Mrs Eleanor Widener (née Elkins)

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Name: Mrs Eleanor Widener (née Elkins)
Born: Saturday 21st September 1861
Age: 50 years
Married to George Dunton Widener.
Last Residence: in Philadelphia Pennsylvania United States
1st Class passenger
First Embarked: Southampton on Wednesday 10th April 1912
Ticket No. 113503 , £211 10s
Cabin No.: C80
Rescued (boat 4)
Disembarked Carpathia: New York City on Thursday 18th April 1912
Died: Tuesday 13th July 1937
Cause of Death: Embolism

Image
Photo: The Times Dispatch, April 18, 1912

Mrs George Dunton Widener (Eleanor Elkins), 50, was born in Philadelphia, PA on 21 September 1861

A resident of Elkins Park, PA, she boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg with her husband George Widener, son Harry Elkins Widener, Mr Widener's manservant Edwin Keeping and her own maid Amalie Gieger. The Widener's occupied cabins C-80/82.

Mrs Widener was helped into Lifeboat 4 after more than an hour's wait by her husband and son. They then stood back to await their fate.

After their arrival in New York, Mrs Widener and Miss Gieger were met by a private train which took them back to Philadelphia.

After losing her husband and son to the sea, Mrs Widener devoted herself to charitable work. A lasting monument to her generosity stands as the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library at Harvard for which she made a large donation. Her only stipulations being that no stone be touched as long as the library stands and that each graduate of Harvard pass a swimming test (she felt her son might have been saved had he been able to swim). Both rules stand today although the library has been augmented by new buildings in recent years.

In 1915 Mrs Widener married the geographer and explorer Dr Alexander Hamilton Rice of New York, NY and in the coming years followed him on several expeditions in South America 1. They also travelled extensively in Europe and India.

Eleanor died in Paris on 13 July 1937.

Notes
1. She was still being accompanied by Miss Gieger in 1924 when they travelled to the Amazon.

Travelling Companions (on same ticket)
Miss Amalie "Emily" Henriette Gieger
Mr Edwin Herbert Keeping
Mr George Dunton Widener
Mr Harry Elkins Widener

References and Sources
American Foreign Service Report of the Death of an American Citizen
Senate Hearings, 29 May 1912, Affidavit
Contract Ticket List, White Star Line 1912 (National Archives, New York; NRAN-21-SDNYCIVCAS-55[279])
John P. Eaton & Charles A. Haas (1994) Titanic: Triumph & Tragedy, 2nd ed. Patrick Stephens Ltd. ISBN 1 85260 493 X
Walter Lord (1976) A Night to Remember. London, Penguin. ISBN 0 14 004757 3
Don Lynch & Ken Marschall (1992) Titanic: An Illustrated History. London, Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 0 340 56271 4
United States Senate (62nd Congress), Subcommittee Hearings of the Committee on Commerce, Titanic Disaster, Washington 1912

Credits
Phillip Gowan, USA

Related Articles and Documents

THE WIDENERS  
WIDENER MAUSOLEUM  
ELEANOR HAMILTON RICE 1923  
(1909)  PORTRAIT OF ELEANOR WIDENER  
(1909)  ELEANOR WIDENER IN 1909  
New York Times  (1912)  THE WIDENERS  
Washington Times  (1912)  MRS. GEORGE D. WIDENER  
Washington Times  (1912)  WIDENER WAS HEROIC TO END, SAYS FRIEND  
Washington Herald  (1912)  ISMAY LEFT SHIP AT WOMEN'S PLEA  
New York Times  (1912)  HOW J. B. THAYER DIED  
Worcester Evening Gazette  (1912)  PRES. HAYS WIDOW LEAVES FOR HOME  
New York Times  (1912)  PHILADELPHIA SURVIVORS ILL  
New York Times  (1912)  P. A. B. WIDENER GIVES $4,000,000 TO SCHOOL  
New York Times  (1912)  CAPT. ROSTRON GUEST OF MRS. J. J. ASTOR  
New York Times  (1912)  CAPT. ROSTRON GUEST OF MRS. J. B. THAYER  
New York Times  (1915)  HARVARD'S LARGEST CLASS GRADUATED  
New York Times  (1915)  MRS. WIDENER NOT TO WED  
New York Times  (1915)  MRS. G. D. WIDENER TO MARRY DR. RICE  
New York Times  (1915)  EXPLORER RICE WEDS MRS. G. D. WIDENER  
New York Times  (1924)  EXPLORER TO SEEK ORINOCO'S SOURCE  
New York Times  (1924)  RICES BELIEVED SAFE  
New York Times  (1924)  AMAZON TRAFFIC HINDERED  
New York Times  (1924)  EXPEDITION TO USE PLANES FOR SURVEY  
New York Times  (1924)  3 OF RICE'S PARTY BACK FROM AMAZON  
New York Times  (1924)  DR. RICE, IN WILDS OF BRAZIL, IN TOUCH BY RADIO WITH HIS FRIENDS IN NEW YORK EVERY NIGHT  
New York Times  (1925)  MRS. ALEX. H. RICE TO SAIL MARCH 21  
New York Times  (1925)  EXPLORER RICE BACK; SAW WHITE INDIANS  
(1930)  ELEANOR WIDENER (ON RIGHT) WITH FRIEND AT NEWPORT  
Evening Bulletin  (1937)  MRS. A. H. RICE DIES IN PARIS AT 69  
New York Times  (1937)  MRS. A. H. RICE DIES IN A PARIS STORE  
New York Times  (1937)  MRS. A. H. RICE'S FUNERAL AUG. 11  
New York Times  (1937)  TWO RECEIVE SHARES IN ELKINS 27 MILLION  
New York Times  (1937)  DR. ALEXANDER H. RICE GETS WIFE'S MILLIONS  
New York Times  (1956)  ALEXANDER RICE, EXPLORER, WAS 80  
Titanic Research  (2008)  THE WIDENERS: AN AMERICAN FAMILY  
(2008)  HARRY ELKINS WIDENER LIBRARY  

Grave or Memorials Widener mausoleum

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(2012) Eleanor Widener Encyclopedia Titanica (ref: #316, accessed 9th April 2012 03:10:18 PM)
URL : http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/eleanor-widener.html

 


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