[Released November 18, 1930. Dated October 29, 1930]
My dear Miss MacVay:
I am heartily in sympathy with American participation in the celebration of the two thousandth birthday of Vergil, whose immortal works have so stimulated the imagination and enriched the cultural life of so many generations. So much of our language and literary are derived directly from the Latin classics that the study of them must ever remain an indispensable part of the training of one of the most valuable types of mind. The youthful struggles to master Vergil's lines have been forgotten by millions who in maturity recall only that he brought to life and the world about us a new meaning and fresh beauty.
Yours faithfully,
HERBERT HOOVER
[Miss Anna P. MacVay, Vice President, American Classical League, 418 Central Park West, New York City ]
Note: The message was read at a ceremony honoring the birth of the Roman poet, Publius Vergilius Maro. The ceremony, held in Carnegie Hall in New York, was sponsored by the American Classical League, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and a number of allied groups.
Herbert Hoover, Message on the 2,000th Birthday of Vergil. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/212447