get the brand-new release of the schwarzenegger film total recall. today, we simply pull out our iphone and we can watch hundreds of thousands, countless shows and movies. all kinds of media, just on our phone with the click of a button. by the way, there is no rewind fee is when you have your

iphone. also 28 years ago, microsoft launched the revolutionary windows three point oh. windows three point allowed you to read more than one program at once. but of course, those of you who ran it knew you couldn't run more than two or three or your computer would crash. the other revelation item that came out of windows three point oh was this guy, the mouse. you could now he is a mess with your computer to operate it. think of the changes that have happened since then! as an example, here we are, speaking with you all across the country. i'm here in colorado, it's being transmitted from west branch, iowa to all parts of the country, to wherever you are today. and it's just all just like that. a lot has changed since 1992. so, here we are, 2021, and the museum is showing its age. the nearly 60-year-old hoover

museum, with his last renovation almost 30 years ago, has lettering falling off the stories of the post presidency year. flat screen televisions replace broken tube tvs years ago, yet they don't fit in the cut outs correctly. interactive exhibits from parts with 30 years ago cannot be repaired, because the parts no wrong longer remain. it is time to update the museum. i'd like to share with you why we are also excited about this renovation. we are fortunate that last year, b r c imaginative arts from burbank, california completed a concept design. i want to share some of their really exciting images with you today. now, this first picture is not very exciting. but i just would like to show you the general idea of the layout of the library. this is the layout of what it

looks like now, and the basic idea idea of what they're thinking about with the galleries will look like. the thing i'd really like to point out in this picture is you would walk in the entrance, have the opportunity to see a movie titled 31, which is like a movie trailer, to entice you to learn more about great granddad and great grandma. then after the movie, you can go to this hub, which i have my cursor over. from that have, you can go to different parts of the gallery, however you choose, he can at a c's early life or you can see his later life. the site is probably a little bit easier, not quite of an eye charge, easier to see how it will actually work. he'll come in from the welcoming, into that hub and then you can choose to go to any one of these spokes, however it suits you. if you want to do it in chronological order, you can. you can come up here and see

chapter one and two of his life, as life of adventures when it's titled. if you prefer, you can go straight to chapter three through chapter seven, which is his years as a humanitarian with the belgian relief fund all the way to his passing and his years of hope. so, i'd like to show some of these to you to give you a better idea of what's some of the images are possible for whet b r c is helping us put together. these images may not be exactly what will happen, but they are some of the ideas are presenting to us. so, this image is in chapter two. it is a circle over the area of where something like this could be. this would be a recreation of a mine. perhaps the mine in australia where he cut his teeth as a mining engineer. it could have stories of his different mining experiences all across the world. whether it was in malaysia, in

russia, in china. this would talk a lot about some of those early years as a mining engineer and have some of the stories about how he was a doctor of sick minds and a real immersive experience of what it would be like to be in a mine. perhaps like he was. maybe the sounds in the background of a drill cutting through rock. maybe some rocks falling and different sounds that could make it a really immersive experience. another photo, moving on to his years where he was really globe-trotting around the world. this idea is the possibility of a train station where each window represents a different place around the world that he visited as a doctor of sick minds. for example, could be a storyboard of russia at ticket window number three, or possibly about china at ticket window number two. so, it's kind of, again,

another interesting and immersive way to describe the story. a way that is much more like 2021 than 1992. here is another possibility, a recreation of the red house. the red house was where lou henry and herbert hoover lived in london. this would be kind of a recreation of that house. because that was kind of the center of all their activities that they did. it's kind of the landing point of all of their trips around the world. in this mockup of the red has above the fireplace could be what you see there, a mirror which would really be a video of stories of what they experienced during those years. then on to the presidency. this one is very exciting, because the idea is it would be an oval room. not necessarily a replica of

the oval office but it would be an oval room. that would begin, say, with these blue colors. immersive experience. where it is intended to created a motion will tie for all of the visitors. in this case, it would start off with great granddad presidency, with his ideals and his hopes for the american people to increase their standard of living. then it could transform to the wall street crash. same room, different colors around. then those hopes were dashed. after the wall street crash in 1929 in october, all of that was changed to where it became managing in trying to help get the country out of the great depression. so, i hope this part really describes how immersive and how exciting and how new and refreshing we hope that the renovation will be to engage

americans. i just wanted to show this last piece because, after he passes in 1964, the story would continue on with this gallery talking about his hopes for the future. again, kind of another area where you can go and pick and choose. areas of his hopes for the future. for example, if you're interested in the harbor institution, which he considered the greatest accomplishment in his lifetime, you can go to that gallery and learn a little bit more about that. or perhaps, if you're interested in his public works projects that he was involved with such as the hoover dam, there could be an exhibit on that. for the lawrence seaway project that was a vital component of his time while he was secretary of commerce and his time in aviation, the faa creation. another gallery there is 100 million lives saved, which could be kind of a summary of all the relief efforts, the many relief efforts, that he did on behalf of the american

people. throughout his lifetime. i wanted to share this with you because i just thought that b r c has done just a terrific job. they wanted to share that with you, to see what we have seen. and share some of that enthusiasm with the future that we see for the library and museum. i can remember as a, boy visiting the library museum and there were glass cases everywhere. great big open space with cases and different memorabilia and papers and that sort of thing. then, in 1992, the hoover presidential foundation along with hoover director richard smith led an effort to make the museum new again. i remember the first time i visited the library after that renovation i remember i felt that all the glass cases were gone and i was transported into

herbert's life. as you walk through the galleries onto their life. so, that was terrific for 1982. but i think would have just shown you is perfect for 20 2022, 2023 and beyond. we hope it creates new inspiration so the world can learn about these great americans. for the hoover presidential foundation, this is our dream. and it is time for this dream to become reality. fortunately, we have a dedicated board of trustees that are looking towards the future. late last year b r c imaginative arts created their design, which i just shared with you today. you may have also seen some of their work at the lincoln presidential library in springfield, which is absolutely terrific. if you haven't visited it, i encourage you all to do so. it's really amazing.

well, we are very early in the process but the goal is to have the updated, interactive in immersive museum exhibit to engage all visitors about herbert and lou henry hoover. just like a 92, the museum can be made new again with a new generation saying the museum for the first time. some seeing it again with a new experience. young people of iowa can be inspired to become the next leader, to help millions of americans from the devastating flood like the one great granddad organized in 1927. or perhaps your son or daughter can go to wes branch and seek to be the first person to organize famine relief efforts, to save tens of millions of lives like he has done in world war i and world war ii. or even simply, as craig randolph said at the very beginning of our discussion here today, just to learn from history that were not condemned to repeat it. not only will we be say seeking

funds from the private sector for the renovation, with hoover presidential foundation has also been working with the state government of iowa. you may have seen or heard about a legislative bill that has been introduced in iowa legislature, called the hoover tax credit. it is a onetime request of the state of iowa, which is mirrored after the indo iowa tax credit. it is it -- would be a 25% credit on your iowa taxes, if you choose to support and donate to the hoover presidential museum renovation project. we still have to raise the money but, with the 25% incentives for iowans to donate, , we would like to make this an iowa project that all i winds and everybody involved can be proud of. so far, many legislatures including representative bobby kaufman and senator zach walsh, as well as the critical

leadership of governor kim reynolds, are increasingly leading this bill through the government. so this can be a reality. we are very grateful for their help and their support. i can't stress this enough, we can take anything for granted. this bill is vital to the success of this effort and we need to make sure this crosses the finish line. for my friends and iowa, if you can do just one thing today, please contact your state representative and your state senator, letting them know that you support this bill and you support the re-imagination, the re-creation of the herbert hoover library presidential museum in west branch. believe, me after visiting with some of these folks, all it takes is just a few letters to each representative around the state. and it will make all the difference. if you can, we would be extremely grateful for your efforts, as it is a simple

thing that everybody can do to help get this bill across the finish line. lastly, i would just like to reiterate that we are all grateful that the hoover presidential foundation, the family and everybody involved with this project, we are so grateful for the people of iowa. both houses of legislature, governor kim reynolds. for helping this project become one step closer to reality. the fact is great granddad could have put his presidential library anywhere. but he felt a strong pull towards placing it where his life began in west branch. he always viewed wes branched with the eyes of a child, where he had many fond memories of growing up before being orphaned at the age of ten and going off to oregon to live with his uncle. it is iowa that was the beginning of a remarkable story. it is here where americans can also be inspired to create their own story.

our goal would be to have a grand rededication for the herbert hoover presidential library museum by august 10th, 2024, which coincidentally would be great granddad's 150th birthday. who of course, we need your help in achieving this goal. we can't do this without you. our loyal hoover supporters who believe and what he and louis henry hoover did in their lifetimes, and what they stood for. because of that, i would like to close with a short quote of the chief giving a speech in west branch about his beliefs in the american people. >> one of his most during moments came when he visited his birthplace in west branch, iowa and he delivered his inspiring message, and american creed. >> america is a land of self respect. self respect is born alone a free man and free women.

it is a moral and spiritual qualities and free men that fulfill the meaning and the dream of the word american. with, them will come centuries of further greatness throughout our country. >> thank you for that presentation, allan, that's a lot of great information. we are open for questions from the audience, if anyone would like to use a q&a feature that was used before. please go ahead and type in those questions that we will get right to those. while we are waiting for those, you mentioned the 25% tax credit. you recently went to the capital and met with many of those legislators and the governor. how do you feel about that meeting that you had there? and historians from the people you met while you are at the capitol? >> well, it was terrifically amazing. it was very humbling to see the support.

we spent two days there, the first day we spent with house and senate legislators. we met with probably two dozen leaders on every position, both sides of the aisle. majority leader, as minority leaders. we met with the speaker of the house. every one of them was so enthusiastic about this bill, but this project that their native son, herbert hoover. where is the speaker of the house, we met with him to talk about this project. as we walked out, we notice there was a grand portrait of herbert hoover walking out. that was certainly, i thought, a positive sign. as well as meeting with the governor again in her office, there is another very large portrait of herbert hoover. also lieutenant governor adam greg had a bust of herbert hoover in his office.

as you're so humbling to see how they still revere this great american, so many years after his death. we feel very confident, the governor is completely committed to helping get this tax bill across. and every legislature we met with felt the same. he gave some statements at the house subcommittee meetings, in which it was unanimously passed through. same with the senate subcommittee later that day. again, a unanimous support. and it was passed on. i lasted are standing was that the house ways and means committee passed the bill, 41 to 2. so, it seems like there's really good support. we are hopeful of its passage. but you know, again, we can't take anything for granted. to give you an idea of how important this is, we think we

need to raise about 23 to $25 million for this project. when you add everything all together. the hoover tax credit is basically representing 20 million of that $25 million. the way it works is, for all iowans, if they're using the indo iowa tax credit, they -- the end of iowa tax credit to $6 million in tax credits. which, at that same 25% you mentioned, brad, it's luncheon to $24 million and funds raised. those credits and those funds rates this past year was accomplished in one month by the end of january. in past, years when i did a little research on their website, they've actually had wait lists for people to use this tax credit in future years. so, our period of time, the bill is being pushed by governor reynolds, it's $5

million in tax credits which is leverage to $20 million and funds raised. we have a three-year window to get that done. so, i think, just recognizing how successful the into how iowa program is, it leads us to be, with the way things are, going it's looking very good with this bill. this gives us a great shot to reach our goals sooner than later. >> it's certainly an exciting opportunity. and to see the support that's coming from the state for that. and then you have, it's not necessarily just for big donors. i understand it depends on what the final bill looks like, but there is wording in there so that donors of all different levels will be able to participate. can you speak to that a little bit? >> brad, you probably know little bit more about that than i.

but yes, i'm glad you brought up that point there. there is provisions for certain portions of the funds to be reserved for people donating under a certain threshold. it can't remember precisely, brad, was it? under $10, 000, i think. to ensure that all islands can participate and have the opportunity to. at the end of the day, we really want this to be and iowa in project, along with help from others outside of the state. but the thing that i have come to learn and realize, and now really appreciate, as how support of the people of iowa have been through all of this. so we're really looking forward to getting started on this. >> is there any way to involve all walks of life from iowa to get the benefit of that tax credit to.

linda and nathan hopkins are with us today they would like to know, is the federal government doing anything to support this project? >> that's a terrific question. so, let me just provide a little bit of history of that. when the original library was opened, all of the documents insights were donated and i believe the, building the construction of it was all donated to the federal government in a letter in 1960. in exchange for, at that time, the general service administration's agreement to operate and maintain the library. i'm not familiar, there are renovations and, 70 71, around that period. then of course, the renovations in 1982, which i understand that the foundation cover the cost of the galleries. and the national archive were kicked administration, part of gsa, they took care of all the

building upgrades. for example, norah we'll have new conditions, new requirements. so, they had agreed at that time to do that. but that was also done with the help of senator mark hatfield at the time, it was a tremendous champion of herbert hoover. he was able to get an air mark attached to a bill that enabled the funding of about seven or $8 million to take care of the building upgrades. so, the foundation took care of the rest and the funds were raised in the museum was renovated by 1982. so, today, we expect something similar to that. we have received quotes from b r c imaginative arts of what the galleries would cost. we have that piece of the pie. -- has been hired to determine with all the building upgrades would be. as being priced up, we hope to get that price here sometime in the next month.

and then that would be the starting point where we would go visit with the national archives. we have the family and a couple members of the board of trustees who met with the national archivist just to give him an update here recently. in order to help facilitate the participation. since, just like a 1992, we have recently learned that your marks are back. we learned that from the national archivist. so, that was really great news. because of, that we had a meeting with senator grassley here next week to give him an update and to just let him know what's our thoughts are and what our hopes are of participation from nara. but there is a lot of work to be done,, there were just getting started and we're really excited. the archivist, he is very excited. we shared with him what was going on.

also, i have a feeling that senator grassley wants to, we also reached out to senator surely and other members of the iraq delegation. but the answer the question, that was a long way to get there but we do hope that, while we do anticipate nara a chip in for building upgrades, particularly the ones because of covid changes and things to that do to nara regulations. >> super. the museum, as it stands today, tells an immersive story that really draws you in and gets you close and personal with herbert hoover and the things he's done. but as you mentioned it is doing things with technology that's 30 years old. there's not a lot of high technology in this current exhibit. mj is asking, will there be -- what kind of upgraded technologies can we see? she's asking, will there be things like holograms of the new exhibit?

>> okay, well that is a great question. let me see if i can go back to -- here we go, let me share my screen. right there. okay, can you see my screen okay? should be the oval office exhibit. this is a possibility. now, again, it's all conceptual, nothing is nailed down. but this could be an example of where you look behind the desk, you see in the back of the picture, that could be a hologram. something like that. the thing i am really excited about is this idea of an immersive experience that you could see. with the mine in the earlier picture and this one. the idea is to, really, get the visitor to draw an emotional connection. for those of you who have been to the lincoln library, i

remember going through and definitely some of the ups and downs, just emotionally, going through. the thought is, when you have that emotional connection, then you tend to remember the story. you remember what you learned much better, had you not had that emotional connection. the holograms and the other things to try to make it immersive are, that's where b r c comes in and guiding us to do that. because, at the end of the day, this is all about educating americans about herbert hoover and louis henry hoover. their accomplishments in life and where we can learn from them. that emotional piece that comes with some of this technology, it's really important. now, on the other hand, we have to be careful not to go too crazy with technology. because it has to be updated, and has to be maintained in case something breaks.

now, of course, 30 years ago, we had new technology that now we can't replace some of it because it's too old. there's a balance of having really good technology but also having it so that you can maintain it for the next ten or 15 years, so that when it comes time for the next renovation, it's not completely obsolete and is still relevant. not obsolete yet but still relevant. so, when we get the next renovation, we can come in with the new stuff. we don't want anything to be obsolete within five years, that would be a problem and very costly. we're trying to be very mindful of that balance. >> you'd also just mentioned that we are telling a story, it's really both herbert and lou henry her hoover, but today's exhibit talked about lou henry hoover in a very small way. there's a few places in there

where we get to look at her and she was such an amazing force of her own. how will the new exhibit deal with lou henry as an individual? >> well, that's a great point. the existing exhibit, it's terrific. really fantastic but unfortunately, like you mentioned, lou henry gets lost because that common cards, as we've seen, when people passed the exhibit where lilly explores liu henry life. in this case, lou henry is going to be woven into the fabric and the intention is throughout the exhibit. not just in a certain spot. as she was just an influential person in his life. just as an example, -- . liu henry was fluent in many languages, she could speak it,

she could write it, she had a real gift for language. they came across this book called a guerrero of darren metallica, which was a book of old mining practices. but the problem is it was written in a form of latin that was mostly lost. there were terms in the book that the author made up. , because there is no other way to describe these practices are this maneuver or how things were done. and so it, great grant that had the fortune of knowing a little bit about mining. and great grandmother knew about all kinds of language, she knew latin. so the two of them as a labor of love, worked on it on steam ships. in a red house in london all sorts of places where a number of years, working to translate that text. eventually, they were successful. they did. it was a really important book that was translated.

so much so that she and great granddad one a, i don't remember the exact name of the award, but they won a medal for their work on it. also she's had some really amazing other accomplishments. she was the first person to graduate with a science degree from stanford many years ago. she was on, the story that always comes to mind was when they were in ten cnn during the bye for a billionaire in the middle of a siege that lasted about a month before the marine save them. choose the one sweeping bubble is off of the porch of the hotel there's dana and feeding the people in the compound. making sure they're cared for. also, when she was later on the first lady, he was honorary president of the girl scouts. but she took it very seriously. ultimately became the actual president of the girl scouts later on. and she's the person that came

out with the idea for the girl scout cookies as a fund-raiser for the girl scouts. which is still around today, thanks to her great idea of girls bake a girl scout cookies and selling them. now it's different, but the idea still there. that's just touching the surface of her accomplishments. there's many more that will be explored in the new, renovated library. we'll be incorporating the fabric of great granddad's life throughout that museum not just in one place. so we're really looking forward to that were excited about that as well. >> sure. iowans and people from west branch especially, they take great pride in having the presidential library here and that he selected it here. he only lived here for nine years. and then was a man of the world, did great things all over the world.

try to put his presidential library really anywhere. maybe stanford was always near in dear to his heart as well. but he'd return to west ranch. why is that you think that he chose west branch for his library and his final resting place? >> i think it's uniquely america. a couple of things come to mind. first is his birthplace cottage. that was something that my great grandmother helped organize in the 40s, perhaps even earlier. it was to buy the birthplace cottage and have that kind of as a memorial. because it was such an american story of a humble beginnings, of somebody with a desire to make a difference going on in the world. from a small town in iowa. and we have lots and lots of

small towns across the country, many people from small towns across the country. it's a very inspiring way for americans to step up and participate and volunteer to do things to better their neighbors and their friends lives or, in his case, people across the notion that he never even knew. to help them with their standard of living, with some of the relief efforts that he led on behalf of the american people. so, that's one part. the second part, i think, it's in his later years when you see videos like the one that we showed at the end today. there were huge crowds of people that showed up. now he mentioned the mark of an eye win that he had, that he carried with him throughout his life. i think when he came back for special events in his later years and life, when he came back for the rededication, birthday parties, there were always huge throngs of i winds

that came to pay respect to him. i think that really touched him. just my opinion, i don't know this for a fact. but i think that really left an impression on him of why it was so important that the library and museum be in west branch. and when he passed, there was an incredible showing of support. fourth family saw that, was pressed dissipating and that. things like that are very humbling to see the support of somebody who worked hard to help improve the betterment of people around the world. i think that connection really rings true and i think it's still rings true today for what we have at the state house and legislature. a couple weeks ago. >> really appreciate you spending this afternoon with us today, sharing your family

stories with us and the photos and all. it was a great presentation and we thank you so much for your time today. >> well, thank you. by the way, just on the chat box that the black about astoria still there. so, there is another touch point great grand out of the world that still going strong.

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