Collections
The Hoover Institution Library & Archives holds more than one million volumes and over 6,000 archival collections that document war, revolution, and peace and social, political, and economic change that shaped our world in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Search Our Collections
Our collections contain rare and unique library materials and archives that include posters, photographs, texts, sound recordings, moving images, and art and memorabilia.
Documenting war, revolution, and peace, along with political, social, and economic change in the modern era, our collections come from across the globe and in many formats and languages. Search and discover rare materials from all political persuasions which highlight a spectrum of voices and experiences that shaped the 20th and 21st centuries. Personal papers form the bulk of our collections, however we also have extensive photographica, digital records, rare publications, and other formats spanning roughly 30 miles of shelving and evergrowing terabytes of data.
Collecting Areas
Our curators oversee and actively acquire collections which currently originate from 171 countries.
Featured News
News
Reflections: A New Video Series By The Hoover Institution
A new monthly video series by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives highlights important historical objects and collections paired with reflections by Hoover’s expert curators, fellows, and other scholars.
News
Newly Cataloged Library Materials October 2024
From an informative world atlas and propaganda newspapers in Ukraine to the Mennonite experience in Russia and a historical children's book, these newly cataloged library materials are worth a visit to the Reading Room.
News
Hoover Acquires the Kevin M. Woods Iraqi Monographs Collection
This collection comprises writings collected by Dr. Kevin M. Woods, featuring ten monographs authored by Iraqi generals who served during the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988) and the Gulf War (1991). It also contains papers written by students of the Iraqi Staff College (1992), which is one of four colleges within the Bakr University for Higher Military Studies.
News
Hoover Acquires Materials Documenting The Forgotten Stories Of The Great Escape From Southern China To Hong Kong And Macao
The Hoover Institution Library & Archives has acquired the personal collection of Tan Jialo, which contains historical artifacts bearing witness to the great exodus of the late 1960s and the early 1970s.
News
Newly Cataloged Library Materials Summer 2024
From richly illustrated volumes on Belgian war lace and Commodore Perry’s Japan expedition to rare publications featuring satirical caricatures and Hitler’s natal chart, these newly cataloged library material are worth a visit to the reading room.
News
Hoover Acquires the Mann Randolph Page and John Archbold Hufty America First Committee Collection
The Mann Randolph Page and John Archbold Hufty America First Committee Collection has been acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.
Featured Collections
Japan and Japanese Diaspora Collections
These collections focus on social, political, and economic change from the Meiji (1868–1911) to post–World War II reconstruction (1945–52) periods in Japan and overseas Japanese communities.
Ukraine Collections
Covering the emergence and development of Ukraine as an independent state since 1991, as well as earlier periods.
Chiang Kai-shek & Chiang Ching-kuo Diaries
The Hoover Institution has been helping preserve the handwritten diaries of Chiang Kai-shek and his son Chiang Ching-kuo since Chiang family members deposited them at Hoover in 2005.
Policies & Practices
We continue to advance Herbert Hoover’s mission by fulfilling our strategic priorities of acquiring important historical collections on war, revolution, and peace. Our collections deal in subjects that encompass a broad range of human experiences. Policies and practices are in place to ensure that materials are cared for and made available for their ongoing use. Learn more about collection donations, description, digitization, preservation practices, and potentially harmful language and visual materials.
