Editorial Type:
Article Category: Editorial
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Online Publication Date: 19 Apr 2024

Anna Hopkins Angle: a remembrance

Page Range: 366 – 368
DOI: 10.2319/1945-7103-94.3.366
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Most orthodontists are familiar with the accomplishments of Dr. Edward Hartley Angle, the founder of our orthodontic specialty.1 But what is known of his wife, Anna? The old adage has never been more true: “Behind every great man is a great woman”. In 1958, Dr. Allan Brodie wrote a historical tribute to Anna Hopkins Angle in the Angle Orthodontist.2

Anna Hopkins was born on a farm in Bloomington, Minnesota on January 22, 1872.2 2 Cold winters, hard work, family values and a country school education shaped Anna’s childhood. At 14 years old, she taught at the same country school for a meager salary. Anna left home at 16 years old to train as a secretary and bookkeeper in Minneapolis while she continued to provide economic support to her family. At 21 years old, she became Edward Angle’s secretary. Anna had larger ambitions to increase her knowledge. From 1900 to 1902, she attended the University of Iowa, College of Dentistry to receive a DDS degree.1 Following graduation, Anna returned to the Angle School of Orthodontia and received orthodontic training, although an official certificate was never recorded. During 1902–1905, she was the secretary for the American Society of Orthodontia (antecedent of the American Association of Orthodontists).

Edward and Anna Angle were married in 1908 at Niagara Falls, NY.1 Anna, always humble, kept Edward centered to brilliantly write articles and give presentations which established his philosophy. She often provided a sounding board and added her own technical skills and judgement. Anna was commonly referred to as “Mother Angle” by consoling students after they received a strict reprimand from Edward (Figure 1).2 The Edward H. Angle Society of Orthodontists, founded in 1922, commemorated Edward and Anna Angle in 1928 with an engraved silver pitcher, which is currently displayed at the Southern California Angle meetings. (Figure 2)

Figure 1.Figure 1.Figure 1.
Figure 1. “Mother Angle”.

Citation: The Angle Orthodontist 94, 3; 10.2319/1945-7103-94.3.366

Figure 2.Figure 2.Figure 2.
Figure 2. Silver pitcher given to Edward and Anna Angle by the Angle Society in 1928.

Citation: The Angle Orthodontist 94, 3; 10.2319/1945-7103-94.3.366

After the closure of the Angle College of Orthodontia in 1927 and Edward’s death in 1930, Anna continued to have very strong ties to the Angle Society.1,2 She became the lifetime Honorary Chairman of the Executive Committee and an editor of the Angle Orthodontist. She hosted the Southern California Angle meetings at the closed Angle College (later becoming her home) and always attended the Angle Biennial meetings. At 62 years old, Anna demonstrated caring in her personal life by adopting two orphaned nieces (Barbara 9 years old, Katherine 5 years old) after her younger brother, Mark, died in 1934. Anna was laid to rest at the age of 84 on August 23, 1957, but where?

Dr. Patrick Turley, Dr. Jason Pair, and I paid homage to the burial site of Dr. Edward H. Angle at the Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, California and noticed a nearby, unmarked gravesite.3 After questioning the cemetery caretaker, he stated that Anna Hopkins Angle was buried in an unmarked grave next to Edward Angle’s headstone. Curiously, an internet search discovered a Hopkins’ family stone with Anna Hopkins Angle’s name at the Bloomington Cemetery in Hennepin, Minnesota. (Figure 3) This led to confusion on many internet sites which reported Anna’s burial site was in Minnesota. Upon contacting both cemeteries, they confirmed that Anna was indeed buried in an unmarked grave at the Mountain View Cemetery in California. The board of directors of the Southern California Angle Society believed that Anna should have a marker placed at her actual resting site, but how?

Figure 3.Figure 3.Figure 3.
Figure 3. Hopkins family stone at Bloomington Cemetery, Hennepin, Minnesota.

Citation: The Angle Orthodontist 94, 3; 10.2319/1945-7103-94.3.366

The Mountain View Cemetery in California required the next of kin approval before a headstone could be placed. There was no direct lineage to follow since Edward and Anna did not have any children together. Therefore, a family lineage would have to be found from one of Anna’s siblings to a living descendant who would give the needed consent. Strangely, the key to finding a living descendant was back in Minnesota, literally set in stone. The Hopkins family stone showed the full names of Anna’s parents and siblings with their dates of birth and death. (Figure 4) This information was vital to search the Hopkins’ family lineage for a present day descendant. An exhaustive Google search for each of Anna’s siblings was conducted. Most of Anna’s siblings either did not have children or a documented lineage that could be traced over the last 100 years. Anna’s sister, Charlotte, had the longest documented lineage but ended with the last traceable descendant, Robert Hopkins (grandnephew), who recently passed away in 2010. (Figure 5)

Figure 4.Figure 4.Figure 4.
Figure 4. Hopkins family marker (listing all Anna’s siblings).

Citation: The Angle Orthodontist 94, 3; 10.2319/1945-7103-94.3.366

Figure 5.Figure 5.Figure 5.
Figure 5. Descendants of Anna Hopkins’ parents to present.

Citation: The Angle Orthodontist 94, 3; 10.2319/1945-7103-94.3.366

A search found Robert Hopkins’ obituary that listed his prior occupation and the names of his surviving family. (Figure 6) Possibly due to current privacy standards, contact information could not be found for his surviving family. Perhaps one of the children followed a career path similar to their father, a medical device engineer? Each of the children’s names was searched for a possible engineering occupation located in the Portland, Oregon area, close to their father’s memorial service in 2010. Ethan Hopkins was found to be a sales engineering manager for Motorola Solutions in Portland. Motorola headquarters in Chicago was contacted to find Ethan’s work phone number. Ethan Hopkins (great grandnephew) was delighted to know about his family history and gave his authorization to approve a headstone to be placed for Anna.

Figure 6.Figure 6.Figure 6.
Figure 6. Descendants of Robert Longtoft Hopkins (grandnephew).

Citation: The Angle Orthodontist 94, 3; 10.2319/1945-7103-94.3.366

At the 45th Biennial Meeting of the Edward H. Angle Society of Orthodontists, the Angle Society unanimously agreed to place a headstone at Anna’s actual burial site, Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, CA.3 (Figure 7) The Angle Society is very proud to remember and mark the existence of such an endearing soul, Dr. Anna Hopkins Angle.

Figure 7.Figure 7.Figure 7.
Figure 7. Anna Hopkins Angle’s headstone at Mountain View Cemetery.

Citation: The Angle Orthodontist 94, 3; 10.2319/1945-7103-94.3.366

Copyright: © 2024 by The EH Angle Education and Research Foundation, Inc.
Figure 1.
Figure 1.

“Mother Angle”.

Figure 2.
Figure 2.

Silver pitcher given to Edward and Anna Angle by the Angle Society in 1928.

Figure 3.
Figure 3.

Hopkins family stone at Bloomington Cemetery, Hennepin, Minnesota.

Figure 4.
Figure 4.

Hopkins family marker (listing all Anna’s siblings).

Figure 5.
Figure 5.

Descendants of Anna Hopkins’ parents to present.

Figure 6.
Figure 6.

Descendants of Robert Longtoft Hopkins (grandnephew).

Figure 7.
Figure 7.

Anna Hopkins Angle’s headstone at Mountain View Cemetery.

Contributor Notes

James J. Zahrowski DMD, MS, PharmD is the Secretary of the Southern California Component of the Edward H. Angle Society of Orthodontists.

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