Audio Tour
Take an audio tour of the exhibit with WITF's Scott Gilbert.

Click to hear the Audio Tour


Exhibit Overview

Before entering the exhibit, each visitor received a replica boarding pass, which transported guests into the lives of actual passengers; describing social classes, occupations, reasons for travel across the Atlantic and more. Each boarding pass inspired visitors with curiosity and concern for their assumed identities and their family members.

Five galleries took visitors on a chronological journey through the life of the Titanic, from the building of the legend, which took 15,000 men more than three years to complete, to life on board, featuring authentically recreated first and third class rooms with furnishings made by original manufacturers.

Following the tour of the detailed staterooms was the fabled Grand Staircase. Although it was an illustrative backdrop, it historically depicted the staircase’s legendary presence aboard the ship.

In the Striking Gallery, an iceberg recreation accented by its night sky backdrop gave guests a chance to sense what it was like for passengers thrown into the water that fateful night. In the early morning hours of April 15, 1912, the waters of the North Atlantic were colder than this ice. The dramatic event of the striking and sinking was told here, in this gallery. A computer simulation showed how the ship sunk bow first and then broke in half.

Along with being a powerful human drama, Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition also revealed the science and technology used to recover and preserve artifacts that sat on the ocean floor for more than 70 years. In the Discovery and Preservation Gallery, guests explored the technology and artistry needed to recover and restore artifacts from the ocean depths. Monitors showed footage from the six recovery expeditions. Sonar technology allowed researchers to discover the damage wrought by the iceberg to a 20-foot section of Titanic’s bow buried in the seafloor. Experts predicted they’d find a huge, 300-foot gash; instead, they saw what really brought the great ship down—six thin slits totaling about 12 square feet.

“Visitors can see the challenges that were overcome to bring these artifacts up from the depths, where they’ve been subjected to intense pressure, extreme temperatures and corrosive processes,” Tom Zaller, Vice President RMS Titanic Inc., said. “The same techniques that allow us to study life in the deep ocean have preserved the true story of Titanic for ours and future generations,” Zaller added.

In the Memorial Room, visitors learned about the aftermath of the disaster, the relief funds, and the efforts to find the over 1,500 lost loved ones. They read the memorial wall and find out, at last: Was the person whose ticket you held saved or lost? Visitors also learned about Titanic passengers from Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Connection Gallery explored the accounts of passengers bound for Pennyslvania.

Billy Carter was an extremely wealthy resident of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. He boarded Titanic with a very fancy 25 horsepower Renault automobile and two dogs, all of which were lost with the sinking of the ship. He later insisted that the White Star Line ought to repay him for his losses.

Harry Elkins Widener was the son of George and Eleanor Widener of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The elder Widener was a well-known banker and all three were first class passengers on the Titanic. The Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University was built with a grant from Eleanor Widener to honor his memory. The young Widener was a bibliophile and had an immense library of rare books. It is said that he drowned clutching a rare copy of Francis Bacon's Essays, which he had abandoned his place on a lifeboat to rescue.

Emma Eliza Bucknell was the wife of William Bucknell, benefactor and namesake of Bucknell University, originally Lewisburg University. Mr. Bucknell was a charter member of the Bucknell University Board of Trustees. Because he gave so generously to the university, saving it from financial ruin, a unanimous decision was made to change its name. The Bucknells lived in Philadelphia, while Bucknell University is located in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.

Mrs. Charlotte Wardle Cardeza, the wife of James Warburton Martinez Cardeza, was from Germantown, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Cardeza boarded the Titanic with her son and her maid, as well as 14 trunks, four suitcases and three crates of luggage, which she claimed were worth £36,567 2s ($753,500 in today’s money).

Master William Thorton Carter II, from Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, was 11 years old at the time of the sinking of Titanic. He was allowed into the lifeboat with his mother only because she placed a ladies’ hat on his head. He had to leave behind his dog, an Airedale, who Col. Astor generously promised to protect.

R. Norris Williams II of Wayne, Pennsylvania, was a national Tennis champion. After the sinking of Titanic, he played on seven US Davis Cup teams and was team captain from 1921-1925 and in 1934.

Elin Matilda Hakkarainen was traveling with her husband from Helsinki, Finland
to Monesson, Pennsylvania. She was a steerage passenger, originally from Quincy, Massachusetts. She and her husband were fleeing Finland so he wouldn’t be forced to join the Russian Army.

Mr. James Robert McGough was a buyer for Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based Strawbridge & Clothier. He was asked to board a lifeboat to protect the women and children who had already boarded.

The following accounts have been generously provided by Harrisburg residents who have come forward with Titanic stories that have been passed down through family and friends.

John B. Thayer, Jr., better known as Jack, was the son of the second vice president of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Jack remained on Titanic as she sank until he was sure that the giant ship would go down. He jumped from the ship and was pushed away by an “unknown force.” Jack was nearly hit by a falling funnel and was sucked under the water, only to be spat out again by a large wave among the wreckage. He clung to an overturned lifeboat throughout the night and was rescued by Carpathia the next morning.

A letter written by a close family friend of the Thayers was handed down to Anne J. Yellott, a dear friend and founding supporter of Whitaker Center, who referred to John Thayer, Jr. as “Uncle Jack.” The letter explains that the elder Mr. Thayer was killed by a falling smokestack, presumably the one that just missed Jack. Ms. Yellott explained that the young Jack Thayer was saved from the disaster because he was a wonderful swimmer.

William John Mellors, grandfather of Thomas C. Bell, was a survivor of the Titanic disaster. Mr. Mellors, age 19, was a salesman from Chelsea, London, England, on his way to Long Island New York. In letters written to his family both from Titanic before she began her trans-Atlantic journey, and from Carpatia, he describes the splendor of the accommodations of the great ship and the terror of the sinking. Mr. Mellors explains that he went down with the ship, fully expecting to die, but as he was dragged under the water by the suction, he was suddenly thrown out and away from the ship by a great explosion. He clung to an overturned raft for six hours before the Carpathia arrived and took him to safety.

The following are accounts of passengers bound for Pennsylvania whose stories have not previously been explored in such depth as in Whitaker Center Pennsylvania Gallery, which accompanies Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition.

In 1893, Nora Agnes Keane emigrated from Ireland to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where she lived with her brothers, Dennis, John, William, Patrick and Albert Michael. Her first Harrisburg home was at 628 Harris Street. Nora worked as a dressmaker and was later listed in the city record as a domestic at her brother's saloon, the Union Hotel at 167 Paxton Street.

Nora Keane boarded Titanic as a second class passenger at Queenstown, Ireland, on April 11, 1912. She was returning to the United States from her native village, Castle Connell, County Limerick, Ireland. She had traveled to Castle Connell shortly after Christmas, 1911 for a four-month visit with her mother. Nora is famous for having a vision of the disaster as she boarded the great ship. Legend has it that she dropped her rosary and prayer book in the water because the number on the ship's hull reflected in the water below read, “no pope.” It has since been proven that there were no such numbers on the ship. Apparently Nora took this event as a bad omen and was terrified during the entire trip. She is also famous for reportedly trying to fasten a corset on top of her life vest as the ship was sinking.

Nora survived the sinking and was rescued on lifeboat number 10. She returned to Harrisburg for a few years, but later returned to Ireland, where she died in 1944.

The Wilkes-Barre Connection

In “Six Bullet Holes Titanic Mementos,” published April 23, 1912, by the Newark Star, the stories of three Lebanese émigré survivors are told. Thelma Thomas, her six-month old baby, Assad, and her brother-in-law, John Borak, boarded Titanic en route to Wilkes-Barre, PA, along with 18 of their family and friends to join a small Lebanese community there. In the confusion of the sinking of the ship, Thelma lost Assad and so refused to board a lifeboat. She was convinced by an officer of the great ship that her baby had been rescued by another woman and, having finally entered the lifeboat; later found her son safe aboard Carpathia. John Borak reported that Titanic officers shot at him when he tried to board a lifeboat as the ship sank. He claimed he had six bullet holes in his coat to prove it.