Visiting The Mariners’
Museum in Newport News (Virginia) with Juilliard Graduate Florence Paget by
Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
Laurent,
Florence, and I went on a field trip to the Mariners’ Museum in Newport News
(Virginia) to see the Titanic exhibit.
Florence
was ga-ga over the Titanic movie, so I knew this outing would be met with
enthusiasm. At the exhibit, we all
received a ticket with the name and photograph of an actual passenger on the
Titanic with a scavenger hunt questionnaire.
The
exhibit featured lots of photos and biographies – not too child-oriented, but I
saw the film and read several history books about what happened, so I made up
commentary to go with the photos.
However,
finding John Jacob Astor’s gold pocket watch earned us the right to place a
big, gold sticker on our scavenger hunt sheet.
In
Florence’s favorite exhibit, you could put your hand in a sac surrounded by
water that was the same temperature as the water the Titanic passengers found
themselves in when the ship sank.
This
exhibit explained that hypothermia puts you into a trance-like state. It is not a painful way to die supposedly.
We
watched a slideshow that said the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 made people
less optimistic about technological progress.
The sinking of the Titanic happened when the first skyscrapers were
being built.
The
most chilling exhibit showed how many people died in each class of
passengers. You definitely had an edge
for survival, if you were in a first-class cabin.
Several
things happened regarding cruise ships after the Titanic sank. First and foremost ships had to have enough
lifeboats for all the passengers.
From
then on, the Marconi Wireless Communication Centers on ships had to concentrate
on safety rather than sending messages for first class passengers as well.
The
same centers also had to stay open 24/7.
The ship that was close to the Titanic did not receive a dispatch
signal, because its communications center was closed.
Cruise
ships had to run on a more southern course after the sinking of the Titanic as
well to avoid icebergs and winter storms.
After
the Titanic disaster, there were many fundraising benefits for the survivors
and their families. The tour guide said
that every street in Southhampton (England) lost someone on the Titanic.
After
the Titanic exhibit, we looked at miniature ships and the testing pools to see
how the miniature ships would withstand waves, winds, and collision. Florence had fun moving the ships in the
water.
We
spent 3 hours at this great museum and had fun eating at an Italian restaurant
afterwards.
By
Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
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