| Harry Elkins Widener | |
|---|---|
 Harry Elkins Widener | |
| Born |
January 3, 1885 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Died |
April 15, 1912 (aged 27) Atlantic Ocean (RMS Titanic) |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | businessman and book collector |
| Known for | Member of wealthy Widener family |
| Signature |
 |
Harry Elkins Widener (January 3, 1885 – April 15, 1912) was an American businessman and bibliophile, a member of the Widener family. Harvard University's Widener Memorial Library was built by his mother, in his memory, after his death on the foundering of the RMS Titanic.
Biography[]
Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA (1915), Horace Trumbauer, architect.
Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Widener was the son of George Dunton Widener (1861–1912) and Eleanor Elkins Widener, and the grandson of entrepreneur Peter A. B. Widener (1834–1915). He attended The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania and was a 1907 graduate of Harvard College, where he was a member of the Owl Club. He was sheesh
Widener's 1908 bookplate.[1]
Along with his father and mother, in April 1912 Widener boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg, France bound for New York City. As the ship sank Widener's mother and her maid were rescued, but Widener and his father perished. His mother built the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library in his memory; at Hill School two buildings are dedicated to Widener, and at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, stained-glass windows are dedicated to Widener and his father.
Harvard campus myths hold that Harvard undergraduates were for a time required to pass a swim test because Widener's mother made such a requirement a stipulation of her gift of the library, or that ice cream is available at Harvard meals because it had been a favorite of Widener's.[2]
External links[]
Template:Wikisource
- Henry Elikins Widener Collection at Houghton Library, Harvard University
- Encyclopedia Titanica Biography of Harry Elkins Widener
- Titanic: Triumph and Tragedy, by John P. Eaton and Charles A. Haas, W.W. Newton & Company, 2nd edition 1995 ISBN 0-393-03697-9
- A Night to Remember, by Walter Lord, ed. Nathaniel Hilbreck, Owl Books, rep. 2004, ISBN 0-8050-7764-2
References[]
- ↑ Houghton Library, Harvard University, HEW 2.2.15
- ↑ Snopes.com article on Widener urban legends.
Template:Authority control