The Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library, housing some 3.5 million books in its "vast and cavernous" stacks, is the centerpiece of the Harvard College Libraries and, more broadly, of the entire Harvard Library system. It honors 1907 Harvard College graduate and book collector Harry Elkins Widener, and was built by his mother Eleanor Elkins Widener after his death in the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912.
Dorothy Leib Harrison Wood Eustis was an American dog breeder and philanthropist, who founded The Seeing Eye, the first dog guide school for the blind in the United States. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2011.
Horace Trumbauer was a prominent American architect of the Gilded Age, known for designing residential manors for the wealthy. Later in his career he also designed hotels, office buildings, and much of the campus of Duke University.
George Dunton Widener was an American businessman who died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
Joseph Early Widener was a wealthy American art collector who was a founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. A major figure in thoroughbred horse racing, he was head of New York's Belmont Park and builder of Miami's Hialeah Park racetrack in Florida.
George Dunton Widener Jr. was an American businessman and thoroughbred racehorse owner; one of only five people ever designated "Exemplars of Racing" by the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
Lynnewood Hall is a 110-room Neoclassical Revival mansion in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. Currently undergoing renovations after sitting nearly vacant for years, it was designed by architect Horace Trumbauer for industrialist Peter A. B. Widener and built between 1897 and 1900. Considered the largest surviving Gilded Age mansion in the Philadelphia area, it housed one of the most important Gilded Age private art collections of European masterpieces and decorative arts, which had been assembled by Widener and his younger son, Joseph E. Widener.
Peter Arrell Browne Widener was an American businessman, art collector, and patriarch of the Widener family of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Josephine Clay "Dody" Ford was an American philanthropist and the only granddaughter of Henry Ford.
Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr. was an American educator, sportsman, and philanthropist.
William Lukens Elkins was an American businessman and art collector. He began his working career as a grocer in Philadelphia and became a business tycoon with financial interests in oil, natural gas and transportation. He was one of the first to convert oil to gasoline and became a major shareholder in Standard Oil. He partnered with Peter Widener to found the Philadelphia Rapid Transit Company and developed streetcar and railway systems throughout several major cities in the United States. He founded the United Gas Improvement Company and was a member of the board of directors of 24 companies. He was a collector of art and filled his Elkins Estate with over 132 paintings. His estate was valued at $25 million at the time of his death.
Gertrude Thompson Widener was an American socialite and a successful Thoroughbred racehorse owner and breeder. Born in Albany, New York, she was the daughter of Curtis N. Douglas, a businessman and New York State senator.
Augustus Gibson Paine Jr. was an American paper manufacturer and bank official.
Erdenheim Farm is a 450-acre (1.82 km2) working farm in Springfield and Whitemarsh Townships, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located just outside the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, it is bordered by the Morris Arboretum & Gardens to the east, Whitemarsh Valley Country Club to the south, Carson Valley School to the north, and Corson's Quarry to the west. The Wissahickon Creek flows through the farm and Stenton Avenue crosses it. All but 23 acres of the land is now protected from development by conservation easements.
Eleanor Elkins Widener was an American heiress, socialite, philanthropist, and adventuress best remembered for her donation to Harvard University of the Widener Library—a memorial to her elder son Harry Elkins Widener, who perished in the sinking of the RMS Titanic.
George Eustis Paine Jr. was an American politician from New York.
Cheltenham Township is a home rule municipality and Township of the First Class located in the southeast corner of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, United States. It borders Philadelphia to the south and east, Abington Township and Jenkintown to the north, and Springfield Township to the west.
Peter Arrell Browne Widener II was a prominent American racehorse owner and breeder. He inherited a fortune from his father, Joseph E. Widener, a founding benefactor of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.. His father was also a major figure in Thoroughbred horse racing, being President of Belmont Park racetrack from 1925 to 1939, and builder of the 1932 Hialeah Park racetrack in Miami, Florida.
Eleanor Widener Dixon (1891–1966) was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was the daughter of George Dunton Widener and Eleanor Elkins Widener, and the younger sister of George Dunton Widener Jr. and Harry Elkins Widener.
Widener is a surname of German origin. Notable people with the surname are as follows:
