Presented by Woody Johnson on October 22, 2022
When Helen Kate Rogers married Horace Howard Furness in 1860, her father was a millionaire and one of the wealthiest men in Philadelphia, the second-largest city in America. At her death in 1883 at the age of 46, she was described as, “a lady of great loveliness of character, of a very sweet and gentle nature, and of rare charms of mind and person.” Hear about Helen Kate Furness, and what we can learn of her from what she has left us in her writings and in her portraits.
Harwood (Woody) Johnson is on the Board of the Furness Library and twice a past president. He is on the boards of a number of other non-profit organizations including the Nether Providence Historical Society. He and his family raised their family in an eighteenth-century Quaker farmhouse just down the street from the Library. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in London.
Portraits of a Life
Helen Kate Rogers with Her Parents and Brother
Helen Kate Furness, Age About 17
This portrait hangs in the children’s room of the Helen Kate Furness Free Library.
Helen Kate Furness, 1873-4
This painting hangs next to the main desk of the library.
Horace Howard Furness (1833-1912)
This photograph of Horace Howard Furness in his library hangs near the front door of the Helen Kate Furness Free Library.