St (since demolished). She was raised in Bainbridge, near the Alabama border. She had an older sister, Ruby (1900-1990). Her maternal great-grandfather, the fourth mayor of Bainbridge, had helped establish St. John's Episcopal Church in the city. Hopkins sang in the choir as a girl.

In 1909, she briefly lived in Mexico with her family. After her parents separated, Hopkins moved as a teen with her mother to Syracuse, New York, to be near her paternal