“Titanic”: Women and Children First

This book by Judith Geller was published in early 1998. Unlike typical Titanic books which trace the construction of the ship and the sinking and rescue, this book concentrates on the passengers only.

In no particular order, but starting with first class, Geller writes a two or three page biography on many of the women and children on board. The stress is on the surviving passengers, but Mrs. Strauss gets a section, as do a few others that died. You will find many facts and family pictures not seen on Encyclopedia Titanica or in other books.

It was a minor irritation for me, but my only gripe is the use of pictures of items that were recovered from the wreck that were not necessarily related to an individual passenger, but which might have been. For example, "This cut crystal vase with its fluted edge might have held the American Beauty roses at the dinner May and Jacques (Futrelle) enjoyed on their last night together."

Since my own area of interest is the individual passengers (especially the ones who ended up in California) rather than the ship itself, this is still one of my favorite books.

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I would like to read this book. Has any one else read it?

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This is an excellent book. See my previous review under the heading "Female Biographies" in April. I have to admit that your heading makes it much easier to find. Please add your review here after you've finished reading it.

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Janice, I agree with Mike. I just bought the book and started reading it. Judith Geller really gives you alot of detail about the womens' lives who were on board the Titanic. I also bought "Titanic Voices" at the same time and that one is pretty good too. Karen

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i have one question about the book. in one of the pages there is an illustration done by harrison Fisher of survior and actress Dorothy gibson. I e mail someone who is an expert on Harrison Fisher, she said she never heard of her. I heard that she was a model foe him.. Any answers?????

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on page 131 of Judith Gellers book, there is a picture of some third class survivors, amongst them Franks Aks and the Quick girls, who are the other two children in the picture? someone told me the little boy was Meyer Moore but who is the little girl? i thought maybe it was Louise Kink,or Virginia Emanuel?

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I was going to add this thread to the pre-existing one but I can't. Anyway, I have been looking at buying this book for ages, always putting it off till the next pay period. My incessant waiting has not paid off, however, and I now can only find it for $98, whereas it was previously only $35. Is there anyone out there who is willing to part with their book for less than $98? If not, I completely understand, I just thought I'd check. I ask that you respond, just so I have a general idea of how scarce it has become. Anyway, thanks in advance.

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Try the Amazon UK marketplace. At the time of writing there's one there (used) for £22 - little more than the original cover price:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/1852605944/ref=dp_olp_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1211096756&sr=8-1

[Moderator's Note: The pre-existing thread referred to in Ben's message has been unlocked and the two threads discussing this book have been merged. MAB]

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Ben, et al.,

As of today, I see the Geller book available on Amazon.com, used, for $14.89. I picked mine up at the Atlanta Titanic Exhibit a couple years ago. Or maybe Vegas. No problem.

As a writer, I've found WOMEN AND CHILDREN FIRST to be a valuable resource because it contains such a broad overview of a large pool of potential characters. The short biographies are just the thing when you are trying to cull over 2000 people in search of 20 or so characters who are right for your needs.

For my purposes, the book is a starting point only, and needs to be used in concert with some of the other books and ET research available. Once I find my characters, I can then cross-check Geller's info with other sources. Geller's info sometimes conflicts with these other sources, but that's half the fun of the research--finding the truth that lies between different available versions.

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Awesome book. A must-read for any Titanic enthusiast. I'd reccomend it mainly because it focuses on many of the little-known survivors/victims of the tragedy rather than famous names such as J. J. Astor or Capt. Edward Smith, and because it has some pictures of passengers that I doubt one could find anywhere else, like the Skoog family, a group of French-speaking survivors, and the Nicola-Yarred children, just to name a few.

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I recently read that book. I thought it was odd that she didn't name all of the survivors in some of the pictures. She did a lot of research obviously, it's just sad that we don't know who they are. Although, some didn't want to be known for the disaster as the book tells you. I guess I'm rambling but I can't really help answer your question as I am still trying to figure out my own resources.
A fellow researcher,
Kendra

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This is my favorite Titanic book!!!! It is very respectful and has information you cannot find anywhere else!

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Dear Kendra,

I'm late in posting here but since I helped Judith Geller with her book, perhaps I can be of some assistance in helping to try to identify some of the survivors you mentioned. If I recall, there were photos of many of the third class Syrian families and we weren't exactly certain just who some of the children were. We've since learned all of their identities in the decade since the book was written so if I can help if any way to answer your questions, please let me know.

Sincerely,

Mike Findlay

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I have owned this book for several years and with passing time my opinion about it progressively dipped and I now regard it as nothing more than a rehash of old information from other sources plus a LOT of conjectural fantasy by the author.

To quote 2 examples:

Geller had written 4 pages on a 'chapter' about the elusive Titanic victim Edith Evans but it contains almost nothing new. There is background information about her family but as for Edith's own Titanic experience, it is full of the author's own imagination of what it might have been like. But she writes it in such a way that a less knowledgeable reader looking for more information can easily mistake it for fact. Geller writes about how Evans admired the elegance of her apartment, how she found the ship's amenities, how she was warm and snug in her bed and barely disturbed by the Titanic's collision with the iceberg, how she watched the ship's lights gradually disappear and how her footing became unstable etc. Some of that might have come from information from her relatives, the 3 sisters from Cabin C-101 all of whom survived, but the Geller cleverly avoids saying so and mixes fact with fantasy for sensationalism.

The second example is even worse and would have been hilarious if it was not so ridiculously defamatory. Geller labels Trevor Allison's nurse as a child murderer, of unstable character, mentally disturbed and - wait for it - so unattractive that reporters had touch up her photos to make her presentable in the papers. I think a former Auschwitz wardress would have received a better CV. Ms Geller also states that Alice Cleaver had no previous nursemaid experience while in truth she had worked in that capacity for rich families since her teens. But of course, what Geller did not bother to check was that the convicted child killer from 1909 was a completely different and unrelated woman named Alice Mary Cleaver where as the poor, innocent nurse on board the Titanic as part of the Allison entourage was the then 22-year-old Alice Catherine Cleaver.

If she had used her head a little, Geller would have realized that a responsible, deeply religious family man like Hudson Allison would have checked and double-checked references for the post of a nursemaid for his baby son and potential heir and not be conned into hiring a mentally disturbed child killer.

It is a book that relies on cheap and poorly researched material with added sensationalism and fantasy but disguising itself as a quality piece of work through some nice pictures and factual excerpts from other works added in between.

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Mrs Geller may be rightly criticized for a lack of academic rigour... but then...: RMS Titanic: First Class Passengers

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