Wikipedia

Irma Hopper

Hennetta Irma Prichard Hopper (July 14, 1890 – January 29, 1963) was an American fencer, singer, and songwriter. She competed in the women's individual foil events at the 1924 and 1928 Summer Olympics.

Irma Hopper
A white woman standing before a brick hearth, holding a fencing foil
Irma Hopper in fencing gear, from a 1926 publication
Personal information
Birth nameHennetta Irma Prichard
Born(1890-07-14)July 14, 1890
Galesburg, Illinois, United States
DiedJanuary 29, 1963(1963-01-29) (aged 72)
New York, New York, United States
Sport
SportFencing

Early life and education

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Irma Prichard was born in Galesburg, Illinois, the daughter of James R. Prichard and stepdaughter of Etta Stephens Prichard. Her father was a judge.[1][2] She was a singer, and trained for a stage career, earning her diploma at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1917.[3]

Career

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Wartime service

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Hopper served in the Women's Motor Corps during World War I.[4] She was one of the first relief workers on the scene at a munitions plant explosion in Morgan, New Jersey, in 1918.[5]

Music and writing

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Hopper wrote music and lyrics for songs, often for stage use.[6] Among her songs were "Just Like a Violin" (1922),[1] "Just Around the Corner" (1922), "We're in Love" (1922), "The Gold Fish" (1922), "I'm in Love with a Maid" (1922), "The Days of Long Ago" (1922), "Just Try and Weather the Storm" (1922), "A Warning" (1922), "When I'm Near You (1922), "Aladdin's Lamp" (1922), "When Love Will Not Die" (1922), "Wild Rose" (1922), "Will o the Wisp" (1922),[7] "Rose of the Cabaret" (1923), "Under a Thousand Eyes" (1923),[7] "When the Time to Say Goodnight Comes" (1924), "Old Fashioned Days" (1926),[8] and "Somebody You'll Pass This Way Again" (1928).[9] Her song "Paris" was in a musical comedy, Say When (1928), but cut before the show appeared on Broadway.[10]

Hopper wrote and recited a poem at a 1919 event at the Plaza Hotel, to benefit the American Committee for Armenian and Syrian Relief.[11] She performed her songs on radio programs in 1924.[12] In 1925, she went to Paris as "envoy" of the Metropolitan Opera Company, to secure several noted singers for the opera's new season.[13]

Sports

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Hopper was a competitive golfer as a young woman,[14] and was the United States women's champion in fencing in 1924.[15][16] She represented the United States at two Summer Olympics events, in 1924 and 1928.[17][18][19] She also won a tournament in 1926.[20] "I believe that every woman, be she housekeeper, business woman or society leader, should have some form of exercise that she enjoys and engages in regularly," she said in a 1924 interview. "Exercise done to music is most valuable, since rhythm and concentration go hand in hand."[21] She was still fencing competitively in Europe in 1931,[22] but she did not qualify for the United States team for the 1932 Summer Olympics.[23]

 
Hopper in 1924, with piano
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In 1920, Hopper and socialite Grace Carley Harriman testified in a lawsuit against Pierce-Arrow Renting Company after an acquaintance was struck by a car.[24] In the 1920s she was the plaintiff in an Ohio lawsuit concerning her husband's estate.[25] She was arrested and convicted of conspiracy in 1940, in a case involving Grace Carley Harriman and a fraudulent charity sweepstakes.[26] She was sentenced to a year and a day in prison.[27][28]

Personal life

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Prichard married an actor, Charles H. Hopper, in 1911; he died in 1916.[29][30] She died in 1963, at the age of 72, in New York City.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Great Career Promised for Irma Hopper". Bureau County Tribune. November 16, 1928. p. 1. Retrieved September 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "James R Prichard, tragic death in local office". Bureau County Tribune. October 30, 1931. p. 1. Retrieved September 15, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "American Academy of Dramatic Arts". Musical Courier. 74: 42. March 29, 1917.
  4. ^ "Lieut. Irma Hopper". The Seward Gateway. May 10, 1918. p. 3. Retrieved September 15, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Motor Corps Gave Aid; Scenes of Horror Didn't Halt Women in Uniform". The Kansas City Star. October 16, 1918. p. 8. Retrieved September 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Woman Athlete-Composer". The Edmonton Bulletin. October 11, 1928. p. 8 – via Internet Archive.
  7. ^ a b United States Copyright Office (1946). 1946-1954 Copyright Registration Cards (A-N).
  8. ^ "Cherry Pie". Billboard. 38: 91–92. August 14, 1926.
  9. ^ Office, Canada Patent (October 16, 1928). Scientific Canadian Mechanics' Magazine and Patent Office Record. p. 9.
  10. ^ Dietz, Dan (April 10, 2019). The Complete Book of 1920s Broadway Musicals. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 461. ISBN 978-1-5381-1282-3.
  11. ^ Slide, Anthony (May 5, 2014). Ravished Armenia and the Story of Aurora Mardiganian. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 978-1-62674-129-4.
  12. ^ "Today's Radio Programs". The Bridgeport Telegram. December 5, 1924. p. 15. Retrieved September 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Local and Personal News". Bureau County Tribune. June 12, 1925. p. 8. Retrieved September 15, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Women in Tourney at Sleepy Hollow; Play Starts Tomorrow with 34 Metropolitan Golfers in the Field". The New York Times. September 7, 1919. p. 87. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  15. ^ Rich, Winifred Lancashire (February 1926). "Playing with Steel". The Woman Citizen. 10 (7): 19, 34.
  16. ^ "U. S. Woman Foils Star". The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 31, 1924. p. 15. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  17. ^ "Irma Hopper Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on August 27, 2011. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  18. ^ Rickaby, Ruth Drucille (May 1928). "Circumspice!". The Sportswoman. 4 (9): 224.
  19. ^ United States Olympic Committee (1928). United States Olympic Book. United States Olympic Committee. p. 202.
  20. ^ "MRS. HOPPER IS VICTOR.; Beats Mrs. Boorhees and Miss Burnstein in Fencing Tournament". The New York Times. October 2, 1926. p. 12. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  21. ^ "Says Women Must Learn to Proportion Work and Play". Delaware County Daily Times. October 23, 1924. p. 12. Retrieved September 14, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ Roach, James (January 3, 1932). "News and Comment on Women in Sports". The New York Times. p. 120. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  23. ^ "6 Women Qualify in Foils Tourney; Mrs. Van Buskirk Leads Contestants by Winning All Bouts in National Tests". The New York Times. April 1, 1932. p. 26. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  24. ^ "Hit by Auto, Gets $2,500; Mrs.Oliver Harriman and Mrs. Irma Hopper Testify for Plaintiff". The New York Times. December 4, 1920. p. 12. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  25. ^ "Hopper v. Nicholas" The Northeastern Reporter 140(1924): 186-187.
  26. ^ "Arrests Ordered in Lottery Case; Warrents Issued for Trio Wanted in N. M." El Paso Herald-Post. March 22, 1940. p. 1. Retrieved September 15, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. ^ "Mrs. Oliver Harriman Free of U.S. Charge". Kirksville Daily Express and Kirksville Daily News. April 18, 1940. p. 2. Retrieved September 15, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ "Two in Lottery Get Maximum Penalty; Two Others in New Mexico Case Receive Lesser Terms". The New York Times. April 19, 1940. p. 12. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  29. ^ "Charles H. Hopper Dies; Actor of "Chimmie Fadden" Fame Expires After an Operation". The New York Times. June 18, 1916. p. 18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  30. ^ Stephen, Isabel (December 11, 1925). "Why We Widows Don't Marry Again". The Day. p. 2. Retrieved September 15, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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