Gilded Tragedy: West Virginia's Titanic Widow

by Brandon Whited

She has been remembered as the "White Widow of the Titanic." But she was much more than that... Eloise Hughes Smith was born into an upper-class West Virginia political family in the era Mark Twain christened the Gilded Age. She grew up among American presidents and other figures of social importance during a time of rapid, unprecedented change. Finding love as a debutante bride, her romantic bliss was derailed in April 1912 by the sinking of the Titanic, an event that left Eloise widowed and pregnant at the age of 18. "Gilded Tragedy" is the first complete account of this remarkable woman's life story. A widow of the Titanic she was indeed, but she was also a mother, political activist, suffragette, writer, and public speaker. Through it all, she overcame disillusionment and sorrow because, more than anything else, Eloise was a survivor.

105 pages, Paperback

Published November 27, 2019

Reviews

[Deborah Necessary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an early Christmas gift from my son, Michael and daughter-in-law, Sara. The book was autographed by the author, who is from Southwest Virginia and what made it doubling interesting is that Eloise Hughes Smith, was from Huntington, WV. She and her new husband were returning home from their extended honeymoon, because they learned Eloise was pregnant. In a year Eloise had her coming out party, engagement, and wedding. She lost her husband that night on the Titanic, she was 18 years old. This book follows Eloise’s life after that night and it was a pretty rough one, but she was above all a survivor!

[Teresa Kartheiser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommend! Excellent! I had no idea this woman ever existed, much less was from my hometown of Huntington, WV. All the things this woman lives through. I absolutely loved her writings in the the appendix. Read this book.

[Julian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! The depth and detail of this woman’s life is astounding and that is an understatement. The author has apparently went to some amazing lengths to capture the various details of Eloise’s life.

The book is extremely well written and well planned. I absolutely love reading about local history and to have this much available in one book is incredible. The story of Eloise Hughes Smith is both lovely and tragic and the author has done a wonderful job of capturing both of those very human qualities in this book.

A must read for anyone interested in the passengers of the Titanic or in West Virginia history!