THE HOOVER INSTITUTION: Library

We plan to run a series of postings on the Hoover Institution, past, present and future. A bibliographical basis for this is necessary. An essential item is Peter Duignan, editor, The Library of the Hoover Institution on War , Revolution and Peace (Hoover Institution, 1985, pp. 163). Trained as a historian of the Western world and later curator of Hoover's African collection, Peter, now emeritus and a former chairman of WAIS, has an unusually broad knowledge of international affairs. He has written three of the 12 chapters: 1) Origin and Growth 3) Use of Institution Resources, and 10) The North American and International Collections.

Established in 1919 at the end of World War I, the Hoover collection was housed in a storage area of the old library, and it was there that I first visited it in 1937 and met Ralph Lutz and Harold Fischer, both historians and very attractive people. The tower was dedicated in 1941. I recall that one of the speakers was the geographer Isaiah Bowman, an indication of the prestige then rightly enjoyed by geography. The main speaker was former President Herbert Hoover, who created the collection. In his introduction to the Duignan volume, former Director of the Hoover Institution W. Glenn Campbell quotes this from Hoover's speech: "The purpose of this Institution is to promote peace". I have a poster issued in 1994, when the Hoover Institution celebrated its 75th anniversary. Its heading, in large letters, is TO PROMOTE PEACE. There is much talk today about Hoover's returning its original mission. This is an attempt to justify the removal of the book collection to Green Library, but the original mission of the Hoover Institution was to promote peace. The documentary study of war, revolution and peace was essentially a means of promoting peace and avoiding war and revolution. In recent years, the institution has strayed from that mission. Now in this international crisis it is time for it to return to it. Of course, many are promoting peace, but the Hoover collection provides an invaluable instrument to study how this aim may be achieved. A domestic studies program was initiated in 1971 and became the equal of the international program.

In chapter 2, "The Library and Archives", John Dunlop says "The Hoover Institution is a specialized library, containing as of 1984 some 1.5 million volumes, 42,000, and 25,000 serial titles, with subscriptions to over 3,000 current newspapers and journals". It was considerably larger when the decision was made to strip Hoover of everything except its archives. Serials has already moved to Green Library, and the library will move as space is made available. As the only surviving member of the committee which first tried to establish a division of responsibilities between Hoover and the main library, I am acutely aware of the difficulties and pitfalls this involved, but it is clear to me that the library was viewed as an integral part of the Hoover Institution. I personally regard recent developments as a tragedy.

Ronald Hilton - 10/21/01