Ernest Hopf letters to Alice Lightner
Call Number
Date
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
This collection of letters, written by German-American artist Ernest Hopf to his wife-to-be, American author Alice Lightner, provides a glimpse into the life of a struggling artist in New York during the Great Depression. Hopf also travels to Germany in 1933 and comments on the hardships Germans are experiencing and the rise of the Third Reich.
Biographical / Historical
Ernest Hopf (1910-1999) was a German-American artist born in Slawentzitz [Sławięcice, Poland] while it was part of Germany. He emigrated to the United States by the early 1930s and settled in New York. He married Alice Lightner, the recipient of these letters, in 1935. Hopf was most well known for his screenprints. He worked as an artist for the Works Progress Administration in the 1930s. His work is held by the National Gallery of Art and other institutions.
Alice Lightner Hopf (1904-1988) was an American writer who wrote both young adult science fiction (as A.M. Lightner) and youth nature books (as Alice Hopf). She was born in Detroit, Michigan, graduated from Vassar College in 1927, and moved to New York, where she met and married Ernest Hopf. The couple had one son.
Arrangement
The letters are organized chronologically. Hopf's birth certificate and three separate drawings are in the final two folders.
Scope and Contents
This collection of 54 letters documents the early relationship between German-American artist Ernest Hopf and American writer Alice Lightner. After they meet in New York, probably in 1931, Hopf writes to Lightner while she vacations in Maine and visits her parents in Tryon, North Carolina. His early letters, many illustrated with his drawings, describe his art projects, his loneliness in New York, his attempts to find steady work during the Great Depression, his daily life, his concerns about his mother's health, and his job on a steamboat on the Hudson River.
Later Hopf travels to Germany to visit his ailing mother and his family. He discusses his family, visits with friends and family, the countryside around his parents' home, and the political situation in Germany. He comments on the "German national revolution" and the rise of the Third Reich, the "Nazi movement," and Adolf Hitler. Hopf has difficulty purchasing a return ticket to the United States, and much of his correspondence from Germany is taken up with ticket prices and his sailing options. Ultimately Lightner purchases his return ticket to New York on the Hamburg-American Line. Hopf returns to New York in late August 1933, having spent four months in Europe.
Subjects
Access Restrictions
Materials in this collection may be stored offsite. For more information on making arrangements to consult them, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.
Use Restrictions
Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org.
Preferred Citation
The collection should be cited as: Ernest Hopf letters to Alice Lightner, MS 3250, The New York Historical.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Grace White, 2024.
About this Guide
Processing Information
Letters were opened and flattened, with the corresponding envelope following the letter.
Repository
View Inventory
Ernest Hopf letters to Alice Lightner, 1931 September-1931 November, inclusive
Scope and Contents
September 1, 1931 letter with envelope (sketch on envelope)
September 3, 1931 letter with envelope (sketch on envelope)
September 10, 1931 letter with envelope (sketches on letter)
September [17?], 1931 letter with envelope (sketches on letter, day from postmark)
[September 25, 1931] letter with envelope (date from postmark)
[September 25, 1931] letter with envelope (sketches on letter, date from postmark)
October 13, 1931 letter with envelope (sketch on envelope)
November 13, 1931 letter with envelope
Ernest Hopf letters to Alice Lightner, 1931 December-1932 July, inclusive
Scope and Contents
December 30, 1931 letter with envelope (sketches on envelope)
January 6, 1932 envelope only
March 29, 1932 letter (sketches on letter)
May 8, 1932 letter
1932 letter
"Thursday night" [1932?] letter
Undated [1932?] letter
June 15, 1932 letter with envelope
June 20, 1932 letter (sketch on letter)
July 5, 1932 letter with envelope
July 12, 1932 letter with envelope
July, 1932
Ernest Hopf letters to Alice Lightner, 1932 August-1932 December, inclusive
Scope and Contents
August 1932 letter
August 14, 1932 letter
August 30, 1932 letter with envelope
September 29, 1932 letter with envelope
Undated [1932?] note on a small card to accompany flowers
"8:30 PM Wednesday" [1932?] letter
Undated [1932?] letter
Undated [1932?] letter (with sketch)
Undated [1932?] letter
Undated [October or November 1932?] fragment of a letter
December 6, 1932 letter
"Wednesday night" [December 1932?] letter
December 26, 1932 letter with envelope
December 28, 1932 letter
Ernest Hopf letters to Alice Lightner, 1933 January-1933 May, inclusive
Scope and Contents
"New Years Eve 1932-1933" [December 31, 1932 and January 1, 1933] letter
April 29, 1933 letter with envelope
May 9, 1933 letter with envelope
May 18, 1933 letter with envelope
May 21, 1933 letter with envelope
May 26, 1933 letter with envelope
May 30, 1933 letter with envelope
Ernest Hopf letters to Alice Lightner, 1933 June-1933 July, inclusive
Scope and Contents
June 14, 1933 letter with envelope
June 17, 1933 letter with envelope
June 23, 1933 letter with envelope and 5 black and white postcards of Miechowitz, Germany [Miechowice, near Bytom, Poland]
June 23-24, 1933 letter with envelope
June 28, 1933 telegram
June 28, 1933 Hamburg-American Line prepaid ticket receipt
July 6, 1933 international money order receipt
July 13, 1933 letter
July 15, 1933 letter with envelope
July 24, 1933 letter with envelope
Ernest Hopf letters to Alice Lightner, 1933 August-1933 December, inclusive
Scope and Contents
August 6 and 10, 1933 letter with envelope
August 18, 1933 letter with envelope and 5 black and white postcards
Undated [1933?] postcard with "Gluckspilze" print on verso
"Wednesday night 12 P.M." [December 6, 1933?] letter (with color sketch)
December 26, 1933 letter with envelope
December 29, 1933 letter
Ernest Hopf birth certificate, 1910 February 8
Ernest Hopf drawings, 1947-1971, inclusive
Scope and Contents
Three drawings by Ernest Hopf.
The first drawing is black ink or charcoal and depicts an urban industrial scene with a smokestack, powerlines, a crane, and two pedestrians walking on a sidewalk lined by a high fence. A "Vote for McKeen" sign appears on a building to the left. Signed "Hopf '47" in the lower right corner. 23 x 20 cm.
The second drawing is ink and watercolor and shows a town on a river with a bridge for the railroad in the center. A train is passing by to the right. Signed "E. Hopf '48" in the lower right corner. 19 x 24 cm.
The third drawing is ink and watercolor and shows boats by a pier. It is signed "E.H." in the lower right corner and appears on the front of a Christmas card. The inside of the card reads, "Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year Alice + Ernest Hopf '71." Image 9 x 13 cm., card 13 x 19 cm.