Welcome!
June 17, 2013
Introducing the
Harriet G. Walker
Chapter
Minnesota DAR
Let’s Get to Know Mrs. Walker...
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Born Harriet Granger Hulet in 1841 in Brunswick, Ohio.
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Daughter of Fletcher and Fanny Hulet.
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Her Grandfather (Father’s father) John Hulet of Lee, Massachusetts served in the
American Revolutionary War and participated in the Battle of Bunker Hill.
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Harriet moved with her family to Berea, Ohio, ca. 1847.
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She attended Baldwin University, a Methodist-affiliated institution near Berea.
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Studied vocal and instrumental music at what today is Baldwin-Wallace College.
Taught music for 2 years.
Married Thomas Barlow (T.B.) Walker on November 10,1863
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Her “companion” since she was 16.
Also attended Baldwin University.
Business man, Lumber Baron
Life in Minneapolis
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Later moved to Minneapolis and had 8 children:
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Gilbert, Julia, Leon, Harriet, Fletcher, Willis, Clinton, and Archie.
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Her husband had to travel for his work for months at a time, so their first years of
marriage were difficult.
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When their fortunes improved, Harriet and T.B. became interested in art.
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Harriet was well-known in the community for her philanthropic activities and her
political views for Women’s Voting Rights.
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Died in 1917 in New York City while accompanying her husband on a business trip.
Harriet founded Northwestern Hospital and
was President from 1882 to 1917.
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Harriet Walker summoned 44 women to lay plans
for what would become Northwestern Hospital for
Women and Children. Opened in a small rented
house one month later as a charity hospital,
Northwestern Hospital dedicated the first structure
built specifically for hospital use on June 10, 1887,
at the corner of Chicago Avenue and 27th Street
in Minneapolis.
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The first building in late 1882 was a small
rented house on 3 1/2 Avenue South and had
room for ten patients, two nurses in training,
and maids.
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Now known as Abbott Northwestern Hospital, the
largest not-for-profit hospital in the Twin Cities.
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The U.S. News ranked Abbott Northwestern
among America's Best Hospitals with six adult
specialties ranked in the top 50 in the United
States.
Harriet’s Community Involvement
• President of the Bethany Home (now Walker Methodist Home).
Involved from 1874 until 1917.
o 1876-1930 (Bethany Home) - Harriet Walker and 3 other women established
the original Bethany Home for unwed mothers where Walker Methodist
Health Center now stands.
o The Sisterhood of Bethany
• Women's Council of the City of Minneapolis
• Hennepin Avenue Methodist Church
• The Nonpartisan National Women's Christian Temperance Union
• Minneapolis Association Opposed to the Further Extension of
Suffrage to Women
T.B. Walker
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The T. B. Walker and Family Papers was one of the largest
lumber operations in the Upper Midwest and its gradual
expansion into the Pacific Northwest from Minnesota.
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The Red River Lumber Company, the Walker interests'
flagship business, was one of the largest forest products
corporations in the nation, controlling huge acreages in
north-central Minnesota and northeastern California.
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Walker had a big influence on life in several small lumbering towns in
Minnesota and California.
The Red River Lumber Company was also the "home" of the legendary Paul
Bunyan.
Stories of the mythical lumber jack were adapted and expanded from local
loggers' tales by Red River's publicist William B. Laughead. who also
invented the characters Babe the Blue Ox, Johnny Inkslinger, and Shot
Gunderson.
Paul Bunyan became a nationally known advertising character, identifying
Red River Lumber Company products wherever they were marketed.
Honorable Mention: The Walker Library opened in 1981 to
replace the original branch built in 1911 on land donated by
T. B. Walker, who served for 33 years on the Minneapolis
Library Board and was its first President.
The Walker Home
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803 Hennepin Avenue
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Was a public art gallery now
known as the Walker Art
Center, which is located
about a mile from the
house.
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T.B. Walker commissioned
galleries to be built around
the house to house is
extensive art collection.
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In 1914, the house was torn
down.
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The State Theatre in
downtown Minneapolis is on
the site today and is part of
ones of the city’s
entertainment districts.
The Walker Art Collection
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More than 125 years ago, a Minneapolis
man built a room onto his house,
mounted his 20 favorite paintings on the
walls, and everyone wanted to come
inside.
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Founded in 1879 by lumber baron T.B.
Walker, the Walker Art Center was
established at its current location in 1927.
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The Walker Art Center became the first
public art gallery in the Upper Midwest.
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Today the Walker Art Center ranks
among the five most-visited
modern/contemporary art museums in
the US.
http://www.walkerart.org/about/mission-history
The Galleries in T.B. Walker’s home,
circa 1904.
Walker Memorial and Graves at Lakewood
Cemetery in Minneapolis
In Closing… Words from her Biography:
“Through all her active life, however, Mrs. Walker’s
home duties were always foremost. She has refused to
give her time to society; her evenings are devoted to
her family, yet among the women of the city of
Minneapolis, there is probably no other one so widely
beloved and respected.”
“Warm-hearted, sympathetic, earnest, and untiring in
her considerations of others, she has contributed more
to the welfare, comfort, and support of the people of
Minneapolis than any other woman, and in all her
good works, she has the full support and co-operation
of her husband.”
We are very honored to name our chapter after
such an exemplary woman in our community.
Sept 10, 1841 – Jan 13, 1917