Eleanor Elkins Widener (September 21, 1861 - July 13, 1937) née Eleanore Elkins, also known as Eleanor Elkins Widener Rice was an American heiress, socialite, philanthropist, and adventuress. She was the daughter of wealthy businessman William Lukens Elkins and married George Dunton Widener, the son of wealthy businessman Peter Arrell Browne Widener. She survived the 1912 sinking of the RMS Titanic but George and their son, Harry, did not. She renovated St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, as a memorial to George and donated $2 million to Harvard University to build the Widener Library as a memorial to Harry.
Widener remarried, to Harvard professor Alexander Hamilton Rice. She funded his research and accompanied him on a number of expeditions in South America, Europe and India. After her death, her grandson, Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr., had Penn Morton College in Chester, Pennsylvania, renamed Widener College in her honor.
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Early life
Widener was born September 21, 1861 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father was the wealthy businessman William Lukens Elkins. She attended Vassar College for one year but left to marry George Dunton Widener, the son of William's business partner, Peter Arrell Browne Widener, on November 1, 1883.