She has a charm of manner that immediately attracts one. She certainly attracted many young women to Scouting. In 1927 there were some 168,000 Girl Scouts in America. By the time of Lou's death in 1944, their ranks had swelled to 1,035,000. Lou Henry and Herbert Hoover relax on the deck of their cabin at Camp Rapidan, Virginia, August 2, 1930.
Every president needs a place to escape from the cares and burdens of office.
Those who visited the camp saw a very different man from the harried executive whose days were blighted by economic crisis. At Rapidan, Hoover could discard the formal gear of Washington for white flannels and a Panama hat. He pitched horseshoes with Charles Lindbergh and, sitting on a log with a British Prime Minister, made plans for a world disarmament conference to be held in London in 1930. Rapidan was Lou's creation as much as her husband's. When the Hoovers discovered that local children had no school they donated funds to build one and to hire a teacher.