We all know about the tragic sinking of the Titanic, but few of us know about the crew and passengers aboard this legendary ship. TITANIC: An Immersive Voyage is an immersive expedition through the ship’s history, highlighting the stories of the crew and passengers that have profoundly influenced the Titanic’s legacy today.Today, we’re highlighting four poignant stories of people aboard the Titanic, but there are thousands more, just as captivating and heartbreaking. The stories of the ship’s passengers come to life in TITANIC: An Immersive Voyage:
Captain Edward John Smith
Captain “EJ” Smith was a trusted member of the White Star Line. Renowned for his work on the Atlantic, many passengers expressly requested to travel under his direction. On April 10, 1912, Smith commanded the maiden voyage of White Star’s newest flagship, the RMS Titanic. The captain received several warnings of pack ice from the operators throughout the day on April 14, but in keeping with usual practice, he maintained the ship’s course and speed.
After dining with passengers that evening, Captain Smith checks in with the crew on deck. He instructed them not to be awakened unless there was a serious problem, before returning to his quarters, convinced that the Titanic was the safest and most advanced ship ever built. Sadly, he perished that evening.
Edith Louise Rosenbaum
Edith Louise Rosenbaum is an American journalist, famous for her articles on the world of fashion and her extensive travels. But her story doesn’t begin there: after surviving a car accident in 1911, her mother gives her a pig-shaped music box and makes her promise to keep it with her always.
In 1912, Edith (and this pig) boarded the Titanic.
Shortly before their final departure from Queenstown, she wrote to her secretary: “I cannot overcome my feeling of depression and foreboding of doom; I wish it were all over already”, but despite her apprehensions, she spent her first days on board the ship in tranquillity. Edith escaped the sinking of the Titanic (thanks, no doubt, to her mother’s lucky pig!).
Discover his story in TITANIC: An Immersive Voyage!
Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche
Joseph Philippe Lemercier Laroche was a 26-year-old Haitian engineer traveling from France to Haiti with his young family: his French wife, Juliette Lafargue, and their two daughters, Simonne and Louise. Joseph had earned his engineering degree in France, but racial prejudice made it difficult for him to find a job. As a member of the Haitian elite (and relative of future president Cincinnatus Leconte), he hoped that his return home would enable him to pursue a successful career, especially as Juliette was pregnant.
Joseph and his family had originally booked first-class seats aboard the ship La France, but changed their tickets for second-class seats on the Titanic, as La France had a strict policy forbidding children from dining with their parents. They wanted to enjoy their time together, and so they did – before the sinking changed everything. On the fateful night, Joseph got his family into a lifeboat, but they didn’t survive.
Mariana Assaf (Zād Khalīl Naṣr Allāh)
Zād Khalīl Naṣr Allāh (known in Canada as Mariana Assaf) was born and raised in Kfar Mishki, now in Lebanon. Around 1907, when she was in her forties, Zād left her two sons and husband to travel to Ottawa in the hope of earning enough money to bring her family to the Canadian capital. Once settled in Canada, she took the name Mariyam Assāf Khalīl, or Mariana Assaf.
After several years in the city working in agriculture, she returns to her homeland to see her family. On her return, she boards the Titanic with her brother, nephew, cousin and ten other people from her village – as well as many local passengers. One of the ship’s surviving passengers remembers “counting over a hundred Arabic-speaking passengers ” in the Titanic’s third class, en route to the promise of a new life in America.
Mariana survived by boarding a lifeboat, but her brother perished. She continued her journey to the United States and settled in Massachusetts.