CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Charlene Widener was able to see for herself a connection to a family member from generations ago when she recently attended training at Harvard.
The Northeast vice president of educational services has a great-great-great uncle who has a library named after him at the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States.
Widener took time to see the library while she was on campus in June for the seven-day Harvard Management and Leadership Institute.
Harry Elkins Widener, a Harvard graduate, led an extraordinary life and was a rare book collector. He was aboard the Titantic along with some of the wealthiest people in the world during its maiden voyage when it struck an iceberg and sunk in 1912.
After his death, his mother, Eleanor Elkins Widener, donated the funds to build the library along with his books. Harry Elkins Widener and his father, George Dutton Widener, both died on the Titantic. The family lived in Pennsylvania. The Wideners were businessmen. The grandfather of the namesake of the library was Peter A.U. Widener, an entrepreneur.
“Somewhere back there (the family) split off and some came to the Midwest,” Charlene Widener said. “It’s not a close relationship. It’s like one of those things you find out when you are five generations back from some obscure royalty.”
Charlene Widener learned about her famous ancestor when she was in eighth grade doing a history project on her family history.
Regardless of the past, one of the great things about higher education is no matter if it is Harvard or The Citadel or Northeast Community College, it helps people to improve their lives.
“We have to keep in mind the faculty that teach at all these institutions are great faculty, just like the faculty here at Northeast. They might serve people from a variety of backgrounds, including the wealthy, but they are not in that same socio-economic bracket as some of the students they serve. They are folks who have dedicated their lives to the success of others,” Widener said.
Widener Memorial Library
Charlene Widener, Northeast vice president of educational services, takes a selfie in front of the Harry Elkin Widener Memorial Library at Harvard. Charlene Widener’s great-great-great uncle, who died on the Titantic in 1912, is the namesake of the library. (Courtesy photo)
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