Hooper, Frances

Frances Hooper (1892-1986) was founder and president of the Frances Hooper Advertising Agency in Chicago, Ill., and was one of the first female advertising executives in the United States.

Frances Hooper (1892-1986) was founder and president of the Frances Hooper Advertising Agency, and was one of the first female advertising executives in the United States.

Journalist and advertising executive. Born 1892. Died 1986. Founder of Frances Hooper Advertising Agency. Collector of books and art.

Hooper was born on Sept. 18, 1892 in Illinois, graduated from Smith College, 1914, and worked as a journalist and advertising executive. She was an avid book collector. Among the collections she assembled was the Virginia Woolf papers now held by the Smith College Mortimer Rare Book Room. Hooper died April 20, 1986.

Frances Milliken Hooper was born on September 18, 1892, in Chicago, Illinois to James Hooper and Mary (Milliken) Hooper.

Hooper studied at the University of Chicago for one year before leaving to attend Smith College in Massachusetts, where she graduated in 1914.

Hooper began her professional career as a journalist for the Chicago Herald newspaper. She left that job to work in the promotions department at Marshall Field’s, employment that led to her interest in advertising. In the 1920s, Hooper founded the Frances Hooper Advertising Agency, becoming one of the first female advertising executives in the United States. The agency’s largest account was with the Wrigley Company. Hooper Advertising produced specialized campaigns for educational, parenting, and women’s magazines including Redbook, Family Circle, Teacher’s Magazine, and Parent’s Magazine. The agency also handled advertising for Wrigley’s public service dental promotions including the Good Teeth Council for Children.

Hooper was a collector of art and books. Her collections included photographs by Tina Modotti, as well as books, manuscripts, and drawings by Carl Linnaeus, George Cruikshank, Kate Greenaway, Lewis Carroll, Virginia Woolf, Selma Lagerlof, and Emily and Anne Bronte. Hooper donated her collections to multiple institutions. Her Kate Greenaway collection was given to the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation. Her Linnaeus materials were donated to the Chicago Horticulture Society, and the bulk of her Virginia Woolf materials went to Smith College. Five photographs by Italian photographer and student of Edward Weston, Tina Modotti remain with Hooper’s papers.

In her catalog “Collecting Kate Greenaway, and Me” (1980) written for an exhibit at the Hunt Institute, and in her book A Collector in Being (1973), Hooper reflects the motivations of the collector as well as the contents of her own collections. A Collector in Being was published by Hooper’s small, independent press, the Chihuahua Press located in Kenilworth, Illinois. Other books written by Hooper and published by Chihuahua Press include Penny Candy (1970); The Bonnet (1972); and A Pilgrimage to Gosta Berling’s Varmland (1976).

Active in many organizations, Hooper was a member of the Hroswitha Club, a group of women book collectors. She was also a member of the Woman’s Athletic Club of Chicago, the Post and Paddock Club, and a co-founder of Kay’s Animal Shelter.

Frances Hooper died on April 30, 1986 in Kenilworth, Illinois.