Edith Richter Cooper (1892-1981)

Married an Alien

Edith Martha Margaretha RICHTER was the eighth child of ten to Hugo RICHTER and Louise HENNICKE. Her father came from Germany in 1874 and married a local girl in New York on 13 Aug 1878. 

The Richter Family circa 1900

Edith is seen on the far left sitting in the chair. The family is found in the Bronx of New York City in the 1900 U.S. Census. 

1900 United States Census, New York County, New York, population schedule, Bronx, enumeration district (ED) 986, Sheet 55-A, Family #66, Hugo Richter household; digital image, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 18 February 2017); citing National Archives Microfilm Publication T623, Roll 1125.

Dr. Richter was the minister of the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, 628 East 141st. St. in Bronx/Manhattan from 1882 to 1892. Edith was born on 25 Aug 1892 in Manhattan.

After the reverend's death in 1904, the family moved to New Jersey.

Edith met Edwin Irwin COOPER at work as a secretary.  Edwin and Edith were married on 13 Apr 1917. 

Edwin and Edith had two children, Doris Cooper and John "Jack" Cooper, born between 1918-1921. Edwin, with Warner Brothers brought his family out to Los Angeles, California, in 1926. See blog post on Edwin Irwin Cooper familyfilmfabricfood.blogspot.com/2017/02/edwin-irwin-cooper-1889-1935.html

Edith models the fashionable bathing suit of the 1920s as a “Bloomer Girl Out West.” I find this photo with a newspaper advertisement of the suit she is wearing. Both photo and newsprint were in possession of my dear cousin, Doris Cooper Powers.

In the 1920 U.S. Census, it states that Edwin is in the process with Pa "Papers" for his U.S. citizenship in New York. Edith's box is X out under immigration, as she was born in New York. But under Citizenship, she is marked as an Al "Alien." She lost her citizenship by marrying an alien, one who immigrated to the U. S. 

Edwin files his Declaration of Intention in New York City on the 10 July 1925, before he moves west to California.

New York State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1940. NARA NAI Number: 5700802. Record Group Number: RG 21. ancestry.com : accessed 19 Feb 2017. Edwin Irwin Cooper. 10 July 1925. Declaration of Intention File No. 95019.

Edith Gets Her US Citizenship Back

Edwin let the seven year deadline pass and did not reapply for Citizenship in California. 

By 1934, Edith filed for her lost citizenship. She signed her papers after her examination by an approved doctor on 27 Nov 1934. Her final papers were approved on 30 Nov 1934.

Edwin was gravely ill at this time and died 10 weeks later on 17 February 1935. He was buried at Forest Lawn Glendale cemetery.

Naturalization Records of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Central Division (Los Angeles), 1887-1940. NARA  NAI Number 184; Record Group Title M1524. ancestry.com  ; accessed 19 Feb 2017. Edith M. Cooper. 27 Nov 1934. Naturalization file no. 44260.

Jack Cooper, Bruce Powers, Doris Cooper Powers, & Edith Cooper in
Eagle Rock, California.

Her son, moved her to San Diego in the 1950s to be closer to him. I have precious memories of dear Aunt Edith, seeing her as a child and on a regular basis as a teen before she moved to Arizona. 

Edith in San Diego with her son.

 Aunts May and Ethel come to visit in 1972.  Aunt May, with my mother, 

Aunt Edith, & Aunt Ethel. May married Alex Cooper, Jr. Ethel is May's sister.

Edith dies 31 Dec 1981 in Phoenix, Arizona, living with her daughter. She is buried with her husband, Edwin, in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Glendale, California. 

Forest Lawn in Glendale, California.

Hollywood! Visiting Uncle Edwin

While writing my last post on Edwin Irwin COOPER (1889-1935), I took a day adventure to Hollywood. I invited his grandson, my 2nd cousin, Wynn to join me. We left early in the morning for the long drive north to Hollywood Blvd.

I have mentioned in a past post that Edwin worked in many movie theaters training movie projectionists how to work with the NEW Vitaphone sound system from 1926 to the mid 1930s for "talkies." The Grauman's Egyptian Theater was one as named on the back of this photo.


The theater has monthly indoor behind the scenes tours along with giving its history. I remember reading about its renovation back in 1999.

We walked a few doors west down Hollywood Blvd. for lunch at Combo's New York Pizzaria. We both enjoyed our pastrami sandwich.

We drove onto where his father, Jack Cooper, grew up in the Eagle Rock neighborhood. We found the house on El Roble Drive. Wynn recognized it right away as he possesses a drawing that his father drew of the home he grew up in.

Wynn visiting his father's childhood home.

John Cooper's drawing of home on El Roble Drive.

Google Maps continued to lead us on to Forest Lawn Glendale Cemetery where Wynn's grandparents' are buried. I had visited this cemetery back in 2008 and found them. It took us longer to find them even though I had their location written down. The road names were painted on the curb, small flat circular cement identification markers in the ground & a printed out map with locations got us to find them.

We had a terrific day reuniting with our ancestors.