Eleanor Widener Dixon

{{Short description|American socialite and philanthropist (1891–1966)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Eleanor Widener Dixon

| image =

| caption =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1891|4|10|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1966|2|12|1891|4|10|mf=y}}

| resting_place = Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

}}

Eleanor Widener Dixon (April 10, 1891{{ndash}}February 12, 1966) was an American socialite and philanthropist. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 10, 1891,{{cite web |title=The Wideners: An American Family |url=https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/articles/wideners.pdf |website=www.encyclopedia-titanica.org |publisher=Encyclopedia Titanica |access-date=19 February 2025}} into the wealthy Widener family as the daughter of George Dunton Widener and Eleanor Elkins Widener.{{r|nyt_obit}}

She married Fitz Eugene Dixon Sr. in 1912. The wedding was held at Lynnewood Hall two weeks after her father and brother Harry Elkins Widener died in the sinking of the Titanic. Her wedding dress purchased by her parents in Paris{{sfn|Difulgo|2014|p=48}} was lost in the sinking.{{sfn|Difulgo|2014|pp=51-52}} They lived together in a mansion on a 114-acre estate named Ronaele (her name spelled backward) which was built by Horace Trumbauer between 1923 and 1925 on the former estate of Jay Cooke.{{cite book |last1=Hildebrandt |first1=Rachel |title=The Philadelphia Area Architecture of Horace Trumbauer |date=2009 |publisher=Arcadia Publishing |location=Charleston, South Carolina |isbn=978-0-7385-6297-1 |page=44 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Philadelphia_Area_Architecture_of_Ho/16Z_T-dtX84C |access-date=17 February 2025}} They had a daughter, also named Eleanor Widener Dixon, and a son Fitz Eugene Dixon Jr.{{refn|name=nyt_obit|{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1966/01/14/archives/mrs-widener-dixon-philanthropist-74.html|title=MRS. WIDENER DIXON, PHILANTHROPIST, 74|work=The New York Times|date=January 14, 1966|page=39}} }} but divorced in 1936.{{refn|name=nyt_divorce|{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1937/03/28/archives/marries-after-divorce-mrs-h-w-road-weds-fitz-e-dixon-in-reno.html|title=MARRIES AFTER DIVORCE; Mrs. H. W. Road (sic) Weds Fitz E. Dixon in Reno|work=The New York Times|date=March 28, 1937|page=15}} }}

In 1942, she donated her $350,000 yacht, also named Ronaele, to the United States Navy for service during World War II{{cite web |title=PHILADELPHIA YACHTS GO INTO NAVY SERVICE; Mrs. Eleanor Widener Dixon and H.L. Adams Turn Over Boats |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1942/01/04/archives/philadelphia-yachts-go-into-navy-service-mrs-eleanor-widener-dixon.html |website=www.nytimes.com |publisher=The New York Times |access-date=19 February 2025}} as the USS Alabaster.{{cite web |title=Alabaster |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/a/alabaster.html |website=www.history.navy.mil |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command |access-date=19 February 2025}}

File:Mrs. Eleanor Widener Dixon, residence at 9002 Crefeld St., Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania. LOC gsc.5a21194.jpg

In 1949, she purchased "Homewood", a mansion in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood of Philadelphia and again hired Horace Trumbauer to update the residence.{{cite web |title=203 Architectural Hall of Fame |url=https://chconservancy.org/2023vote/ |website=chconservancy.org |publisher=Chestnut Hill Conservancy |access-date=19 February 2025}} In 1969, her son donated the home to Temple University for use as a lodge for attendees of the Albert M. Greenfield Conference Center.{{cite book |last1=Hilty |first1=James W. |title=Temple University - 125 Years of Service to Philadelphia, the Nation, and the World |date=2010 |publisher=Temple University Press |location=Philadelphia |isbn=9781439900215 |page=113 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Temple_University/ebT3FL1jomsC |access-date=19 February 2025}}

In 1956, she sold the Ronaele estate to the De La Salle Brothers which used it as student housing for La Salle College. In 1973, the estate was sold to developers and demolished in 1974. Several of the interior art features were donated to the La Salle University Art Museum.

She donated money to support Abington Memorial Hospital. She spent her summers in Winter Harbor, Maine,{{cite web |last1=Walsh |first1=Tom |title=Winter Harbor summer resident still wears emerald ring with Titanic ties |url=https://www.bangordailynews.com/2012/04/13/news/winter-harbor-summer-resident-still-wears-emerald-ring-with-titanic-ties/ |website=www.bangordailynews.com |publisher=Bangor Publishing Company |access-date=19 February 2025}} and in August 1961, Widener donated $50,000{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Carrie |title=MDI residents frustrated by closures of clinic and coastal road |url=https://www.bangordailynews.com/2024/06/04/hancock/hancock-health/mdi-closures-northern-light-clinic-seawall-road/ |website=www.bangordailynews.com |publisher=Bangor Publishing Company |access-date=19 February 2025}} to build the Eleanor Widener Dixon Memorial Clinic in Gouldsboro, Maine.{{cite web |last1=Weaver |first1=Jacqueline |title=Dixon Clinic Celebrates 50th Anniversary |url=https://www.ellsworthamerican.com/news/health/dixon-clinic-celebrates-50th-anniversary/article_5a93e44a-927a-526c-93be-2ff45357277d.html |website=www.ellsworthamerican.com |publisher=The Ellsworth American |access-date=19 February 2025}}{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Mac |title=Plain Madeleine - Mrs. John Jacob Astor in Bar Harbor |date=2024 |publisher=Down East Books |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=9781684752218 |page=106 |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Plain_Madeleine/1vTwEAAAQBAJ |access-date=19 February 2025}} The clinic closed in 2024.

She died on February 12, 1966,{{r|nyt_obit}} and was interred at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.{{cite web |title=Eleanor Widener Dixon |url=https://remembermyjourney.com/memorials/eleanor-widener-dixon?id=841VRWAj |website=remembermyjourney.com |publisher=webCemeteries |access-date=15 February 2025}}