author
Helen Hay Whitney
1875–1944
A poet from one of America’s best-known families, she published graceful verse while also building a remarkable life in philanthropy and Thoroughbred racing. Her world joined literature, public life, and high society in a way that still feels distinctly Gilded Age.
5 Audiobooks
The Rose of Dawn: A Tale of the South Sea
by Helen Hay Whitney
Sonnets and Songs
by Helen Hay Whitney
Some Verses
by Helen Hay Whitney
Gypsy Verses
by Helen Hay Whitney
Herbs and Apples
by Helen Hay Whitney
About the author
Born Helen Julia Hay on March 11, 1875, she was the daughter of John Hay, the statesman and writer who served Abraham Lincoln and later became U.S. secretary of state. She became Helen Hay Whitney after marrying Payne Whitney in 1902, and she was known not only as a poet and writer but also as a philanthropist and an important figure in American horse racing.
Her published work included several books of verse, among them Some Verses and Herbs and Apples. Alongside her literary life, she developed Greentree Stable into one of the most successful names in Thoroughbred racing, helping make her one of the most prominent women in that world.
She died on September 24, 1944. Her legacy lived on in more than one field: in literature through her poetry, in racing through the stable she led, and in public good through the Helen Hay Whitney Foundation, established in connection with her estate planning and later known for supporting biomedical research.