Joseph Widener

[Darren Honeycutt]

Does anyone know if Joseph Widener is related to George Widener of Philadelphia who went down with the Titanic? Joseph Widener bought the Hialeah horseracing park in 1930 outside of Miami. Kind of off topic but does anyone know why this hugely popular place that is well known for the flock of flamingos has become so run down? Sadly, its rented out for private affairs such as anniversaries and birthdays.

 

[Phillip Gowan]

Darren--Joseph Widener was a brother of George. He had an interesting daughter named Josephine "Fifi" Widener. Have some interesting stories on her.

Phil

 

[Randy Bryan Bigham]

Darren,

Here's a drawing by Miguel Covarrubias from Vogue (1937) of famous racing enthusiasts - past and present. George D. Widener is depicted second from left on second row. Joseph Widener is at far left on third row. Others of interest are Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (fifth from left on first row) and Alfred Vanderbilt (far right, second row).

Sorry for the small file size. If you have "picture editor" or something like that, you might can enlarge it a bit.

Randy

 

[Darren Honeycutt]

Thanks Phil and thanks Randy for sharing that information. I didn't realize that Joseph was Georges brother but felt there had to be connection. That race track in Hialeah is an interesting place to see. I walked around the place a few weeks ago and you can tell it has alot of history to it. Its kind of in a bad area so that is probably the reason for its demise. Phil, is "Fifi" still living? I would like to hear some of those stories you are talking about.

 

[Phillip Gowan]

Hey Darren,
No, "Fifi" is long gone. She really wreaked havoc in the life of a certain Titanic widow in the 1930's.

We'll have to have lunch sometime and I'll fill you in on the family gossip!

Phil