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
Hoover Acquires the Papers of Shuja Nawaz, Distinguished Journalist and Advisor on South Asian and Middle Eastern Affairs
The collection includes rare Pakistan Army documents, correspondence between Middle Eastern and Pakistani leaders during the Cold War, original research on U.S.-Pakistan relations, restricted materials on the Kashmir and 1971 wars, and Nawaz's investigation into the suspicious death of Pakistan's army chief in 1993.
News
"Beloved Afghanistan" In Focus: Hoover Acquires Õnne Pärl’s Photos
The nearly 15,000 photographs by Estonian journalist Õnne Pärl document everyday Afghan life from 2006 to 2008 — a more optimistic period of time following the fall of the Taliban's first regime. Scenes of schools, working women, and cultural traditions offer a tribute to the spirit of Afghan people.
Hoover Opens 30+ Exclusive Interviews With Cheney, Powell, Shultz, And Other Key Foreign Policy Leaders
More than thirty interviews with prominent political figures including Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, George Shultz, and Brent Scowcroft from journalist James Mann's collection are now open for research. They offer first hand accounts of high-level decision-making during pivotal moments in American foreign policy, including the lead-up to the Iraq War.
News
Hoover Acquires Rare Materials Related To Mengjiang United Autonomous Government, A Puppet Regime Sponsored By The Japanese During World War II
Established in Inner Mongolia during World War II, the Mengjiang United Autonomous Government collection includes a unique photo album of Prince Demchugdongrub's 1941 state visit to Tokyo and manuscripts by the regime's supreme political advisor, offering new insights into Japan's wartime occupation strategy in China.
News
Fighters of Both Hot and Cold Wars: Hoover Acquires Personal Papers of Nationalist Chinese Military Leaders
The personal papers of Liu Shun-yuan, Cheng Sung-ting, and Fred Wu-O Chiao, who fought on the pre-1949 Nationalist Chinese mainland and served in the military in post-1949 Taiwan for the Republic of China (ROC), are now at Hoover.
News
Hoover Acquires Wartime Journals Of Imperial Japanese Navy Captain Shimoda
These materials contain firsthand accounts of Pacific War carrier operations - from Pearl Harbor to Tinian - including original maps and rare reflections from inside Japan's naval air forces.
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.
