B. Merrill Hopkinson

Benjamin Merrill Hopkinson (September 18, 1858 – February 22, 1923) was an American dentist, medical doctor, oral surgeon, academic, civil servant, baritone, church musician, and choir director.

Born and raised in Baltimore, Hopkinson went to Boston as a teenager to work in business while simultaneously studying music. His father, a dentist, suffered an accident and he returned home to Baltimore to aid in him in his dental practice. After graduating from the Baltimore College of Dental Surgery and University of Maryland School of Medicine, he became a leading dentist in Maryland, ultimately serving as a chaired professor in the University of Maryland School of Dentistry from 1911 until his death twelve years later. In addition to operating a private dental practice, he also was the longtime director of the dental clinics program for Baltimore Public Schools system and later the Baltimore City Health Department. He contributed articles to several dental journals.

In addition to his career in medicine, Hopkinson had a parallel career as a concert baritone and church musician. He was employed as a singer and choral director at various churches and synagogues in Baltimore from the 1880s up until his death in 1923. He performed often in both amateur and professional concerts in Baltimore, and worked professionally as a singer on the national stage as a recitalist and oratorio singer. His concert work included performances with the Oratorio Society of Baltimore, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera among other ensembles. A talented amateur pole vaulter, he was a leader in amateur sports organizations both locally and nationally, including serving on the United States Olympic Committee.

Early life and education The son of Dr. Moses Atwood Hopkinson and Elizabeth Ann Hopkinson, Benjamin Merrill R. Hopkinson was born in Baltimore, Maryland, He began his professional life as a teenager working in business in Boston during which time he also studied music in that city. The Hopkinson family practice was located at the intersection of Charles and Saratoga Streets and B. Merrill continued to practice there until those dental offices were demolished to make room the Colonial Trust Company Building (built 1907). He was appointed the first secretary of the Maryland State Dental Association when it was chartered on October 18, 1883. In 1884 he was elected Maryland's delegate to the National Dental Association (NDA) and was appointed to the committee overseeing membership for the NDA. In 1889 he was elected a member of the Medical and Chirurgical Faculty of the State of Maryland.

In 1911 Hopkinson was made a chaired professor at the UMSD, holding the post of Professor of Oral Hygiene and Dental History. He remained in that position for the remainder of his life. He also served on the governing board of the UMSD.

Hopkinson's academic work and musical work sometimes came together. In 1893 he sang a song he wrote, "Our Graduates", at the commencement ceremony of the UMSM. When the University of Maryland Libraries (UML) was gifted the General Lafayette Memorial Flag by the Daughters of the American Revolution, Hopkinson sang both France's national anthem ("La Marseillaise") and America's national anthem ("The Star-Spangled Banner") at a special ceremony in 1917 in which the flag was officially bequeathed to the UML. He contributed articles to The American Journal of Dental Science among several other dental journals. He performed frequently as a guest soloist in sacred music concerts with the Oratorio Society of Baltimore and at various churches throughout the city. Engelbert Humperdinck's Die Wallfahrt nach Kevlaar (1889), and Camille Saint-Saëns's Coeli enarrant, Op. 42 (1849) among other works.

Hopkinson also performed with some frequency in concerts at the Baltimore Academy of Music (BMA) and Ford's Grand Opera House. The following October he performed in concert with soprano Marion Weed at the BMA. In 1894 he performed excerpts from Lucia di Lammermoor with the Arion Gesangverein at the concert hall of the Germania Männerchor. In March 1898 he gave a recital of new music composed entirely by Ethelbert Nevin at Lehmann's Hall. He was a soloist with Jungnickel and his orchestra again in April 1899, this time at Baltimore Music Hall.

Local composer and minister Maltbie Davenport Babcock composed two sacred solos specifically for Hopkinson, one in and 1894 and the other in 1898. One of these was a setting of Isaac Watts's text "Salvation". Another Baltimore composer, music critic W. G. Owst, composed his song "What is Love?" (published 1899) for Hopkinson.

Hopkinson was also well known on the concert stage nationally. According to The Baltimore Sun he performed in concert tours which took him to nearly every major city east of Chicago. His fellow soloists included Mary Louise Clary as Delilah, Albert Guille as Samson and Emil Fischer as Abimélech. In 1889 he was a soloist in several oratorios performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the Worcester Music Festival, Massachusetts, among them Haydn's The Creation. In 1898 he performed a joint recital with contralto Gertrude May Stein under the auspices of the Atlanta Concert Organization. He also toured nationally as a recitalist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Other activities and death Hopkinson was a talented amateur pole vaulter who served as the president of the Baltimore Athletic Club for a number of years. He was a member of the United States Olympic Committee and was involved in the process of selecting American athletes for the Olympics. He was also a masonic lodge officer with the title of Grand Director of Ceremonies. in Roland Park, Baltimore, on February 22, 1923.