Una Nixson Hopkins

Una Nixson Hopkins (November 17, 1869 – September 8, 1956) was an American writer and designer, and an art director who worked in silent films.

A photograph of a large house in Pasadena in 1899
UN Hopkins Residence in Pasadena, 1899; built by Joseph Blick

Una Nixson Hopkins
BornNovember 17, 1869
Denison, Iowa
DiedSeptember 8, 1956
Los Angeles, California
Other namesUna Nixon Hopkins
Occupation(s)Art director in silent films, writer, designer
ChildrenGeorge James Hopkins

Early life

Una B. Nixson was born in Denison, Iowa,[1] the daughter of William H. Nixson (or Nixon) and Mariam Hoxsie Nixson (later Amsden).

Career

Hopkins was widowed in her twenties, and lived in a Pasadena bungalow[2] built by Joseph Blick in 1899. She wrote, and did interior design,[1] and worked as an art director in Hollywood,[3][4] sometimes described as "the first woman art director in motion pictures".[5] "No trouble is too great for her to take," a 1908 profile explained of her interior decorating work, "and she often spends weeks hunting the shops for some shade or texture to give the needed bit of sheen or color to a room."[1]

In 1915 Hopkins was hired as art director for the Oliver Morosco Photoplay Company.[6] Hopkins had credits on twelve silent films: The Spirit of Romance (1917), More Deadly than the Male (1919), Judy of Rogue's Harbor (1920), Nurse Marjorie (1920), Jenny Be Good (1920), Food for Scandal (1920), A Full House (1920), Burglar Proof (1920), Oh, Lady, Lady (1920), Her First Elopement (1920), Ducks and Drakes (1921), and The Wise Virgin (1924). Several of the films she worked on are now considered lost; two were directed by William Desmond Taylor.[7] After her film career ended, she continued supporting her son, George James Hopkins, in his film work.[8]

Selected publications

The Los Angeles Herald described Hopkins in 1910 as "one of the successful women writers of the West," adding that she was helping to promote Southern California to Eastern audiences.[9] She published a novel, A Winter Romance in Poppy Land (1911).[10] She also contributed short stories and articles on interior design to magazines, especially Ladies' Home Journal,[11][12] House Beautiful, The Craftsman, and Country Life in America. "Hopkins seemed especially interested in the problems that single working women faced in obtaining suitable housing," noted architectural historian Leland M. Roth.[13] She was a member of the Southern California Press Club.[14]

Fiction
  • "Johnny's Cookies" (1904, short story, The Los Angeles Times)[15]
  • "The Banks Woman" (1906, short story, The Pacific Monthly)[16]
  • A Winter Romance in Poppy Land (1911, novel)[10]
  • "The Bride Who Wouldn't Have a Servant" (1910, short story, Ladies' Home Journal)

Non-fiction
  • "John Brown's Family — The Man of Harper's Ferry Fame —His Sons and Daughter. Visit to Their Homes in Pasadena. California. One Who Has Suffered Intensely and Lived Above the Petty Annoyances of Life" (1893, The Inter Ocean newspaper)[17]
  • "A House Facing West" (1904, House Beautiful)[18]
  • "Small Houses and their Decoration" (1904, House Beautiful)[19]
  • "The California Bungalow" (1906, The Pacific Monthly)[2]
  • "Possibilities in a Southern Clime" and "In Regard to Cottages" (1906, The Book of a Hundred Houses)[20]
  • "A House of Fine Detail" (1907, The Craftsman)[21]
  • "Plaster Homes in the Southwest" (1908, The Craftsman)
  • "A Home Built About its Trees" (1909, Country Life in America)[22]
  • "The Small House for Less than $1000" (1909, Ladies' Home Journal)
  • "A House Built for Children" (1909, Ladies' Home Journal)
  • "A Family Clubhouse" (1910, Good Housekeeping)[23]
  • "For the Bride Who Does Her Own Work" (1910, Ladies' Home Journal)
  • "A Bedroom With a Sleeping Porch" (1911, Ladies' Home Journal)[24]
  • "A Semi-Detached Bungalow Development in California" (1912, Country Life in America)[25]
  • "A Picturesque Court of 30 Bungalows" (1913, Ladies' Home Journal)[26]
  • "What Three Women Did With Their House" (1913, Ladies' Home Journal)[27]
  • "The Young Folks' First Bungalow" (1913, Ladies' Home Journal)[28]'
  • "A Home and Bookbindery in One" (1913, Country Life in America)[29]
  • "How You Can Live Outdoors" and "New Ideas in Children's Playhouses" (1913, Ladies' Home Journal)[30]
  • "Some Phases of Domestic Architecture in the Southwest" (1914, The International Studio)[31]
  • "The Joys of Girls' Camps" (1915, Ladies' Home Journal, with Mary Harrod Northend)[32]
  • "Pasadena, California, in Mid Winter" (1915, Harper's Bazaar)[33]

Personal life

Una Nixson married George J. Hopkins; he died in 1896, at age 30, the same year their only son, his namesake, was born. Her son, George James Hopkins, was an Oscar-winning set designer and interior decorator. Una Hopkins died in Los Angeles in 1956, aged 86 years.

References
  1. "Denison Girl's Success". The Denison Review. April 8, 1908. p. 2. Retrieved March 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. Hopkins, Una Nixson (January 1906). "The California Bungalow". The Pacific Monthly. 15: 51–57.
  3. "Features of Movie Land". The Indiana Gazette. June 23, 1920. p. 3. Retrieved March 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. "Woman Sues Dentist". The Los Angeles Times. August 10, 1919. p. 17. Retrieved March 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "'The White Flower' Brings Friends to Mrs. B. D. Chilson". Hawaii Herald. November 16, 1922. p. 5. Retrieved March 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Morosco Photoplay Brevities". The Photoplayers Weekly. August 24, 1915. p. 21. Retrieved April 14, 2022 – via Internet Archive.
  7. Lynn, Kenneth S. (June 10, 1990). "DEATH OF A DIRECTOR". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  8. Barnes, Eleanor (December 25, 1933). "At Belasco and Hillstreet". Daily News. p. 8. Retrieved March 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Romanticism of Golden State Wins East's Gold, Writer Says". Los Angeles Herald. December 15, 1910. p. 4. Retrieved March 16, 2022 – via NewspaperArchive.com.
  10. Hopkins, Una Nixson (1911). A winter romance in poppy land. Boston: R. G. Badger.
  11. Broadwell, Liz (August 17, 2016). ""A Glimpse of the Garden at Sunshine Cottage": Una Nixson Hopkins' Model Neighbors". Special Collections Cataloging at Penn. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  12. "Stories, Listed by Author". The Fiction Mags Index. Retrieved March 16, 2022.
  13. Roth, Leland M. (1991). "Getting the Houses to the People: Edward Bok, the Ladies' Home Journal, and the Ideal House". Perspectives in Vernacular Architecture. 4: 187–196. doi:10.2307/3514234. JSTOR 3514234.
  14. "Press Club Luncheon". Los Angeles Evening Express. February 10, 1908. p. 9. Retrieved March 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. Hopkins, Una Nixson (November 27, 1904). "Johnny's Cookies". The Los Angeles Times. p. 72. Retrieved March 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "The Chafing Dish". The Denison Review. June 28, 1906. p. 5. Retrieved March 16, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. Nixson, Una B. (July 23, 1893). "John Brown's Family — The Man of Harper's Ferry Fame —His Sons and Daughter. Visit to Their Homes in Pasadena. California. One Who Has Suffered Intensely and Lived Above the Petty Annoyances of Life". The Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois). p. 13 – via newspapers.com.
  18. Hopkins, Una Nixson (March 1904). "A House Facing West". House Beautiful. 15: 226–229.
  19. Hopkins, Una Nixson (March 1904). "Small Houses and their Decoration". House Beautiful. 15: 269–272.
  20. The Book of a Hundred Houses: A Collection of Pictures, Plans and Suggestions for Householders. Duffield. 1906.
  21. Hopkins, Una Nixson (June 1907). "The House of Fine Detail" (PDF). The Craftsman. 12: 329–334.
  22. Hopkins, Una Nixson (October 1909). "A Home Built About its Trees". Country Life in America. 16: 603–604.
  23. Hopkins, Una Nixson (April 1910). "A Family Clubhouse". Good Housekeeping. 50: 501–504.
  24. Hopkins, Una Nixon. "A Bedroom With a Sleeping Porch." Ladies Home Journal, (May 1, 1911): 42.
  25. Hopkins, Una Nixson (December 1912). "A Semi-Detached Bungalow Development in California". Country Life in America. 23: 84–85.
  26. Hopkins, Una Nixson. "A Picturesque Court of 30 Bungalows: A Community Idea for Women" The Ladies’ Home Journal 30 (April 1913): 99.
  27. Hopkins, Una Nixson (March 1913). "What Three Women Did With Their Home". Ladies' Home Journal. 30: 29.
  28. Hopkins, Una Nixson (May 1913). "The Young Folks' First Bungalow". Ladies' Home Journal. 30: 39.
  29. Hopkins, Una Nixson (February 1913). "A Home and Bookbindery in One". Country Life in America. 23: 71–72.
  30. Hopkins, Una Nixson (June 1913). "How You Can Live Outdoors and New Ideas in Children's Playhouses". Ladies' Home Journal. 30: 70, 72.
  31. "Some Phases of Domestic Architecture in the Southwest". The International Studio. 53: 170–175. September 1914.
  32. Northend, Mary H., and Una Nixson Hopkins. "The Joys of Girls’ Camps." Ladies Home Journal (1915): 33.
  33. Hopkins, Una Nixson (April 1915). "Pasadena, California, in Mid Winter". Harper's Bazaar. 50: 46–47.
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