Cornell on the Titanic
Four Cornellians were aboard the Titanic when it hit an iceberg April 14, 1912, and sank the next day. Two survived, two died.
A new exhibition of artifacts curated by Fredrika Loew ’12 is on display in the cases in front of Olin Library’s Current Periodicals and Newspapers Reading Room.
A scrapbook chronicles the life and death of William Hull Botsford, who was lost to the Atlantic. The scrapbook is open to a page that shows a telegram encouraging his family not to lose hope.
The exhibition features photographs, letters, a yearbook and other documents, including an enlarged copy of a letter from a woman who was supposed to travel on the ship, but instead chose to travel on the Mauritania.
One more Cornell connection: The Titanic was carrying a large number of books intended for the library’s Icelandic collection. The books went down with the ship.
April 16th, 2012 at 9:37 am
My great-grandfather was chief steward of the officer’s club that served the crew of the Titanic. He wrote a letter to his brother in Portrush, Northern Ireland about some of the stories he heard from his officer friends about that fateful night. My dad shares the letter on his website: http://danmoore.com/the-portrush-letter/
April 16th, 2012 at 9:39 am
By the way, my dad is a Cornell alum and I currently work at Cornell, myself, so here are a couple of more Cornell connections to the Titanic.
February 9th, 2013 at 8:01 pm
I’m the mother of a Cornellian and also serve on the President’s Advisory Council on Family Affairs. Tonight we’re watching the 1953 movie, “Titanic,” and they just had a scene where the Cornell Alma Mater was sung. I found this post and am grateful for the information. I’ve always been moved by this great tragedy, and sorry to hear about the loss of life.