Back in November when Wayne and I went to visit our families for Thanksgiving, we had the opportunity to see “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition” at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Being a fan of the 1997 movie, I was very psyched to see this exhibit. I’d heard nothing but raves about it from others who’d seen it when it’d been in Florida.
It proved as amazing as everyone said. From the recreated passenger cabins (both first class and third) to the grand staircase to the many artifacts recovered from the bottom of the North Atlantic I couldn’t help but be impressed.
But what really got to me was how personal they made it. Before entering the exhibit every person was given a ticket of a real passenger who’d been on Titanic. It told their name, age, where they were from, who they were accompanied by, their class, cabin number if known, reason for traveling, and any passenger facts. There were also actors in costume portraying people who’d been aboard the ship that fateful voyage. At the end of the exhibit there was a huge list of the names of all those who had survived and those who hadn’t.
I thought I had kept my ticket too, but it turns out I only kept Wayne’s. All I remember about my lady was she was a countess traveling in first class and she had survived. (So had the maid she was traveling with.) Wayne’s ticket belonged to a second class passenger named Michel Navratil (a.k.a. Louis Hoffman) who had been going through a bad divorce and custody battle with his wife in Nice, France, and was taking his sons to England. The boys survived but he died when Titanic sank.
That was the thing that got to me way more than I expected it to. How most of the people portrayed throughout the exhibit hadn’t survived that voyage. How all of them had stories to tell, dreams yet unfulfilled, but Fate had intervened in a most cruel way.
There was also a good smattering of quotes from passengers on display throughout the exhibit too. Last words or observations that instantly humbled me. Two of them in particular I was compelled to write down:
”Women and children first!” Someone was shouting these last few words over and over again…. They meant my own safety but they also meant the greatest loss I’ve ever suffered –the life of my husband.” ~-Charlotte Collver, Second Class Passenger Aboard Titanic-~
“I will not be separated from my husband. As we have lived, so we will die: together.” ~-Ida Straus, wife of Isidor (co-owner of Macy’s)-~
I think these resonated so much because they’re so opposite. One woman made the choice to abandon ship. The other didn’t.
I couldn’t help but wonder what I might have done. Would I have found refuge in one of the lifeboats? Or would I have stayed by my husband’s side?
I believe in Ms. Collver’s case she might have had children to consider. In Ms. Straus’s case she and her husband had already lived a long, full life together.
I’m sure some of that came in to play in each wife’s decision. I don’t exactly know though. All I do know is that I hope neither you nor I ever find ourselves in positions to make such decisions.
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