Florence Denny Heliker (1878-1962) was born to Seattle pioneer Rolland Herschel Denny (1851-1939) and Alice Martha Kellogg (1857-1940, daughter of Whidbey Island pioneer Dr. John Coe Kellogg). After attending Seattle High School, Florence and Dr. Mabel Seagrave were the first Seattle women to attend Wellesley College, graduating in 1904. Florence married skating rink proprietor Winthrop G Heliker (b.1878) in 1904, however they were divorced seven years later. Florence taught English for a year in 1910 in a mission school in Peiping, China. She was a private tutor in Osaka, Japan, in 1911 and 1912. An X-ray technician, Florence was in one of three all-women units sent to France in the First World War. Her unit’s equipment was lost in a torpedoing so she worked as an aide. Florence also was a probation officer for the Juvenile Court for 20 years. Florence was a member of the Women’s University Club, the Seattle Historical Society, the Pioneer Association of Washington, the Sunset Club, the Mayflower Society, and the Soroptimist Club.
This studio portrait of Florence was taken in Seattle in August 1898, when she was about 20 years old.
Written on verso: Lovingly, Florence, August 1898. Florence Denny Helliker, daughter of Rolland H. Denny.
Cation information source: "Funeral For Florence Denny Heliker Set," Seattle Daily Times, December 21, 1962, page 41 Caption information source: "The Life of Dr. John Coe Kellogg," by Alice Cahail Kellogg, Whidbey Island Farm Bureau News, 1939, http://www.gsswi.org/documents/DrJohnKellogg.pdf
Physical Description: 1 photographic print mounted on cardboard : b&w ; 6.25 x 4.5 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State. View the finding aid for this collection at https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv35104
Credit: MOHAI, George and Louisa Frye Family Papers, 1990.45.88
