Irma Hopper Explained

Irma Hopper
Birth Name:Hennetta Irma Prichard
Birth Date:14 July 1890
Birth Place:Galesburg, Illinois, United States
Death Place:New York, New York, United States
Sport:Fencing
Show-Medals:yes

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.

Early life and education

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

Wartime service

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

Hopper wrote music and lyrics for songs, often for stage use.[6] Among her songs were "Just Like a Violin" (1922), "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), "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

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]

Legal issues

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

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.

Notes and References

  1. News: 1928-11-16 . Great Career Promised for Irma Hopper . 2024-09-14 . Bureau County Tribune . 1 . Newspapers.com.
  2. News: 1931-10-30 . James R Prichard, tragic death in local office. . 2024-09-15 . Bureau County Tribune . 1 . Newspapers.com.
  3. March 29, 1917 . American Academy of Dramatic Arts . Musical Courier . 74 . 42.
  4. News: 1918-05-10 . Lieut. Irma Hopper . 2024-09-15 . The Seward Gateway . 3 . Newspapers.com.
  5. News: 1918-10-16 . Motor Corps Gave Aid; Scenes of Horror Didn't Halt Women in Uniform . 2024-09-14 . The Kansas City Star . 8 . Newspapers.com.
  6. News: October 11, 1928 . Woman Athlete-Composer . The Edmonton Bulletin . 8 . Internet Archive.
  7. Book: United States Copyright Office . 1946-1954 Copyright Registration Cards (A-N) . 1946.
  8. August 14, 1926 . Cherry Pie . Billboard . 38 . 91–92.
  9. Book: Office, Canada Patent . Scientific Canadian Mechanics' Magazine and Patent Office Record . October 16, 1928 . 9 . en.
  10. Book: Dietz, Dan . The Complete Book of 1920s Broadway Musicals . 2019-04-10 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-1-5381-1282-3 . 461 . en.
  11. Book: Slide, Anthony . Ravished Armenia and the Story of Aurora Mardiganian . 2014-05-05 . Univ. Press of Mississippi . 978-1-62674-129-4 . en.
  12. News: 1924-12-05 . Today's Radio Programs . 2024-09-14 . The Bridgeport Telegram . 15 . Newspapers.com.
  13. News: 1925-06-12 . Local and Personal News . 2024-09-15 . Bureau County Tribune . 8 . Newspapers.com.
  14. News: September 7, 1919 . Women in Tourney at Sleepy Hollow; Play Starts Tomorrow with 34 Metropolitan Golfers in the Field . 2024-09-15 . The New York Times . 87 . en . 0362-4331.
  15. Rich . Winifred Lancashire . February 1926 . Playing with Steel . The Woman Citizen . 10 . 7 . 19, 34.
  16. News: U. S. Woman Foils Star . The Philadelphia Inquirer . May 31, 1924 . 14 June 2024 . 15.
  17. Web site: Irma Hopper Olympic Results . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110827190802/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ho/irma-hopper-1.html . August 27, 2011 . March 29, 2010 . sports-reference.com.
  18. Rickaby . Ruth Drucille . May 1928 . Circumspice! . The Sportswoman . 4 . 9 . 224. 978-1-930546-48-6 .
  19. Book: United States Olympic Committee . United States Olympic Book . 1928 . United States Olympic Committee . 202 . en.
  20. News: October 2, 1926 . MRS. HOPPER IS VICTOR.; Beats Mrs. Boorhees and Miss Burnstein in Fencing Tournament. . 2024-09-15 . The New York Times . 12 . en . 0362-4331.
  21. News: 1924-10-23 . Says Women Must Learn to Proportion Work and Play . 2024-09-14 . Delaware County Daily Times . 12 . Newspapers.com.
  22. News: Roach . James . January 3, 1932 . News and Comment on Women in Sports . 2024-09-15 . The New York Times . 120 . en . 0362-4331.
  23. News: April 1, 1932 . 6 Women Qualify in Foils Tourney; Mrs. Van Buskirk Leads Contestants by Winning All Bouts in National Tests . 2024-09-15 . The New York Times . 26 . en . 0362-4331.
  24. News: December 4, 1920 . Hit by Auto, Gets $2,500; Mrs.Oliver Harriman and Mrs. Irma Hopper Testify for Plaintiff . 2024-09-15 . The New York Times . 12 . en . 0362-4331.
  25. https://books.google.com/books?id=1_g7AAAAIAAJ&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=Irma%20Hopper&pg=PA186#v=onepage&q=Irma%20Hopper&f=false "Hopper v. Nicholas"
  26. News: 1940-03-22 . Arrests Ordered in Lottery Case; Warrents Issued for Trio Wanted in N. M. . 2024-09-15 . El Paso Herald-Post . 1 . Newspapers.com.
  27. News: 1940-04-18 . Mrs. Oliver Harriman Free of U.S. Charge . 2024-09-15 . Kirksville Daily Express and Kirksville Daily News . 2 . Newspapers.com.
  28. News: April 19, 1940 . Two in Lottery Get Maximum Penalty; Two Others in New Mexico Case Receive Lesser Terms . 2024-09-15 . The New York Times . 12 . en . 0362-4331.
  29. News: June 18, 1916 . Charles H. Hopper Dies; Actor of "Chimmie Fadden" Fame Expires After an Operation . 2024-09-15 . The New York Times . 18 . en . 0362-4331.
  30. News: Stephen . Isabel . 1925-12-11 . Why We Widows Don't Marry Again . 2024-09-15 . The Day . 2 . Newspapers.com.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Irma Hopper".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2025, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.