Herbert Hoover Museum Reopens Following Extensive Redesign
The busts of Herbert and Lou Hoover, modelled by Hollywood special effects artist Rod Maxwell based on historical photographs, may be touched by visitors.
© 2026 Jonathan David Sabin
(eap) The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum in West Branch, in the U.S. state of Iowa, reopens to visitors today following the most extensive renovation in its history. The presidential library and museum are dedicated to the life and work of Herbert Clark Hoover, the 31st President of the United States. The institution is located on the grounds of the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, which includes Hoover’s birthplace, other historic and reconstructed buildings associated with his life, and the gravesite of Hoover and his wife, Lou Henry Hoover. The Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum is one of 17 presidential libraries operated by the National Archives and Records Administration.
© 2026 Matthew Solari BRC Imagination Arts
The 20.3-million-U.S.-dollar modernization project is the first since 1992. The facility has been expanded by around 214 square meters – additions include a new lobby, an enlarged museum shop and a flexible exhibition space. The museum has also been brought up to modern standards in terms of accessibility, presentation and interpretation. Burbank, California-based BRC Imagination Arts was responsible for redesigning the exhibition and visitor experience. The project was financed through the Hoover Presidential Foundation’s “Timeless Values | Modern Experience” capital campaign.
Where the museum previously told a single chronological story, it now presents the parallel lives of President Hoover and First Lady Lou Henry Hoover as equal narratives – from their childhoods and marriage to several decades of humanitarian work and public service. This makes it the first U.S. presidential museum to treat a First Lady as an equal subject alongside her husband rather than merely as a supporting figure. The new exhibitions also reframe a presidency that has long been defined primarily by the Great Depression. The focus now includes Hoover’s humanitarian legacy and achievements that largely came before and after his time in office.
© 2026 Jonathan David Sabin
“This is the smallest presidential museum in the country, and we believe it now tells one of the biggest stories,” said Mundi McCarty, President and CEO of the Hoover Presidential Foundation. “What our preview visitors keep telling us is that they didn’t simply learn about Bert and Lou, they felt like they had spent time with them. That was the ambition from the start. The Hoovers devoted their lives to serving other people, most of it without any expectation of recognition, and if visitors leave here thinking about how they might do the same in their own communities, then everything our donors made possible will have been worth it.”
“Herbert Hoover is one of the most misunderstood presidents in American history, and most people walk in certain they already know his story,” said Matthew Solari, Vice President of Story and Creative at BRC Imagination Arts. “A hundred years of scholarship says otherwise, and our job was to put that research in front of people in a way they could feel rather than just read. There isn’t a single touchscreen in this museum. A lot of institutions don’t trust their story, or their audience, enough, so they reach for technology to compensate, and more often than not it clouds the very thing they were trying to say. Sometimes the most radical choice you can make is to put the technology away and let people spend time with the Hoovers instead.”
© 2026 Jonathan David Sabin
The guiding theme, “Lead an Uncommon Life: Serve, Lead, Make a Difference”, runs throughout the museum and culminates in the final gallery, “Uncommon Iowans”, where visitors are invited to make their own commitment to service. The gallery also houses an ongoing awards program recognizing public service among civil servants and students in Iowa. ■
