Tanya Mohn writes
For the 100th anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking, just
about every aspect of the storied liner – from safety issues to class
differences among passengers – is being explored, analyzed and celebrated.
But little attention is being given to another group of
Titanic travelers:
the dogs that made the voyage.
A new exhibit
at the Widener University Art Gallery, in Chester, Pa., that opened
Tuesday hopes to change that by including stories of the dogs and their owners
who sailed on the Titanic, said J. Joseph Edgette, professor emeritus of
education and folklorist emeritus at Widener University, who produced and
curated the exhibit.
“I wanted to include
things that people don’t normally run across,” Edgette said, noting that there
were no Titanic-related exhibits that he was aware of that focused on the famed
ocean liner’s canine passengers.
“Everybody knows about the iceberg, how the ship went down,
and the heroic stories, but it doesn’t go beyond that, yet there are hundreds
of other aspects that we need to give attention to,” said Edgette, who based
much of his findings on eyewitness accounts of the evacuation, ship’s records
and his own research. “Until recently, most scholarship
has not covered the dogs.”
Twelve dogs set sail on the Titanic, according to Edgette,
although other researchers have come up with differing accounts. Only three
survived, he said.
Those that were saved included a baby Pomeranian, owned by
Margaret Hays of New York City, who kept the puppy in the cabin with her,
Edgette said. When passengers were evacuated, Hays wrapped it in a blanket.
Crew members allowed her to get in a lifeboat with the puppy.
Others that lived were Sun Yat-sen, a Pekinese belonging to
Henry and Myra Harper (of Harper & Row publishing fame), also of New York
City, and a small Pomeranian owned by Elizabeth Rothschild from Watkins Glen,
N.Y.
All surviving dogs were small and were kept in the
first-class cabins of their owners, Edgette said.
Two of the dogs that perished were owned by William Carter,
a coal magnate. Carter’s children were worried about their pets, but their
father assured them the dogs were safe and encouraged his children to get in
the lifeboats, Edgette said. The family survived, and later received insurance
reimbursement from Lloyds of London in the amount of $100 for daughter Lucy’s
King Charles spaniel and $200 for son Billy’s Airedale.
Other dogs that died included two Airedales, one named
Kitty, owned by John Jacob Astor IV and his wife, and a fox terrier owned by
William Dulles, an attorney from Philadelphia.
The exhibit features photos – some authentic, some
representative -- of the dogs and their owners. One photo depicts a group of
dogs tied to the rail on the Titanic’s deck, which perished, and another shows
crew members walking several dogs.
In addition to the dogs, the exhibit focuses on several
Philadelphia-area families who sailed on the Titanic, including the Widener
family, for whom Widener University is named. Three Widener family members
sailed on the Titanic, but only one survived.
The exhibit also includes displays about the company that
built the Titanic, details about the ship, information about the recovery of
bodies after the sinking, how local families memorialized members who lost
their lives after the tragedy, as well as Titanic’s impact on popular culture.
Free and open to the public, the exhibit runs through May
12.
Correction: In an earlier version of this post, we published
several photos from a Widener University Art Gallery exhibit that depict dogs
who sailed on the Titanic.
Msnbc.com has learned some images featured on our story and
in the exhibit are not authentic, but rather were intended as representations
of the breeds on board. Rebecca Warda, collections manager at the gallery, said
the exhibit will be updated with signs clearly indicating which images are
historically accurate and which are representations.