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REVIEW: "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition"
Ego, wealth, optimism, and opulence. RMS Titanic was the grandest symbol of all this and more. Branded as "practically unsinkable," the largest ship ever built in its time boasted a top first-class ticket price of more than $103,000 in today's currency. Filled with celebrities, dignitaries, tycoons, and immigrants, the Titanic set sail on April 10, 1912, from Southampton, UK, and sank on April 15, 1912, after hitting an iceberg during its maiden voyage.
Titanic was already legendary prior to the fateful night she sunk, and the story of her fate - whether learned from history class or via Kate, Leo, and James Cameron - is one of the most notorious of the last century. After almost 100 years, the story still carries mass public appeal, a fact upon which the Rochester Museum and Science Center (RMSC) is counting with its latest exhibit, "Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition."
The legend of the vessel itself many times overshadows the individual lives of those involved. Borrowing its approach from the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., this exhibit successfully engages visitors by making a connection between them and a passenger aboard the ship. With admission to the exhibit, each person receives a boarding pass bearing the name and information of a real Titanic passenger. The natural human response is to sleuth out connections between the artifacts, photos, and displays and the name on the card in hand. It truly personalizes the experience and drives home the point that these people endured incredible tragedy; they were not just statistics on a page.
"The story touches our passions and emotions and brings a human element, and walking in someone else's shoes gives you that framework," says Debra Jacobson, RMSC's director of marketing and community affairs. "The movie we've all seen romanticized it, but the reality is there was this person on the ship, and look at what they went though."
As for why the story of the Titanic remains so captivating after all these years, Jacobson has a theory. "I think things like this go against our understanding of what's right or normal in the world. They stick out as something we never let go," she says.
The exhibit features many salvaged artifacts from the ship, which help to lend voices to the lost. Logic dictates that decades spent underwater would render most items damaged beyond repair, but actually, quite the opposite has occurred. Papers, money, and sheet music, protected from the sea by the leather cases in which they were stored, are marvelously preserved. China and many personal items are all in pristine condition. Take special care to note the personal effects of Howard Irwin from Buffalo. Many of his items are present, yet his fate has an ironic twist. See if you can discover it in the exhibit's final room.
The many fascinating facts and stories throughout the exhibit convey the full picture of what happened that fateful night. They also offer subtle clues about the class and social structure of the time. For example, the Turkish baths, pool, and smoking room were men-only, and china used in the third-class dining area was stamped with the White Star logo in order to prevent theft. China in first class, however, was unmarked. Read between the lines.
So we all know Jack and Rose, but have you ever heard of Mrs. Walter H. (Irene) Corbett? Likely not. My boarding pass bore her name. She was a 30-year-old mother of three from Provo, Utah, returning home from studying nursing in England. She boarded Titanic as a second-class passenger on April 10, 1912. Check the passenger list to see what happened to her.
Titanic facts for kids
-The fourth "smokestack" on Titanic was fake. Placed there to make the ship look "grander," it was merely a vent from the engine room and the kitchen
-The room number 13 was not used on the ship.
-There were a whopping 75,000 lbs of fresh meat, 40,000 eggs, 40 tons of potatoes, and 20,000 bottles of beer aboard Titanic for her maiden voyage.
-Journalist William Stead, who wrote articles predicting disasters if ships went to sea without enough lifeboats, was on board. When he realized he was not going to get off the ship, he went to the smoking room and read a book.
-Titanic was a mail ship, hence the "RMS" moniker, which stands for "Royal Mail Ship."
-It took one pound of coal for every foot Titanic traveled. The ship carried 6,000 tons of coal.
-Those traveling in third class had to share two bathtubs between 700 passengers.