Hopkinsville's Hallie Erminie Rives: From Novel to Stage to Silent Film
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Jan. 24, 2012) − At the young age of 16, Hopkinsville author Hallie Erminie Rives (1876-1956) left Kentucky for New York with a novel in manuscript. Only two years later, the teen author saw her first novel published. Now more than 50 years after her death, University of Kentucky Libraries' Special Collections presents a showing of the work of Rives. On display through the month of March, visitors can peruse a free public exhibition of the collection in the lobby of the Margaret I. King Building.
The Rives Collection at UK Special Collections includes first editions and early reprints of almost all of the author's novels. Also on display are photographs and paintings of the author from cousins Noble Noel and Lee Harton, as well as items from a scrapbook kept by the father of cousin Mary Alice Duncan.
Rives’ specialty was the sophisticated society romance, set variously in America, Europe and Japan. Her books enjoyed enormous popularity in their day. Two ranked on The New York Times bestseller lists – "Satan Sanderson" and "The Kingdom of Slender Swords." Trade publication Bookman’s ranked others among the nation’s top best sellers, including "Hearts Courageous," a favorite for two successive years.
Several works by Rives jumped from the pages to the stage and movie screen. "Heart’s Courageous," about Patrick Henry and the signing of the Declaration of Independence, was adapted for the New York stage and made into a silent film. "Satan Sanderson" became a silent movie in 1915, followed by "The Valiants of Virginia" in 1916, and "The Long Lane’s Turning" in 1917. The 1934 movie, "A Strange Experiment," was based on the Rives novel "The Golden Barrier."
In 1906, Rives sailed for Japan to marry the writer and diplomat Post Wheeler. She continued to write, moving from Tokyo to Rome, St. Petersburg, Stockholm, London, Rio de Janeiro, Paraguay and Albania.
In all, Rives produced 25 books, including novels, adaptations for children of books by Charles Dickens, two books of etiquette, and an autobiography. She died in New York in 1956 and was buried in Riverside Cemetery, in Hopkinsville.
Special Collections at UK Libraries is home to a collection of rare books, Kentuckiana, the Archives, the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, the King Library Press and the Wendell H. Ford Public Policy Research Center.
For more information on the Hallie Erminie Rives Collection or the exhibition, email Jim Birchfield, curator of books at Special Collections, at j.birchfield@uky.edu or call (859) 257-8408.
MEDIA CONTACT: Whitney Hale, (859) 257-8716 or whitney.hale@uky.edu