Frances Hooper memoirs, 1970s
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Summary
- Creator:
- Hooper, Frances and Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture
- Abstract:
- Frances Hooper (1892-1986) was founder and president of the Frances Hooper Advertising Agency in Chicago, Illinois, and was one of the first female advertising executives in the United States. This collection consists of three spiral-bound volumes of typed memoirs written by Hooper during the 1970s. Subjects include her childhood, her journalism career in Chicago, her transition into advertising with Marshall Fields, and descriptions of her friends, her travels, and her book collections. Acquired as part of the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture.
- Extent:
- 0.6 Linear Feet (1 box)
- Language:
- Materials in English
- Collection ID:
- RL.00574
Background
- Scope and content:
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The Frances Hooper papers consist of three spiral-bound volumes of typed memoirs written by Hooper around the 1970s. Subjects include her childhood, her journalism career in Chicago, her transition into advertising with Marshall Fields, and descriptions of her friends, her travels, and her book collections. Acquired as part of the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture.
- Biographical / historical:
-
Frances Hooper (1892-1986) was founder and president of the Frances Hooper Advertising Agency in Chicago, Illinois, and was one of the first female advertising executives in the United States.
Frances Milliken Hooper was born on September 18, 1892, in Chicago, Illinois. She earned a B.A. in English from Smith College in 1914, after which she began working as a feature writer at the Chicago Herald. She subsequently took a position at Marshall Field & Co., where she rose to the head of the promotion department before leaving in the mid-1920s to found the Frances Hooper Advertising Agency. In a 1928 interview (quoted in her Chicago Tribune obituary), she cited a desire to help elevate other women in business and lead by example as a motivation for founding the agency. The agency's largest account was with the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company.
Hooper remained president of the Frances Hooper Advertising Agency until her retirement in 1961, when the agency was closed. She founded or contributed to a number of philanthropic organizations and causes in Chicago, including Kay's Animal Shelter and the Chicago Horticulture Society, and was also a book and manuscript collector. She died in Evanston, Illinois, on April 30, 1986.
Sources:
Guide to the Frances Hooper Papers, Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago, accessed online 2025 December 11.
Kenan Heise, "Retired ad exec Frances Hooper, a strong voice for women's rights" (obituary), Chicago Tribune, 1986 May 3, page 8, accessed online 2025 December 11 via Newspapers.com.
- Acquisition information:
- The Frances Hooper papers were received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book Manuscript Library as a gift in 2009.
- Processing information:
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Processed by Meghan Lyon, 2009.
Collection description updated and title changed from "Frances Hooper papers" to "Frances Hooper memoirs" by Mary Mellon, 2025.
Accession(s) described in this finding aid: 2009-0100
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Subjects
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Collection is open for research.
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- Preferred citation:
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[Identification of item], Frances Hooper papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
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- https://idn.duke.edu/ark:/87924/m1ps59