In the Bookcase

4/20/2012

3 Notable Women on the Titanic

My thoughts about the Titanic are coming to an end soon. After finding out so much about this grand ship, I'm glad to have a place to jot down key points that I have come across, share the main facts about the sinking, and enjoy reading your comments about it.

Today I wanted to share about 3 women who were on the Titanic, whose stories I find to be rather fascinating.

Photograph of Violet Jessop, nurse and stewardess. Violet Jessop worked on several ocean liners during her lifetime as a stewardess and nurse. The thrilling fact was that she served on all 3 of White Star Line's Olympic-class ships... and more specifically, she was on each one when it wrecked. She survived each incident! Violet Jessop was on the Olympic, the first of the 3 sister ships, on September 20, 1911, when it collided with a cruiser called the HMS Hawke. I should also mention that Captain Smith was commanding this ocean liner at the time. The Olympic did not sink due to the wreck, but was badly damaged. The ship was able to return to England to be repaired. Violet Jessop was on the Titanic when it struck the iceberg on April 14, 1912. She survived the Titanic, only to continue on with her service with White Star Line's next big vessel. Violet Jessop was on the Britannic when it wrecked and sunk on November 21, 1916. Again, she survived. She didn't die until 1971, when she was 83 years old. I found her story to be immensely interesting!

Photograph of Titanic's Unsinkable Molly Brown. Margaret Brown, a wealthy socialite and activist, was famously known after her death as The Unsinkable Molly Brown. At the time of the Titanic's sinking, she was 45 years old. She was one of the brave women who took charge in the lifeboats. It is said that she rowed for 7 1/2 hours. She organized the chaos in Lifeboat 6 and requested that they turn the boat around to find any survivors who might have still been alive in the icy waters. Once on the rescue ship, Carpathia, she raised $10,000 before they even arrived in New York, and Margaret Brown also became the president of the Titanic Survivors' Committee. When reporters asked Margaret Brown how she survived the Titanic, she replied with: "Typical Brown luck. We're unsinkable." Thus, the nickname was born.

Photograph of Titanic's last surviving passenger, Millvina Dean. Millvina Dean is another noteworthy passenger---she was the last remaining Titanic survivor. She died not long ago in 2009. After her death, there was no one left in the world who had been on the Titanic. She was born in February 1912---2 months before the once-in-a-lifetime voyage. Her family was embarking on the Titanic as 3rd Class Passengers, with plans to go to Wichita, Kansas. Being a young baby, Millvina Dean never had a remembrance of the great ship, of the tragedies and sorrows. Yet, she was there and survived it, unknowingly. Because of the knowledge of her being there, she later became quite interested in the Titanic. At the age of 97, the last person who had seen the Titanic and experienced it, died in May 2009.

Check back tomorrow for another unbelievable story I have come across. Can't wait to share it with you!


6 comments:

  1. Wow, Violet Jessop's story gave me chills! So interesting.

    I had known Margaret Brown's story but not the stories of Violet Jessop and Millvina Dean. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Anonymous4/20/2012

    Violet Jessop has an autobiography that is very interesting. Its entitled Titanic Survivor. For that matter so does Brown, although I have no plans of reading it.

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  3. I knew only of Unsinkable Molly Brown, not the other two you mentioned here. Each is remarkable in her own way. You have put a lot into each one of your Titanic posts and your hard work shows. Thanks for sharing! :)

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  4. Wonderful post! thanks for all the great info.

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  5. you know, reading about the women & men who were on the ship & having faces to go along with the stories has helped me realize how very personal this is, instead of, "well, this happened years ago", & almost not considering that these people had families who loved them, families who cared & whose lives were completely turned upside down by this tragedy.

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  6. Hi and thanks for a nice presentation!
    Just one thing: The picture of Millvina Dean is not Millvina Dean but Lillian Asplund, another survivor.

    All the best,

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