Harry Elkins Widener
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Harry Elkins Widener (January 3, 1885 – April 15, 1912) was an American businessman and bibliophile, and a member of the Widener family. His mother built Harvard University's Widener Memorial Library in his memory, after his death on the foundering of the Template:RMS.
Early life and education
Widener was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the son of George Dunton Widener (1861–1912) and Eleanor Elkins Widener, and the grandson of Philadelphia businessmen Peter A. B. Widener (1834–1915) and William L. Elkins (1832-1903). He attended The Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Harvard College in 1907, where he was a member of Hasty Pudding Theatricals and the Owl Club. Widener's godfather was the British banking magnate, Charles Mills, the 2nd Baron Hillingdon.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Book collecting
Widener was a member of the Grolier Club.<ref name="Jordan1911">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Club1921">Template:Cite book</ref>
Book collector and dealer George Sidney Hellman, following Widener's death, said, Template:Quote
Titanic sinking
Along with his parents, 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, his father, and his father's valet perished. In 1915, Widener's mother donated the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library to Harvard in his memory. Two buildings at the Hill School are also dedicated to Widener, and stained glass windows at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, are dedicated to Widener and his father.
A Harvard legend holds that in order to spare others her son's fate, Widener's mother insisted, as a condition of her gift, that future Harvard graduates be required to learn to swim. However, while Harvard implemented a swimming test in the 1920s, which it later dropped, the policy was unrelated to Widener.<ref> Template:Citation </ref>
Portrayals
Further reading
References
External links
Template:RMS Titanic Template:Harvard University Template:Authority control
- Pages with broken file links
- 1885 births
- 1912 deaths
- 20th-century American businesspeople
- American bibliophiles
- American book and manuscript collectors
- Businesspeople from Philadelphia
- Deaths on the RMS Titanic
- Harvard College alumni
- Hasty Pudding alumni
- People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania
- The Hill School alumni
- Widener family