Georgianna Eliza Hopley (1858–1944) was an American journalist, political figure, and
temperance advocate. A member of a prominent Ohio publishing family, she was the first woman reporter in
Columbus
Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to:
* Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer
* Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio
Columbus may also refer to:
Places ...
, and editor of several publications. She served as a correspondent and representative at the
1900 Paris Exposition and the
1901 Pan-American Exposition. She was active in state and national politics, serving as vice-president of the Woman's Republican Club of Ohio and directing publicity for
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...
's presidential campaign.
In 1922 Hopley became the first woman
prohibition agent of the United States
Bureau of Prohibition
The Bureau of Prohibition (or Prohibition Unit) was the United States federal law enforcement agency formed to enforce the National Prohibition Act of 1919, commonly known as the Volstead Act, which enforced the 18th Amendment to the United St ...
, where she was involved in education and publicity. She resigned among criticism of the costs of her publicity and the scope of her duties.
Early life
Georgia Hopley was born April 29, 1858, in
Bucyrus, Ohio
Bucyrus ( )
is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Crawford County, located in northern Ohio approximately 28 miles (45 km) west of Mansfield and southeast of Toledo. The population was 11,684 at the 2020 census. The c ...
. Her father,
John P. Hopley (1821–1904), was longtime editor of the ''Bucyrus Evening Journal'', and her mother, Georgianna (Rochester) Hopley was active in the
temperance movement
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emph ...
of the 1870s. Georgia was the sixth child out of a family of three daughters and seven sons, one of whom died in childhood. All but one of her surviving siblings would follow their father into the newspaper business.
Hopley was educated in Bucyrus Union Schools and then abroad, spending one year in Paris and three in London.
Her involvement in temperance began during high school.
In Ohio she worked as a reporter and writer in the offices of her father and brothers.
Journalism and politics
While working in the office of a brother who was then secretary of the Ohio
Prohibition Party
The Prohibition Party (PRO) is a political party in the United States known for its historic opposition to the sale or consumption of alcoholic beverages and as an integral part of the temperance movement. It is the oldest existing third party ...
, Hopley conceived the idea that a woman should be better qualified to report certain events for newspapers than a man. She wrote a letter to a
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...
, newspaper editor stating as much, and was invited to become a society editor and feature writer.
Hopley thus became known as the first woman reporter assigned to regular work in Columbus.
In 1893 she became editor and owner of ''The Columbus School Journal'',
a periodical for Columbus parents, students, and teachers, and in the early 1900s was editor of the Columbus ''Press Post''.
In 1900, she was appointed by Ohio Governor
George K. Nash to represent Ohio at the
Paris Exposition. While there she continued her newspaper work as correspondent for a bureau of United States publications as well as the
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
and
Scripps-McRae syndicate. In 1901, she was again appointed by Governor Nash as a member of the Board of Women Managers of the
Pan-American Exposition
The Pan-American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park, extending from Delaware Avenue to Elmwood A ...
in Buffalo.
In the fall of that year she was appointed by Commissioner M. B. Ratchford, State Bureau of Labor Statistics, as special inspector of workshops and factories with a view to bettering the condition of women and children. This took her to many factories and before workers, to whom she spoke in the evenings.
In 1918, she was appointed by E. M. Fullington, chairman of the Ohio Republican Advisory Committee to supervise the work of the women and publicity in the campaign for governor and for nationwide prohibition. In 1919 she was appointed by the
Franklin County, Ohio
Franklin County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,323,807, making it the most populous county in Ohio. Most of its land area is taken up by its county seat, Columbus, the state capital and most ...
Republican committee to conduct the women’s campaign and publicity in the municipal election. In the summer of that year, she was engaged on the publicity force at the time of the World's Methodist Centenary in Columbus. In 1920 she was chosen by the Republican State Chairman of Columbus to supervise publicity in the Republican pre-primary campaign for
Warren G. Harding
Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party, he was one of the most popular sitting U.S. presidents. A ...
and in the fall was engaged to conduct the same work for the
presidential campaign
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese fu ...
. She was one of the hostesses at the Congress Hotel when the
Republican National Convention was held in Chicago.
Hopley served as vice-president of the Woman's Republican Club of Ohio,
chair of the Civic Improvement Committee, and was a member of the
Woman's Christian Temperance Union
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...
and
Order of the Eastern Star
The Order of the Eastern Star is a Freemasonry, Masonic List of fraternal auxiliaries and side degrees, appendant Masonic bodies, body open to both men and women. It was established in by lawyer and educator Rob Morris (Freemason), Rob Morris, ...
.
Prohibition agent
![Georgia Hopley, first woman prohibition agent (cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Georgia_Hopley%2C_first_woman_prohibition_agent_%28cropped%29.jpg)
In early 1922, Hopley was sworn in as the first female general agent of the
Bureau of Prohibition
The Bureau of Prohibition (or Prohibition Unit) was the United States federal law enforcement agency formed to enforce the National Prohibition Act of 1919, commonly known as the Volstead Act, which enforced the 18th Amendment to the United St ...
(then a unit of the
Bureau of Internal Revenue), serving under Federal Prohibition Commissioner
Roy A. Haynes. Her appointment made news around the country. She traveled the nation, speaking on prohibition, law enforcement, and women's voting issues. Haynes told Congress that Hopley was employed not as an enforcement agent but to give information as part of "wise propaganda work". She decried films that belittled or made light of prohibition. She also highlighted the problem of women bootleggers, telling a reporter: "There you have the worst problem for prohibition officials.
omenresort to all sorts of tricks, concealing metal containers in their clothing, in false bottoms of trunks and traveling bags, and even in baby buggies."
Her hiring encouraged local law enforcement agencies to hire more women to investigate women bootleggers.
In August 1922 she estimated that "dry laws" of the
Volstead Act
The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress, designed to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919), which established the prohibition of alcoholic d ...
had decreased liquor drinkers in America by 17,500,000, and urged women to actively support dry laws through civic and religious organizations. Her philosophy was driven by a quote from Abraham Lincoln: "Let reverence for the laws be the political religion of the nation."
The cost and scope of Hopley's duties drew some criticism.
David H. Blair, the Internal Revenue Commissioner, requested she resign in 1924, but she was supported by Haynes. In 1925, General
Lincoln C. Andrews, the new Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in charge of Prohibition enforcement, demanded Hopley resign as part of his reorganization of the Bureau.
Despite support from Haynes and prominent Ohio politicians, Hopley resigned from the Bureau in July 1925, when it was determined her activities were outside the scope of the federal government, and publicity expenditures of around $50,000 drew criticism.
Later years
After leaving the Prohibition Bureau, Hopley returned to journalism, focusing on
women’s suffrage
Women's suffrage is the women's rights, right of women to Suffrage, vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to gran ...
.
In her later years she lived in Bucyrus with her brothers, former State Senator James R. Hopley, and Frank L. Hopley, of the Lincoln Highway Council.
[ ] She died in Bucyrus on July 1, 1944, at the age of 86.
Notes
References
External links
Finding aid to Hopley Family Papersat the
Ohio History Connection
Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connec ...
Hopley, first woman Prohibition Agent-outtakes 1922 film clip from the Moving Image Research Collections, University of South Carolina
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopley, Georgia
1858 births
1944 deaths
People from Bucyrus, Ohio
19th-century American journalists
Journalists from Ohio
American women journalists
20th-century American journalists
Ohio Republicans
American temperance activists
Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
19th-century American women writers
20th-century American women