This home movie from Texas oilman E.B. Hopkins captures scenes of a May Day celebration, a family vacation to Niagara Falls, home construction, ships on the Houston Ship Channel, and the family swimming at the beach, likely in Galveston. The home movie begins with scenes of young girls going around a Maypole in the spring dresses, then moves on to scenes of the family’s trip to Niagara Falls. Long scenes of home construction in Houston’s Chandler Park neighborhood are followed by scenes of the Ship Channel and the beach.
Petroleum geologist and oilman Edwin Butcher Hopkins was born to Andrew Delmar and Delia (Butcher) Hopkins in Evans, West Virgina on October 25, 1882. He attended the University of West Virginia, George Washington University, and Cornell University before beginning work in the geological department of the Mexican-Eagle Oil Company. He was married to Amy Myrtilla Longcope Hopkins of Lampasas, Texas in 1913 at a wedding in Dallas. After several years of work with Mexican-Eagle and rising to the rank of field superintendent in charge of production and exploration in Mexico, Hopkins moved to Washington D.C. in 1916 to begin consulting work as a geologist and petroleum engineer. Hopkins moved to Dallas in 1929 with his wife and young family to establish his home and permanent office, and he began work with the Peroleum Finance Corporation of Texas, the Drilling and Exploration Company, Inc., the Highland Oil Company, and the American Maracaibo Company. Hopkins also served as vice-president of the American Petroleum Geological Association and as a member of the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. He was a trustee of the Dallas Art Museum, the Dallas Public Library, and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Hopkins wrote many technical papers about his discoveries and work as a petroleum engineer and geologist, distinguishing himself within his field. He and his wife had five children. E.B. Hopkins died in Dallas on July 5, 1940.
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