The Depression and the memory of the Revolution

World War Wednesdays - Hoover 1930

Apr 23, 2026

Welcome new subscribers! This my World War Wednesday series, which I also call “Hellfighters.” Here I write about stories I find interesting, or simply unbelievable, often with a lesson I think we can use for today. I normally alternate between focusing on 1914-1929, and 1930-1945, with exceptions. The series is mostly, but not exclusively chronological.

Today, many Americans are not thrilled about the prospects of celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. I get it. Many look back at 1976, recalling the lingering feelings of angst and weariness from Vietnam and Watergate that were a shadow over the country. You feel the duty to celebrate but may not feel it. Others have instead looked back to 1926 and the sesquicentennial during the Roaring 20s, and the confidence projected by President Calvin Coolidge, longing for such days. What is lost in the messy feelings of today is that the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Declaration was also the beginning of the sesquicentennial of the Revolutionary War itself. Americans will have more to remember and celebrate over the next few years. I have my eye on 2031.

In late 1930, in the midst of the Great Depression, President Herbert Hoover faced a deteriorating economy and the loss of Republican control of Congress. And yet, 1931 was on the horizon. The president and Congress knew they could not pass on the duty to preserve American history, especially the important Yorktown Battlefield. The next year the country would celebrate General George Washington’s final major victory of the war, where he trapped and besieged the main British southern army under the command of General Lord Cornwallis. Supported by the Royal French Navy and Army commanded by the admiral Comte de Grasse, and the French Special Expedition commander-in-chief, Comte de Rochambeau. This battle forced British Prime Minister Lord North to see that the king’s cause was hopeless, and the Americans could not be denied. You may not feel 2026 right now, but think, what will you do to make America ready for 2031, Yorktown 250?

On December 30th, 1930, Hoover signed a proclamation putting into effect Congress’s July 3rd act creating a national colonial monument in Virginia to help preserve and build infrastructure to serve the public’s access to Williamsburg, Jamestown and the Yorktown Battlefield. I have included the text below. Remember it was the Depression; the times were bleak, millions struggling for work. And still, Americans determined to remember their origins, celebrate their heroes, and what they stood for. But who knew that America would be on the cusp of the New Deal in just two years, transforming the republic into a government capable of fighting the greatest war in history barely a decade later?

Proclamation 1929—Colonial National Monument-Virginia

December 30, 1930

By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

Whereas, by act of Congress of July 3, 1930 (Public, No. 510-71st Cong.), entitled “An act to provide for the creation of the Colonial National Monument in the State of Virginia, and for other purposes,” the President of the United States is authorized upon the recommendation of the Secretary of the Interior after an examination of certain areas, referred to therein, to establish the boundaries of and to establish and set apart as the Colonial National Monument for the preservation of the historical structures and remains thereon and for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, sufficient of the areas of Jamestown Island, parts of the city of Williamsburg, and the Yorktown battlefield, all in the State of Virginia, and areas for highways to connect said island, city, and battlefield; and

Whereas an examination of said areas has been made by the Secretary of the Interior and he has recommended certain boundaries within the limitations of the said act of July 3, 1930, for the establishment of the Colonial National Monument pursuant to the said act; and

Whereas it appears that the public interest would be promoted by the establishment of the boundaries as recommended by the Secretary of the Interior for the purposes of the said Colonial National Monument;

Now, Therefore, I, Herbert Hoover, President of the United States of America, do proclaim that the boundaries of the Colonial National Monument are hereby established to include the areas of Jamestown Island, parts of the city of Williamsburg, and the Yorktown battlefield, and areas for highways to connect said island, city, and battlefield as shown on the diagram attached hereto, and that, subject to the rights of owners of any lands therein, all lands within said boundaries as may be selected by the Secretary of the Interior pursuant to authority of law, including any and all Government-owned lands within said boundaries necessary in carrying out the objects of said monument as authorized by the act of July 3, 1930, shall be permanently reserved, set apart, and administered as the Colonial National Monument for the preservation of the historical structures and remains thereon and for the benefit and enjoyment of the people, Provided, That such parts of the connecting road between Williamsburg and the Yorktown battlefield as pass through the Navy mine depot may be closed to public thoroughfare by the joint order of the Secretaries of the Interior and of the Navy when in their judgment such action is deemed necessary or desirable in the public interest.

Nothing herein shall affect the property or other rights of individuals, partnerships, associations, corporations, or others, within the areas hereby designated as the Colonial National Monument.

The Director of the National Park Service, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, shall have the supervision, management, and control of this monument under the provisions of the act of Congress entitled, “An act to establish a National Park Service, and for other purposes,” approved August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535), and acts additional thereto or amendatory thereof.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington this 30”’ day of December, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and thirty, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and fifty-fifth.

HERBERT HOOVER