Harriet T. Righter (February 24, 1878 – June 8, 1982) was an American businesswoman, the president of

Selchow and Righter Selchow and Righter was a 19th- and 20th-century game manufacturer best known for the games ''Parcheesi'' and ''Scrabble''. It was based in Bay Shore, New York. It dates back to 1867 when it was founded as E. G. Selchow & Co. In 1880, to reflec ...

, a game company, which was co-founded by her father. Her best-known addition to the company's properties was

Scrabble ''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, read left t ...

, which she thought was "a nice little game".

Early life

Harriet T. Righter was born in Brooklyn, the daughter of John H. Righter, who co-founded the game company Selchow and Righter with Elias Selchow in 1870. She had sisters, Katherine and Jessie, and a brother who died young. She attended

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a private women's liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henry and Pauline Durant as a female seminary, it is a member of the original Seven Sisters Colleges, an unofficial g ...

Career

Righter did

settlement Settlement may refer to: *Human settlement, a community where people live *Settlement (structural), the distortion or disruption of parts of a building *Closing (real estate), the final step in executing a real estate transaction *Settlement (fina ...

work in New York as a young woman, and was the first president of United Neighborhood Houses of New York in 1921. She was active in the City Fusion Party in Brooklyn in the 1930s, and worked on the mayoral campaign of

Fiorello LaGuardia Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City from ...

in 1933. In 1936, Mayor LaGuardia named Righter to the board of trustees of the

Brooklyn Public Library The Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) is the public library system of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is the sixteenth largest public library system in the United States by holding and the seventh by number of visitors. Like the two othe ...

. She was also chair of the library's Friends of the Library organization. Righter became president of Selchow and Righter in 1923. Under her leadership, the company began manufacturing (not just selling) games, expanding advertising and promotion of the games, and offering popular games in different editions, to appeal to a wider range of buyers. Her best-known addition to the company's properties was

, when Selchow and Righter licensed the game from entrepreneur James Brunot in 1952. "It's a nice little game. It will sell well in bookstores", she remembered saying about Scrabble when she first saw it. In its second year as a Selchow and Righter-built product, nearly four million sets were sold. She retired from the executive role at Selchow and Righter in 1954, but stayed active in the company as an adviser and public face.

Personal life

Righter died in 1982, aged 104 years, at her home in Brooklyn.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Righter, Harriet T. 1878 births 1982 deaths American centenarians 20th-century American businesswomen 20th-century American businesspeople People from Brooklyn Wellesley College alumni Scrabble Women centenarians