 In 1911, Hoffman earned a bachelor's degree from Bryn Mawr; she also took design coursework with Arthur B. Dow at the Art Students League of New York, and studied painting at the Portland Museum Art School.In January 1918, she married Ferdinand C. Smith, who was in the U.S. Army at Camp Lewis.He had fallen ill with scarlet fever, and as soon as they said their vows he went into quarantine.