Titanic the Artifact Exhibition

I am going to begin this blog about our fun trip, last November 2009 to the Titanic Exhibit at the Louisville Science Center with a tangent look - down Main Street.

Main Street was Louisville’s first street. It was established by pioneers who settled the area in the 1700's. As our little group of 5 gathered, (sorry, I did not get a picture of the group) Judie, Lil, Pat, Clara and myself; we decided to watch the IMAX presentation before attending the Exhibit. While waiting for the theatre doors to open we looked out on the neighborhood - Main Street Louisville.

Not too many years ago Main Street was a string of mostly vacant and decaying buildings but now is a vibrant district of museums, cultural attractions, hotels and restaurants. Main Street is now home to Louisville Slugger Bat Factory and Museum, Muhammad Ali Center, the Frazier International History Museum, the Louisville Science Center, the Kentucky Center of the Arts, the Kentucky Museum of Arts and Crafts, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, The 21 C Hotel, among others. Just across the street from the Science Center is the Louisville Slugger Museum, a museum and factory where Louisville Slugger baseball bats are created and much of baseball's history is preserved. Frazier International History Museum focuses on United States and United Kingdom arms, armor and other historical objects from the last 1,000 years, with exhibits including firearms, shields, swords, suits of armor and medieval weapons. (picture above) Looking east out the window of the Science Center, if you look closely you can see a building with red penquins on top. "The 21 C." The 21 C Museum Hotel is more than just a place to spend the night – it's a 90-room boutique hotel, contemporary art museum, award-winning restaurant and cultural civic center nestled in the heart of historic Museum Row. Louisville Science Center is Kentucky’s largest hands-on science museum. This distinctive cast-iron facade limestone building was originally built in 1878 as a dry goods warehouse. The museum moved into the premises in 1977, subsequently won several design awards for its preservation of an older building. All of these beautiful 19th Century buildings, with their unique cast-iron facades, are part of Louisville history – making Main Street Louisville, second only to the SoHo area of New York City for the number of cast-iron facades.

The IMAX

The IMAX production is a massive screen presentation in 3-D. You can see the Titanic up close and personal sitting 12,500 feet (over 2 miles under the sea) on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. In the documentary there are 3-D animated re-creations of rooms and ship design. Using robot cameras they were able to go inside and explore some fascinating real-life remnants of the fateful ship- like beds, stained glass windows, and even a mirror. The vessel comes to life and the film discusses some of the individuals who were on the boat. This presentation is definitely worth checking out; but understand that this is neither your typical Disney film nor your typical documentary. Having never seen the Hollywood movie, "Titanic," I rather enjoyed the IMAX. I learned a lot about what is fact and what is myth. Now for the Exhibit:

Just how much you enjoy the artifact exhibition of real objects and real stories is likely to depend on your interest in the Titanic:

This Louisville Science Center Titanic Artifact Exhibition features 150 authentic artifacts. There are several opinions out there about salvaging items from the ship itself. Some believe the ship is a memorial to all those lost and should not be disturbed. Another consideraton is recovering, conserving, and exhibiting these artifacts will help preserve the memory of the ship and the people who perished in the disaster.

The articles for these present exhibits were taken from the 2000 foot long debris field which stretches between the two sections of the vessel which broke apart as she sank. Before entering the exhibit hall, each visitor is given a boarding pass with the name and information of an actual passenger aboard the Titanic. This engages visitors by making a connection between them and a passenger aboard the ship. It truly personalizes the experience and drives home the point that these people endured incredible tragedy; they were not just statistics on a page. Below is the boarding pass I was given as I stood in line to enter. front/back

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If you saw the Hollywood movie you know "Jack and Rose," but have you ever heard of Mrs. Edward Ernest Nye (Elizabeth Ramell Nye)? For the duration of the visit to the exhibit I was she.

Traveling alone, I was in 2nd Class Cabin #F-33. I had suffered three terrible tragedies in my life. My first love drowned. In 1906 my nine-month old child died. I am 29 years old, sailing from South Hampton, England to East Orange, New Jersey after visiting my parents in England while mourning the loss of my husband. OR

Have you heard the story of Nicola Yarred, and Jamilia and Elias Nicola-Yarred? Clara's boarding pass read: Jamilia Nicola-Yarred While visiting the exhibit she was Jamilia.

Originally from a small mountain village in Lebanon, 14 year old Jamilia , her father Nicola, and her younger brother, 12 year old Elias were fleeing persecution. They were to sail to New York and reunite with relatives that had settled in Jacksonville, Florida.

Nicola Yarred, the father, was prevented from boarding because he had an eye infection. The children registered again, as was the custom at the time, by assuming their father's name, "Nicola Yarred," as their last name. The two children boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg as Third Class passengers. As our group entered the exhibit hall we began a chronological journey. Arranged along the wall was information on placards detailing how the idea of the Titanic was contrived and the construction that went into building the "seemingly unsinkable ship."

Construction of the Titanic actually began in 1909. Harland and Wolff had to make alterations to their shipyard (larger piers and gantries) to accommodate the giant liners, Titanic and her sister ship the Olympic. The two ships were to be built side-by-side.

Titanic Specifications

Length...882ft. 8in.

Height...(keel to funnel 175 ft.

Breadth...92ft 6in.

Passenger capacity...2,435

Crew Capacity...883

Lifeboat capacity...1,178

With three colossal propellers her top speed...23 to 25 knots

Next the exhibit presented the day of the departure, when the ship set sail as the “ship of dreams.” The Titanic was the largest passenger steamship in the world when she set off on her maiden voyage filled with celebrities, dignitaries, millionaire tycoons, and poor immigrants.

The powerful Titanic slipped her mooring lines and left South Hampton, England to New York City on April 10, 1912. Four days into the crossing, on 14 April 1912, she struck an iceberg and sank, resulting in the deadliest peacetime maritime disaster in history. The voyage began under the command of Captain Edward J. Smith, who had been with the White Star Line since 1886. Now at 62, he was the Senior Commander of the line and commanded each new vessel as it sailed on her maiden run. A feature about Captain Smith was hanging on the wall and explains how he planned to retire after this voyage. Knowing the tradition that the captain always goes down with the ship and that he did not make it leaves you with a sad feeling. Also hanging in this gallery were placards telling the stories of several of the passengers. Some of those passengers were Colonel John Jacob Astor IVand his young wife, Madeleine;

Margaret "Unsinkable Molly" Brown,

and Benjamin Guggenheim. John Jacob Astor IV was born July 18, 1864, in Rhinebeck, New York. His great grandfather was John Jacob Astor a wealthy fur trader. John IV himself had a career as a property and real estate developer, writer and inventor. He became a millionaire. Two years after he divorced his first wife, he married Madeleine an 18 year old woman. This was thought to be improper for a man of 47. The couple took an extended honeymoon of several months through Europe and Egypt to wait for the scandalous gossip to calm down. While traveling Madeleine became pregnant, and wanting the baby to be born in the United States they boarded the ship at Cherbourg, France as First Class passengers to return to the US. Also boarding with them was Colonel Astor's valet, Victor Robbins. Madeleine's maid Rosalie Bidois, and nurse Caroline Louise Endris. They also took their pet Airdale name "Kitty."

Astor was the wealthiest passenger on board the Titanic.

At least 33 millionaires died on the Titanic

Walking through the exhibition was like taking a trip back in time There were pictures and information about the different passengers that gave you an idea of who may have been staying in each section of the ship. Along with the facts there were also quotes from various passengers on the wall describing what they thought of the ship, why they were traveling or what they were planning to do once they arrived at their final destination. Hundreds of artifacts that range from fine china to restored jewelry, perfume vials, crystal wine decantors, and even sheet music which had been perserved in a leather briefcase were on display in glass cases.

Also, displayed in a number of glass cases were several personal effects that hinted at the lives left behind or hoped for on either side of the ocean: things such as personal toiletries, razor, shoe horn, spectacles, a pot of cherry toothpaste bearing a picture of Queen Mary on its lid. There were also pocket watches, US dollars, and Canadian currency, even a mercury thermomenter still in its case.

Au gratin dishes before recovery and after conservation

Luxurious accommodations of the Titanic Hanging on the walls are pictures of the first and second cabins, where you can get a real look at the opulent furnishings and grand accommodations that second and first class passengers experienced..

Each class had their own promenade area and Smoking room as well as Dining Saloon.

The Grand Staircase was capped with an incandescent dome of iron and glass and was symbolic of the Ship's elegance. Also on display was this brilliant gold light fixtures like the one below, which hung from the ceiling over furniture arranged for card playing in the Smoking Room on A Deck.

Smoking Room Deck A

Wicker furniture and arched windows made the Verandah Caf'e a pleasant and relaxing spot with sweeping views of the sea.

First Class Accommodations

First Class Dining Saloon A truly awesome sample of First Class - Greek Key Spode China in a rich sophisticated cobalt blue rimmed in real Gold Hallway to First Class

First Class Suite First-class staterooms, provided unparalleled luxury. Every comfort was considered, from a satin counterpane to a silver-plated pendulum lamp, designed to remain level in the roughest weather.

Second Class Accommodations

Second Class Dining Saloon

China for the Second Class passage. This pattern is generally known as "Delft" (Holland) or Flow Blue due to the sometime tendency for the blue colour to flow into the surrounding glaze and become hazy around the edges of the pattern.

Second Class Stateroom

Second class on the Titanic was much more luxurious than second class on any of the other ship lines. It has often been said that traveling in second-class on Titanic was like traveling first-class on earlier ships.

Third Class Accommodations

Third Class Dining Saloon

Third class ceramic dishes and mugs with a distinctive red logo.

From the photo gallery the exhibition’s design transforms into what looks like the inside of the ship, featuring a Third Class Cabin.

Third Class Cabin

There was an interactive iceburg gallery,

where you could touch the iceberg and experience the freezing temperatures passengers experienced. The exhibition gives an indication of how cold it was in the North Atlantic on the night the Titanic sank

There were more quotes hanging on the walls explaining what passengers and the crew were thinking and doing at that tragic moment. Only 705 passengers survived, leaving the remaining 1,523 passengers and crew, their belongings and the ship lost at sea. There was a memorial gallery where you searched the list and learned whether (You) your person survived or not.

Me = Elizabeth Ramell Nye survived.

Clara = Jamilia Nicola-Yarred survived. In the aftermath of the sinking, Elizabeth Ramell Nye dedicated herself to the causes of the Salvation Army in appreciation for their work in helping survivors. Elizabeth Ramell Nye