Aside from its permanent galleries, the Royal BC Museum also hosts temporary exhibitions which are always very interesting. On my last visit there, they had the “Dragon Bones: When Dinosaurs Ruled China.” On this visit, they had “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition.”
I had been fascinated with the story of the Titanic sinking, even before the Leonardo di Caprio-Kate Winslet movie became a blockbuster. I read about it when I was a child and what stayed in my memory was the interesting coincidence of having an 1898 novel written about the sinking of a ship with details eerily similar to the real-life Titanic disaster. The novel entitled, The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility, was penned by a man named Morgan Robertson, a small-town writer, 14 years before the fateful maiden voyage of the Titanic. The similarity is uncanny, even to the smallest details, that the book is almost a prediction of the greatest maritime disaster in human history.
The plot revolves around a man named John Rowland, an alcoholic and a disgraced formal naval officer, who took a job aboard the Titan, the world’s largest vessel. In the book, the author described it as “unsinkable” and “among the greatest works of men,” which was also how the real-life Titanic was described by its builders. The Titan hit an iceberg on its journey, sank, and became one of the world’s greatest tragedies. It took majority of its passengers with it due to insufficient lifeboats. If one tells this tale without mentioning the book, anyone would have guessed that it’s a retelling of the Titanic story, except that it’s not, and that it was written in the past.
The resemblance goes far beyond the name of the vessel and the cause of the accident. Both ships were British-owned. The length of the Titan was 800 feet, while the Titanic, 882. Both ships had a triple screw propeller. The speed at which the Titan cruised into the iceberg was 25 knots, and the Titanic, 22.5 knots. Both ships were hit on their starboard bough. Both sank in the North Atlantic exactly 400 nautical miles from Newfoundland. The Titan carried 2,500 passengers, and the Titanic held 2,200, although both had the capacity of 3,000. Both had a severe lack of lifeboats. The Titan held 24, while the Titanic carried 20.
But there are differences as well. While the Titan’s sinking left only 13 survivors, the Titanic had 705. And while the Titan actually capsized before sinking, the Titanic was split into two pieces. The novel also had an additional adventure component where the hero slayed a polar bear found on the iceberg that hit them…but of course, this was what novels are for. Still, the differences are strikingly far and between compared to the similarities.
This led people to even accuse Robertson of being a clairvoyant due to the insane similarities between his work and what happened in real life after 14 years. But Robertson dismissed the allegations and attributed it to his extensive knowledge of shipbuilding and his research on maritime trends. After all, he was the son of a ship captain and he worked as a cabin boy before becoming a first mate on a merchant ship.
Though nautical experts have provided some probable and logical explanations about the uncanny similarities, one cannot help but wonder what kind of luck (or misfortune) Robertson struck to be able to “predict” a future disaster. And this did not stop the spark of conspiracy theories over the years. Some said that the ship was purposely sunk to avoid the creation of the Federal Reserve Bank. Others believe that it was cursed because the shipping company that owned it, White Star Line, did not have their ships blessed (or christened, as they called it).
Clairvoyant claims and conspiracy theories aside, the story of the Titanic remains fascinating, and so, upon learning that the Royal BC Museum had an exhibit, I made sure we saw it.
This travelling exhibition featured more than 275 artifacts recovered from the Titanic’s resting place in a series of galleries that traced the life of the “unsinkable ship” – from its design and construction, to its discovery, recovery, and conservation. They also made this exhibition interactive by engaging the visitors into the story.
Upon presenting our tickets, we were each assigned a name taken after the real passengers of the ship and given a “boarding pass” for the passage that indicated whether we were passengers on first class, second class, third class, or staff, or crew. We were also given sheets of paper with some information about our characters – who we were, who we’re travelling with, and purpose of travel on the Titanic. The guide told us that we would find out at the end of the exhibit, whether we survived the disaster or not.
My husband was Mr. Julius Van Der Planke, a 31-year old Belgian who boarded the Titanic in Southampton with his wife, brother, sister, and a family friend on third class. They were bound for Fremont, Ohio, where Jules got a job as a foreman for the Continental Sugar Company. His brother was hoping to get a job as a carpenter there, and his sister, either as a seamstress or a lace maker.
I was Mrs. Emily Maria Borie, 48-years old and wife of Mr. Arthur Larned Ryerson. We were from Haverford, Pennsylvannia and boarded the Titanic in Cherbourg to go back home from a trip to Europe with our children - 21-year-old-Suzette, 18-year-old Emily, and 13-year-old John, plus our maid and John's governess. We were obviously well-off and we were all booked in first class cabins. However, even before the sea disaster began, we already had our own family disaster. We travelled to Europe to find suitable husbands for our daughters, but shortly upon arrival, we received the horrible news that our other son, Arthur Jr., a Yale undergraduate who was left home, was killed in a car accident. We hurried to take the first ship available to see to the funeral. Because of our status and our special predicament, we were provided with an additional stateroom and the White Star Line Director, who was a personal friend, also sent an additional servant from his own staff.
(Trivia: In the film, the character of Arthur appeared in the background with his son, John, and another man in the scene when Jack Dawson steals a coat. It was later revealed that the stolen coat belonged to Arthur.)
And so, as we climbed the gangplank, we were immediately immersed in the passenger experience, keeping in mind who we were supposed to be. We were led to authentically-recreated first and third-class cabins and corridors, an outdoor café, the boiler room, and the grand staircase famously showcased in the James Cameron movie. All were appointed with artifacts recovered from the shipwreck site below the surface of the North Atlantic Ocean.
For a few minutes, it felt like we were onboard the real Titanic on real time. The mood lightning, the music, and the ambient sound of the ocean waves and people’s conversations and laughter as they went about their own businesses on the ship also helped create that atmosphere. Every piece from this exhibition catapulted us into the poignant journey of the actual passengers, and the further we went and the more we saw, we were brought closer to the tragedy. Seeing objects that once belonged to the passengers and looking at things they used on the ship made it more real – dinnerware, dinner menus, musical instruments, clothing items, jewelry, spectacles, personal effects, letters, photos, etc.
Even more dramatic was the gallery that had walls of ice…that is, a replica of the iceberg. The room was dimly-lit and was chilly, recreating the desolate conditions during the sinking of the ship. There were sound effects of ocean waves, howling winds, and life boats paddling. We could even touch the “iceberg” and it burnt our fingers within a few seconds due to the “cold.” I couldn’t even imagine what was going through the passengers’ heads on that fateful night and how terrified they must have been!
The final display put faces to the names and shared stories of some individuals who were aboard the ship. Notable was John Jacob Astor, from one of America’s wealthiest families (whose mansion we toured in Rhode Island on our honeymoon) and who was the wealthiest passenger on the Titanic. He survived. Another one was Margaret Tobin Brown (or Molly Brown, the character played by Kathy Bates in the movie), who also survived and became America’s most celebrated philanthropist and activist for women’s rights. At the end of the hall was a memorial with the names of Titanic’s passengers. It was there where we could look for our characters and find out how their journey ended.
Sadly, my husband's character, Jules, and his whole family did not survive the sinking. Their bodies, if recovered, were never identified. Their dreams of settling in Ohio and starting a new life never came to fruition.
My character, Emily, survived with her children, maid, and governess. They were on Lifeboat #4 and witnessed from afar as the boat broke in half. Sadly, her husband, Arthur, perished and his body, if recovered, was never identified. The trauma of the sinking and the tragic deaths of Arthur Senior and Junior must have been a big blow to the family. It must have taken them years to recover and move on from this experience.
(Trivia: It was said that a Second Officer refused to have her take her son, John aboard the lifeboat, stating that at 13 years, he was old enough to join the men. But his father stepped in and insisted that he should go with his mother, and thus saved his life.)
For some reason, even if we only "played" our characters for a couple of hours, I took the news of our fate personally and felt devastated. Just knowing their names, their families, and their background stories already made this tragedy seem real to me.
Though the disaster occurred more than a century ago, the impact of this historic event continues to touch our lives in one way or another. Going to this exhibition not only gave me facts, but broadened my understanding on the factors that contributed to the disaster's unfolding. In addition, the personal perspective employed by the exhibit organizers not only enabled visitors to know the stories of and honour the memory of the ship’s passengers, but also to reflect on our own lives and our personal journeys.
Photo Credits:
royalbcmuseum.bc.ca, timescolonist.com, pressreader.com (The Province), kobo.com, titanicfandom.com, straight.com
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