Wickersham's Conscience

Somewhat against his better judgment, WC attended the opening day of Titanic: The Artifact Exposition at the San Diego Natural History Museum on February 11. Visitors were issued a card at the door. The front was a mock-up of a Boarding Pass for the Titanic:

Titantic Exhibit - Boarding Pass

It is the 100th Anniversary of the big ship’s sinking, but western culture – not just Americans –  never needed an excuse to obsess over the disaster. Even before the James Cameron movie, we’ve been fascinated with the ship and the disaster, almost since the news the ship had hit the berg.

The back of each card was issued in the name of a passenger, something WC hadn’t known at the start. WC was given the identity of John Henry Chapman.

Titantic Exhibit - Bio Card Issued to WC

The whole business seemed more than a little ghoulish to WC. But after springing for $20 to get in, WC felt as if he needed to go through with it. The tour included a mix of the usual signs and computer animated exhibits of the ship, her history, the fatal run and the sinking. But the bulk of the exhibit was made up of ship’s gear – mostly dining room stuff – and numerous personal effects of passengers. The shaving kit of one passenger; the suitcase and contents of another. All retrieved from the bottom of the Atlantic. Postcards written but never sent. Pages of personal journals. Jewelry. Toothbrushes. It seemed more than a little disrespectful. WC supposes it is impressive technology that recovers china plates and pocket change from 2.5 miles down. But technologically advanced grave robbing is still grave robbing.

WC has always regarded the Titantic disaster as a consequence of horrible hubris that killed 1,517 innocent passengers. “Unsinkable” ships. Blasting through a pitch dark, moonless ocean at 21 knots or more after receiving at least two warnings of large icebergs in the waters. A ship with 2,201 persons on board that had lifeboats for only 1,178. The ghoulish fascination with the consequences of that hubris has always been . . . unseemly . . . to WC and the unrelenting pawing through the wreckage smacks to WC of grave robbing. The seafloor where the ship lies is a mass grave for 1,517 souls. WC thinks it is bad manners, at least, to ransack, to pilfer that mass grave.

The exhibit was certainly well done, and provided a kind of insight into the lives of First, Second and Steerage passengers of the era. The story is well-told, and based on the length of the lines when we left, immensely popular. WC admits to not understanding the ongoing fascination. The sinking of the Titanic did lead to reform of some areas of ship safety and design. Small comfort to the families of those who died.

As we left the exhibit, there was a large display listing who had lived and who had died. There were helpful guides to assist you in finding “your” name. The passenger named on WC’s “Boarding Pass,” John Henry Chapman, died in the sinking of the Titantic. Requiescat in pace.